The Joy of Christmas - Part 2 (Matt 1)

Welcome & Announcements

Please note the following dates:

December 28th, no Bible Study & Prayer

December 30th, New Year’s Eve Eve Celebration at 7pm

January 1st, no Discipleship Groups; AM Worship at 10:30am

Quarterly Business Meeting on January 1st, 2023, after Sunday AM Worship.

Please prepare to partake in the Lord’s Supper on January 8th, 2023.

Free Movie Night on January 27th, 2023

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways to do so, (1) cash and checks can be given at the offering box. Checks should be written to Grace & Peace; debit, credit, and ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) by visiting us online at www.giving.gapb.church. Of course, everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 69:1-6)

Our Call to Worship is Psalm 69:1-6, which is the first of three parts of Psalm 69. It is a psalm written by David in which he prays for the Lord to save him while facing tremendous pain and suffering. It’ll be awfully relatable for us, because, as I’ve said before, life can be hard and there is pain in life that really ought to just bring us to the point of simply crying out to God for help. Please stand and read with me Psalm 69:1-6: I’ll read the odd-numbered verses; please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 69:1–6 ESV

1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. 3 I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. 4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore? 5 O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.

Congregational Singing

Angels from the Realms of Glory (222)

How Great Our Joy (254)

O Holy Night! (240)

Scripture Reading (Luke 2:8-20)

Our Scripture Reading this morning is Luke 2:8-20, which is part of Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. We’re reading it so that we remember that there’s a lot more in Scripture about Jesus’ birth than what we’ve been able to work through this winter concerning Jesus’ birth. We’ve only just scratched the surface of what the Bible teaches about the advent of Messiah and in doing so, we’ve really only worked through a small amount of Scripture concerning it—hopefully, seeing Luke’s account will help with this understanding. Veronica, can you read Luke 2:8-20 for us?

Luke 2:8–20 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Preaching of the Word of God (Matt 1)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Matthew 1.

Last week, we started just a brief, two-week series to focus our attention on the birth of Jesus Christ. And like I mentioned last week, we’re sort of doing a modification of the traditional advent themes in that we aren’t looking at a different theme per week, but rather we’re looking at one theme per year—and thus, this year, we’ve focused on the concept of joy.

Last week, we started this focus by looking at Luke 2 and I explained how the prophecies of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2 brought joy to us because it shows us that Jesus fulfilled the Word of God in His birth and thus, we can trust Him to fulfill His Word concerning what happens today and what will happen in the future. The birth of Jesus gives us joy because it reminds us that we serve a powerful God that will do what He says He will do. We learned all this just by looking at the prophecies concerning His birth.

This morning, we’re taking a slightly different approach in two ways—first we’re looking beyond just the prophecies concerning Jesus’ birth and we’re focusing our time on how properly understanding God’s Word gives us joy and we’re going to start this journey by reading a genealogy, which doesn’t sound joyous, but bear with me.

Let’s read Matthew 1 together.

Matthew 1 ESV

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into two parts (1) The Genealogy of Jesus (1-17) and (2) Jesus’ Birth (18-25). Remember, that we’re in a two-part series concerning the Joy of Christmas, so my goal this morning is for us to not only see how Jesus’ birth is a joyous occasion, but that even sections of Scripture like genealogies ought to well up a sense of joy in us. The birth of Jesus is a joyous occasion—so much so, that seemingly dull parts of Scripture (like Genealogies) are passages that we can have joy in.

Prayer for Illumination

The Genealogy (1-17)

Our passage starts with a genealogy—a record of someone’s lineage—and Matthew doesn’t wait around to tell us whose lineage it is—v. 1, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”

Now, there is something of note here—that might sound a little bit like a side-point, but I think you’ll appreciate it. The word that we get genealogy from is the word γενεσις.

And of course, genesis is where we get the word genesis, which literally means birth or to become or to bring into life.

This, of course, explains why the first book of the Bible is called Genesis, it shows us the birth of the universe or how creation came into being through the Word of the Lord spoken in Genesis 1.

If you’re fond of superhero movies and comics—think of this almost like an origin story.

Now, think of this passage in light of who Matthew was primarily directed towards. Matthew was written primarily for Jews and there’s a reoccurring theme throughout all of Matthew—Matthew is written with the theme that Jesus is the Messiah and this theme saturates the whole book.

Thus, to start the book, Matthew writes it in a way that would be familiar to Jewish readers. “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.” Where else have we heard something like this?

Think all the way back to the book of Genesis:

Gen 2:4 “4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven.”

Gen 5:1 “1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.”

Matthew is utilizing similar words and similar concepts to draw the attention of the Israelites—almost like a mnemonic device--meant to help with recall while teaching something new.

Matthew calls the attention of the Israelites in a way that would cause them to consider this new information in light of the Tanakh.

And then he tells us that this new information that he’s about to teach—the information that’s connected with the Tanakh, particularly with the Torah—has to do with Jesus who is the Christ.

Note how I referred to Jesus because in light of the theme of Matthew, that emphasis is warranted—Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name, it is a title meaning The Anointed One.

What Matthew is saying in v. 1 is that this is the record of the origin of Jesus, who is The Anointed One—this is the lineage of Messiah.

How do we know that Jesus is Messiah? Partly because of His lineage—that He is the son of David and the son of Abraham.

These are important details because God made promises to these people in the Old Testament—both David and Abraham. Consider the covenants that God made with these men:

For David, 2 Samuel 7:16 16 “And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”

For Abraham, Gen 12:1-3 “1 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go forth from your land, And from your kin And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.””

How will David’s house and kingdom endure forever? How will Abraham’s family bless all the other families of the earth? By being the families that Messiah will come out of.

We know that Jesus is Messiah because of His lineage and His fulfillment of various prophecies concerning the birth of Messiah.

So, what exactly is Matthew doing? Matthew is starting his Gospel account by reminding the reader of the promise given by God to Abraham and how that promise is fulfilled through the lineage of Jesus.

He’s proving that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant.

Now, I’m not going to have us work through every individual mentioned in this genealogy, but let me at least point out a few details:

Again, he starts with Abraham:

Which makes sense chronologically as Abraham is considered the father of the Jewish people; and we’re told that Abraham fathered Isaac who then fathered others and the line continues through vv. 2-5.

Clearly, this emphasizes that covenant between God and Abraham, that Abraham’s family will bless all other families.

And then the passage adds in some details about David.

We see in v. 5 that “Obed [was] the father of Jesse, and Jesse [was] the father of David the king,” which then ties in the Davidic Covenant and again, emphasizes the Davidic covenant—that David’s seed will reign forever.

The text continues by speaking of David’s children.

Particularly Solomon, who fathered Rehoboam, who fathered Abijah and so forth.

This tracing of the lineage continues all the way to v. 16, when we finally see “Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”

And the last verse then wraps it all up, “So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.”

This shows us the willingness of God to keep His covenants—even several generations later.

If we take a really conservative number concerning generations—we might say that a generation is about 30 years, which gives us the impression that there were approximately 1,200 years between Abraham’s covenant with God to the fulfillment of that promise.

But that’s if each generation was only 30 years—we have to be a little flexible with our understanding of what a generation is because it seems that the Bible is a little flexible in its meaning of a generation.

That tells us that between Abraham and Jesus, there were approximately 1,200-2,200 years.

And through all this time, God was providentially working to bring Jesus’ birth to fruition.

God willingly kept His promises—both the Abrahamic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant—isn’t this something worth celebrating and having joy in?

Now, there is one side issue that you might have picked up on and if you didn’t pick up on it this morning, let me assure you that skeptics of the Bible have picked up on this.

If you’re reading to this and listening to this with a discerning mind, you might have picked up on something—this is clearly Joseph’s lineage.

We see this clearly in v. 16, “And Jacob the father of Joseph [who married] Mary.”

What’s the supposed issue here? Technically, Joseph isn’t Jesus’ biological father, he’s actually Jesus’ step-father.

And skeptics make the argument that because Jesus isn’t Joseph’s biological father, then this lineage doesn’t matter.

So, let me answer that in two ways:

First, don’t consider this a biological genealogy for Jesus as much as it is a legal genealogy of Jesus—or put a different way, this records Jesus’ lineage through Joseph because Joseph is legally Jesus’ earthly father through adoption.

Second, consider the legal ramifications of what it means to legally be someone’s child through adoption—through adoption, Jesus shares in the lineage of Joseph even though biologically, they aren’t father and son.

This genealogy of Jesus through Joseph matters because legally Jesus shares in the rights that comes with being a son of Joseph—in particular, Jesus because of His lineage through Joseph has a legal and royal right to the Davidic throne.

What we see in this genealogy concerning Jesus is that despite thousands of years between the giving of the covenant and the fulfillment of the promise, God certainly kept His Word through the lineage of Jesus Christ. It is a reminder that we can have joy as we celebrate Jesus’ birth because Christmas reminds us that God is sovereign, He is omnipotent, and He is providentially working all things to fulfill His covenants—to keep His Word.

Now, let’s look at the remaining eight verses.

Jesus’ Birth (18-25)

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

The Pregnancy of Mary (18-19)--The text continues from the genealogy straight into the birth of Jesus, but we do get some details from Matthew that aren’t in any other Gospel account, in particular, we see how Joseph reacts to Mary’s pregnancy.

And because of Matthew’s record of Joseph’s response, we actually learn a little bit about a person that’s only mentioned a handful of times in Scripture.

Beyond not being Jesus’ biological father, but still choosing to raise Jesus anyway, we learn from these verses that he was a just or righteous person.

In v. 18, we’re told that “the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” Let me point out some details:

First, Mary and Joseph are betrothed and not married at this point. Betrothal is like engagement, but betrothal involves a legally binding contract rather than an engagement ring. They had legally determined to marry one another—or at least, their families had legally chosen for them to marry each other.

Again, it was a legally binding contract that essentially meant they were married—and often they would’ve been treated as if they were already married, which is why v. 19 calls Joseph “her husband.”

Second, note the wording of how Jesus was “found to be ith child from the Holy Spirit.” The wording here is similar to what the angel says to Mary in Luke 1:35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.”

And Third, note how v. 19 speaks of Joseph. That he was “a just man.” He’s described as being righteous, which doesn’t mean he was perfect by any stretch of the word, but that he lived his life by following God through the Word of God.

As a man seeking to live life this way, he technically had the right as a Jewish person betrothed to someone who humanly looks like she had an affair to publically shame her, but he chose not to.

He resolved to end their relationship quietly instead of wanting to harm her reputation.

Someone watching this situation play out would consider him a good person for what he chose to do.

The Angel’s Message to Joseph (20-22)—however, in the next three verses, we see something interesting happen.

An angel appears to him in a vision. In v. 20, we read that “as [Joseph] considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

The angel essentially tells Joseph to do the exact opposite of what most humans would’ve told him to do. Most of us, if we knew someone in a similar situation, would tell him to continue in the process of ending their relationship, but the angel is looking at the situation from a much higher vantage point than Joseph is.

The angel has been given a message from God to Joseph that despite what appears to be an adulterous situation in which earthly wisdom tells him to cut his losses, the angel tells him to marry her anyway.

And the reasoning is simple, because Mary didn’t do anything adulterous or wrong, what has happened to Mary is something that God through the Holy Spirit did to bring about the birth of Jesus in a way that fulfills Scripture.

And this angel explains the situation to him in v. 21-22, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).”

V. 21 gives us the thesis from the angel, that Mary will bear a son, He will be called Jesus; and the reason for His name stems from the purpose of His initial advent on earth.

Jesus comes from the Hebrew Yeshua, which means Yahweh is salvation or “the Lord saves.” — Jesus or Yeshua is His name because it literally means God saves.

And He is the means through which God saves.

Note the importance of fulfilled prophecy in v. 22. This isn’t a random act, this isn’t something that happened by accident. This is something that happened because God announced that it would happen and He kept His word.

The prophet cited here in v. 23 is Isaiah, you can find the full text in Isa 7:10-25, which is a text that assures the then king of Israel that there is coming a child and he will be called Immanuel and this coming child will be a king—though Israel itself will face tremendous destruction at the hands of the Assyrians.

The angel brings this point up as proof of the fulfilled prophecy, that this is indeed the child to be called Immanuel and He will save his people from their sins.

Joseph’s Response (24-25)—the text then ends by telling us that Joseph obeyed the words of the angel and we see Jesus’ birth at the tail end of the text.

Joseph wakes from his sleep in v. 24, and the Bible says “he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”

Without hesitation, Joseph does exactly what the Lord through an angel tells him to do—this emphasizes the fact that he was a just man willing to obey what God had told him without question and without hesitation.

This pericope or thought then ends with Jesus being born to a virgin in a small, insignificant town named Bethlehem.

Of course, we know that this isn’t all that Scripture says about the birth of Jesus Christ; this is just where the passage for today ends; and I’ve chosen to end here on purpose. Why?

Because by ending here, we see the text’s own emphasis on what about Jesus’ birth gives us joy. Did you see it?

Let me highlight two verses:

Matthew 1:21 “[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:23 “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).”

The whole point of Jesus’ birth and why we celebrate it year after year is because Jesus is the means through which God saves His people from their sins; and Jesus’ birth is part of the plan that brings us into reconciliation with God—so that we can be with Him.

Without the birth of Jesus; and really the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus there is no salvation.

Thus, the birth of Jesus is so important because it ushers the plan of God to reconcile His people to Himself along.

Our celebration of Christmas brings us joy because through the birth of Jesus and His eventual death, burial, and resurrection, God made a way for us to be with Him. His birth leads to Him saving His people from their sins, which is the only way of reconciliation between man and God.

Which brings us this morning to our application. And our application for this morning is built on the two primary reasons that we can have joy during Christmas—let me remind you what they are and I’ll expound on it a bit.

Application

We learn from Matthew 1:1-17, despite the text being a genealogy that there is a reason for us to have joy because of what this genealogy teaches. Vv. 1-17 teaches us that we can have joy as we celebrate Jesus’ birth because Christmas reminds us that God is sovereign, He is omnipotent, and He is providentially working all things to fulfill His covenants—to keep His Word.

As the text then transitions into recording Jesus’ birth, we then learn that our celebration of Christmas brings us joy because through the birth of Jesus and His eventual death, burial, and resurrection, God made a way for us to be with Him—through Jesus, He saves us.

So, let’s look at these two ideas in greater detail:

First, we can have joy as we celebrate Jesus’ birth because Christmas reminds us that God is sovereign, He is omnipotent, and He is providentially working all things to keep His Word.

Consider how the Israelites felt during the hundreds to thousands of years between the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the birth of Messiah—the birth of Jesus.

During those hundreds to thousands of years, we read about a roller coaster of events that happened throughout the history of Israel—we see them celebrate great high points where they worshiped God and followed Him closely; and we see them mourn great low points where they fall into idolatry, reject God, and follow their own desires.

We see them wander in the wilderness because of their sin, take hold of the Promised Land, and then end up in exile not just once, but multiple times because of their sin.

And the whole time that this is happening, they know that God made a covenant with Abraham; and eventually, they see the covenant that God made with David.

Certainly, they experienced rather difficult times.

For many in the room today, the holidays can be a rather difficult time of year:

For some, it’s a reminder of lost loved ones whether by death or in instances of familial discord.

It can also be a time that feels a little bit out of control—whether that’s due to the passing of time or the inability to control everything around you.

Maybe it’s just a moment to reflect on the knowledge that your life isn’t where it’s supposed to be spiritually; and thinking about Jesus’ birth has caused you to realize the need to repent from your sins and follow Him more intentionally.

I’m not here trying to get anybody down by asking them to reflect on these different issues in life.

I’m simply pointing out that the holidays can be difficult, but again, think about the Israelites who experienced hardship for hundreds to thousands of years.

And in an instance, in a tiny town named Bethlehem, the promises given to their forefathers were realized in a young woman giving birth to Messiah.

All those hundreds and thousands of years of hardship led to this moment of covenant fulfillment by Almighty God in the birth of Jesus Christ.

For those who realized what was going on, do you think they had joy?

For Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, the angels who pronounced the birth of Jesus, the shepherds, and the wisemen—don’t you think they had joy at the birth of Messiah?

Why did they have joy?

Because Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of prophecies given by multiple people concerning Messiah—they were joyous because God did something miraculous by bringing His Son into the world, born of a virgin, in the little town of Bethlehem, 2,000 years ago.

Again, we can have joy as we celebrate Jesus’ birth because Christmas reminds us that God is sovereign, He is omnipotent, and He is providentially working all things to keep His Word.

Second, we can have joy as we celebrate Jesus’ birth because through His birth, death, burial, and resurrection, God made a way for us to be with Him—through Jesus, He saves us.

We see this primarily in the words spoken by the angel to Joseph in Matthew 1 and from Luke’s own comment about the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.

Matthew 1:21, “You shall call His name Jesus, for he will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:23 “23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.””

Sometimes, in our modern culture, I think we either care too much about the birth of Jesus or too little about the birth of Jesus—we see it reflected in how churches tend to function during this time of year.

Some go way overboard with projections that cost thousands of dollars, with staffs of people doing hundreds of different things, lights, and snow machines—and it’s a production that last several days, sometimes weeks, and occasionally a month.

Others swing the pendulum the opposite direction, where the very idea of celebrating Christmas in church is met with strict adherence to the regulative principle—and a firm reminder that the birth of Jesus isn’t as important as His death, burial, and resurrection.

As with most things in life, there is a proper balance to it—we ought to celebrate His birth just like we celebrate His death, burial, and resurrection because it is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that God saves us.

It is right for us to take some time and reflect on His birth:

Particularly how His birth fulfills prophecies—because without the fulfillment of prophecies, He wouldn’t have been Messiah.

And the supernatural means through which His birth occurred, which shows us God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.

And the simple fact that He did all this to reconcile us to Himself, which shows us God’s love for us, His willingness to go through such great lengths for our salvation, and His desire for His people to be saved.

Again, we can have joy as we celebrate Jesus’ birth because through His birth, death, burial, and resurrection, God made a way for us to be with Him—through Jesus, He saves His people.

Put simply, what we learn from Matthew 1:1-24, is that Christmas can and ought to be a joyful time for those of us who are Christians. At the very least, because Christmas shows us a God who is in absolute and complete control and a Savior who loves us and goes through tremendous means to save His people.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

Joy to the World (224)