Matthew 1:18-25 (3)

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Let me invite you to turn to Matthew 1.

We’re going to be looking at verses 18-25 this afternoon.

I’ve chosen Matthew’s account for two reasons (primarily):

We covered the Christmas Narratives in Luke in much detail last year...

Matthew’s account is more succinct and has some different emphases.

With that being said...

…we’re going to jump right in.

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.

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Perhaps you noticed already...

...that Matthew doesn’t begin his record...

...of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry...

…with the story of his birth.

Rather, he began it by:

Establishing the historicity of the man Jesus...

By showing his earthly genealogy.

His reason for doing so appears to be 3 fold:

1.) It showed His real humanity

2.) It showed that He was the lawful descendant of...

…the men through whom it was promised...

…that the Christ/Messiah would come.

3.) It showed that He was the rightful heir to, and fulfilment of...

…the covenant promises made to those men!

You can see that in the way Matthew highlights these men...

...at the beginning and the end of the genealogy:

Matthew 1:1 (ESV)

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Genealogy = “genesis” = origin/existence

Matthew 1:17 (ESV)

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.

This tells us that, both:

The person...

The time...

…were right for the fulfilment of the promises to the Fathers!

And they begin… in verse 18...

…with the Advent of Jesus Christ.

Matthew says this:

Matthew 1:18 (ESV)

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way...

Already, we must be careful — Why?

The word “birth” is the same word as “genealogy” . . .

…In Matthew 1.1

Matthew 1:1 (ESV)

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Did Jesus have a “genesis?”

Yes and No!

Regarding His humanity… Yes! — Absolutely!

Regarding His divinity… Absolutely NOT!

Matthew stresses this distinction repeatedly.

He had done so for the first time, in his genealogy:

Matthew 1:16 (ESV)

16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

“of whom” is in the feminine gender.

Can only be referring to Mary.

You see, Jesus was the legal heir of Joseph

But, the biological child of Mary alone!

He had no earthly father!

He inherited no original sin!

Matthew doubles down on this...

…four more times in our text.

The first is in verse 18...

…where Matthew describes the historical context...

…of Jesus’ birth.

Matthew 1:18 (ESV)

18 ...When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together...

We need to remember that, at this time,...

…a “betrothal” was much more serious than our “engagements” are today.

It was a formal, binding, contractual arrangement...

…that was almost equivalent to marriage itself.

For example:

Deuteronomy 20:7 (ESV)

7 And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’

This commentary explains it well:

From the moment of her betrothal a woman was treated as if actually married. The union could be dissolved only by regular divorce. Breach of faithfulness was regarded as adultery… — WSNT

So, this was a covenantal union...

Just one without final consummation.

We have a very relatable example of this as Christians...

…living in the present age:

2 Corinthians 11:2 (ESV)

2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

This is the relationship of Mary to Joseph...

…as verse 18 continues.

Matthew 1:18 (ESV)

18 ...before they came together she was found to be with child...

How is this possible?

1.) Promiscuity

2.) Power of God!

Matthew leaves no room for doubt:

Matthew 1:18 (ESV)

18 ...before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Months before, when Mary had...

...been told that this would happen...

…she had had the same question.

Luke records it for us:

Luke 1:34–35 (ESV)

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered her, “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.

That’s how!

-Now, look at verse 19.

And remember, that Joseph had not been privy to this conversation.

He appears to have assumed the more practical conclusion.

(Practical is not always best!)

(Simplest explanation is not always right)

Matthew 1:19 (ESV)

19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

This verse begs a lot of questions:

1. Why is he called her husband?

The nature of a betrothal.

2. Was Joseph “righteous?”

Yes!

In the same sense that Simeon was:

Luke 2:25 (ESV)

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel...

3. How was Joseph seen as “just” . . .

…in the way he responds?

We tend to think that this is because...

…he didn’t have her put to death as the Law commanded:

Deuteronomy 22:22 (ESV)

22 “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

But, would this not imply that...

…Joseph was more righteous than the Law itself?

And, we can’t invoke John 8 (Woman caught in adultery).

Earliest manuscripts don’t contain that.

So, what’s going on here?

This is the best explanation I have found:

The law demanded that an adulteress receive the death penalty (Deut 22:21). However, the Jewish community of this time often did not carry out the death penalty; instead, they punished adulteresses through public disgrace. — Faithlife Study Bible

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You see, for a number of reasons...

(Roman occupation being the primary)

…the Jews didn’t often carry out capital punishments in the First Century.

You can see that clearly in the fact...

…that they had to get the Romans...

…to crucify Jesus for them.

Remember:

John 18:31 (ESV)

31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”

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So, it would appear that what they had begun to do instead...

…was to publicly shame and ostracize the adulteress instead.

But, this wasn’t justice at all!

And it could (and probably was, often)...

…a way to gratify a husbands desire for:

Vengeance!

What this tells us about the righteousness of Joseph, is that, he both:

Feared the Lord

Had a forgiving heart.

In other words:

Loved God

Loved his neighbor.

Let me explain.

Joseph (nor any offended person)...

...was given the right (under the Law)...

…to carry out sentences upon their transgressors.

This duty was given to the Civil Magistrates...

…and/or the people collectively.

(and select men at God’s command)

So, Joseph resolved to do the only other thing he could — he:

Matthew 1:19 (ESV)

19 ...resolved to divorce her quietly.

It would appear that this was an allowance given...

…for a situation like Joseph’s in:

Deuteronomy 24:1 (ESV)

1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house...

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So, Joseph is, simultaneously:

Fearing the Lord

Showing mercy/forgiveness to Mary.

(Though she had not really sinned against him)

-But, the Lord doesn’t leave him in the dark.

Look at verse 20.

Matthew 1:20 (ESV)

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.

Why would Joseph fear?

It’s a fearful thing to disobey God for any reason...

Perhaps, he feared:

Consummating an unholy union

Future infidelity from Mary

The scorn of men.

I’m not sure.

But, the angel of the Lord makes it unmistakably clear here...

God has done this!

Fear Not!

Trust in Him!

Marry this girl!

-Now, that alone, was enough of an explanation to warrant obedience.

But, the Lord is gracious...

…and let’s him in on the plan.

Verse 21:

Matthew 1:21 (ESV)

21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Jesus (Greek) = Joshua (Hebrew) = “Yahweh is salvation”

He would save his people...

But, not from Rome

Rather, from:

Sin

Death

Satan

That! ...is why God became a man!

Paul wrote, that:

Galatians 4:4–5 (ESV)

4...when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

5 to redeem those who were under the law...

He explains it again in:

Philippians 2:6–11 (ESV)

6 ...though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

That’s how he saved His people from their sins!

-Now, look at the result:

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

With that in mind…

Look at verse 22:

Matthew 1:22–23 (ESV)

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).

Now, the reference is Isaiah 7:14.

And you may have heard that the Hebrew word that Isaiah uses (Almah)...

…means “young maiden” and not “virgin.”

And you may have heard that the prophecy...

…was fulfilled in Isaiah’s lifetime...

…in the birth of a child named:

Maher-shalal-hash-baz

And all of that is true.

But, it is also true, that:

The Septuagint translates Isaiah 7:14 with the same Word that Matthew uses (under inspiration).

Young maidens in Israel were assumed to be virgins

And...

This prophecy could not have been fully “fulfilled” by Maher-shalal-hash-baz! . . .

Here’s why:

Isaiah 9:6–7 (ESV)

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore...

That’s Jesus Christ… The Incarnate Son of God!

And that’s what Christmas is about.

Our Hymn writers understood it.

Look at what we sang before:

Joy to the world!

Why?

The Lord is come

Consequently:

Let earth receive her King

How is He to be received?

Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room...

AND heav’n AND nature sing.

Joy to the earth!

Why

The Savior reigns.

And...

He rules the world with truth and grace...

And makes the nations prove...

The glories of His righteousness...

The wonders of His love.

And...

He comes to make His blessings flow...

…Far as the curse is found.

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Jesus does that!

This is why we ought to say “MERRY Christmas!”

We have every reason to rejoice!

Because our Lord IS come!

Let’s pray.