The King Has Come: God With Us
Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 39:30
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· 7 viewsJesus Christ, truly God and truly man, saves His people from their greatest enemy. Our greatest enemy is the sin which dwells within our own hearts.
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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.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
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.
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).
When Joseph woke from sleep, 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.
Prayer
It’s important to remember what Matthew has just told us.
Matthew begins his book with a genealogy that traces Jesus’ ancestry directly back to King David, and then on back to Abraham himself. Fascinatingly, Matthew stylizes his genealogy, dividing it into three generations of fourteen. And fourteen, as any good Jew would have known, was the number arrived at by adding up the values of the three Hebrew letters D-V-D, “David.” Matthew, like all the other Christians, practically screams as he begins his story about Jesus, “King! King! King!”
Matthew has just told us that the King who will sit on the throne of David forever is Jesus.
Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, saves His people from their greatest enemy. Our greatest enemy is the sin which dwells within our own hearts.
And now we’re going to hear him tell us how this King will be born.
Matthew 1:18 (ESV)
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
Jesus Christ is emphasized here to show the uniqueness of Christ.
Jesus, the Messiah, is the ONE who will be unlike every king who has come before Him.
He will be unlike every other king from the way He is born even to His death.
Matthew is showing us that Jesus’s birth will be strikingly different from every person who has come before.
There is a kind of uniqueness with the Lord’s birth.
Resolve
Resolve
“Divorcing Her Secretly” (Matthew 1:18-19)
Matthew 1:18 (ESV)
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew emphasizes the “beforeness” of their marital union.
Mary’s pregnancy is said to be have been “caused” by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the ONE who accomplished Mary’s pregnancy.
Betrothal
Betrothal
“Legal Pledge for Marriage”
Explain Betrothal...
More serious than ENGAGEMENT.
She had NOT shared in marital union at this point.
Couples were allowed little privacy.
Joseph probably did not know Mary well.
They had NOT consummated the marriage.
They had NOT come together as a couple.
BUT she was found to be with a child.
He would have hardly any reason to trust her when she claimed that she was not with another man.
Joseph was doing the only thing he knew to do.
Now it doesn’t take much for us to consider how Joseph would respond to something like this.
Joseph would be upset.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
Notice the way that Joseph is described.
He is described as being a “just man”
This serves as both a description but also as the reason for what he is about to do.
His righteous character is the reason for his desire to divorce her quietly.
He didn’t want to make this divorce a “spectacle” but also knew what the law required.
“If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her,
then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
The law required BOTH parties to be stoned.
But Joseph doesn’t pick up stones because the other man was not found.
There was no other man so he was not going to be unfaithful to the law…
This left him in a bit of a pickle.
Since he was righteous, he couldn’t stand the thought of having others assume he has an illicit child....
But he also didn’t want to be degrading toward Mary… and how could he even trust her anymore?
But what does Joseph choose to do?
Decided for Divorce
Decided for Divorce
“Unwilling for Shame”
He used a “legal loophole” (Carson, Matthew)
He chooses to divorce her quietly.
He seeks to uphold the law but also save her from experiencing great shame and dishonor.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
But notice what happens....
Matthew 1:20 (ESV)
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream
The angel of the Lord came to Joseph in the midst of his considering to divorce Mary.
Have you ever had an experience where a person answers a question for you while nobody else knew you were considering it?
Take that situation and go 10 fold.
Revelation
Revelation
“Don’t Fear Taking Her” (Matthew 1:20-21)
Joseph was deeply focused on his dilemma and the angel comes to him to give him direction.
This is NOT without precedent in the Old Testament.
Usually when God was doing something amazing in the Old Testament...
He would confirm it through angelic messengers.
Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, and many others could be mentioned.
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.
The reason the angel gives for why Joseph should take Mary to be his wife is the child is conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Mary HAS been faithful to Joseph.
She has NOT been unfaithful to him.
The angel is NOT saying that Joseph is necessarily fearful of taking Mary...
Rather he shouldn’t “shrink back” from the task before him.
Notice the reasons for this....
Matthew 1:20 (ESV)
“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.
Supernatural
Supernatural
“Divine Origin”
The conception that has occured in Mary is NOT normal.
It is NOT common and has come FROM the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of the dual natures of Christ is critical for our understanding of the gospel.
If Christ is not truly God, then he is not able to bear the sins of humanity.
In the same way, if Christ is not truly human, he will not be able to empathize with sinners.
The dual nature’s of Christ reveal how Jesus could say.
It is his joy to go to the cross, and simultaneously say, father not my will, but your will be done.
This doctrine is critical for the understanding of Christ.
We need a Savior who is truly God and truly man.
And the beauty of this text is that we see the angel tell Joseph that such a Savior is coming.
And we need a Savior who can do his.
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
We also see.....
Matthew 1:20 (ESV)
“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.
Sovereign
Sovereign
“Divine Control”
The same one conceived from the Holy Spirit is the same one called Immanuel.
God with Us.
300 Quotations and Prayers for Christmas God Must Be with Us before We Can Be with God
We could not be “with God,” but God must first be “man with us.” We were once with God in Adam, before he fell; but there being a breach made, we cannot be recovered again till God be with us. He must take our natures that He may reconcile our persons.
Matthew 1:20–21 (ESV)
“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.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Salvific
Salvific
“Saved from Our Enemy”
The angel tells Joseph that Mary will have a son and he shall name him, “Jesus”
Jesus’ name is from the Hebrew “Yeshua” which means “Yahweh Saves”
It’s interesting to note what the angel tells Joseph Jesus will save His people from.
One may think, “From the Romans.”
“From enemy oppressors”
“From all those people who are keeping us captive”
In a similar way to Israel was held captive, an Israelite audience would have this in mind.
But to hear what the angel says is all the more striking.
Their sins appear to be the thing which is enslaving the people.
Jesus tells people this later in the gospel of John…
“and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””...
They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
According to the angel of the Lord and according to Jesus.
Mine and your problem is NOT against other people.
It’s fundamentally a war against sin.
The doctrine of sin shows us our real enemy is not other humans.
Our real enemy is not other governments.
Our real enemy is not a lack of education.
Our real enemy is not the fact that people are not “nice”.
This text shows us that our greatest enemy is SIN.
We’re not sinners because we sin. We sin because we’re sinners.
Parents
To believe that our greatest enemy is sin means that the words “I expected better of you” should never come from our mouth.
We should always be saying…
“I know the sin that is plaguing you because it plagues me too.”
Church
to believe that our greatest enemy is sin means that we should not expect the people who enter our front door to have their lives in order.
It means that we should expect sin to be deeply ugly way.
If we are to measure ourselves against one another.
I can guarantee you we look pretty good.
Unfortunately, at times, this is how the life of the church operates.
Rather than examining your life according to scripture.
You examine your life according to one another.
It sounds like this “I’m not nearly as bad as this person.”
Parents
it often sounds like this, “Little Jimmy is not nearly as bad as little Bobby down the road.”
So rather than disciplining them when they sin, we are content to allow them to continue to walk in rebellion.
Spouses
It sounds like this, “My marriage isn’t as bad as the Johnsons down the road, so why do I need to be concerned about the way that I speak to my wife.”
This kind of sin comparison does not take the doctrine of sin seriously.
It does not take what God‘s perspective of sin seriously.
We need to believe a doctrine of sin in our lives such that when we see sin come out of us, we don’t justify it.
We don’t minimize it.
We don’t excuse it.
We kill it.
“Be killing sin lest sin be killing you.”
-John Owen
Sin is a whole person response.
This means that repentance must be a whole person response as well.
Notice how Joseph turns and does what the angel has told him.
Since we live in the war torn, sin stained world that the angel of the Lord describes…
Then we need a liberator.
Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, saves His people from their greatest enemy. Our greatest enemy is the sin which dwells within our own hearts.
Matthew then goes on the explain how all of this was a fulfillment of Scripture.
Reversal
Reversal
“Turning Things Around”
Satisfy
Satisfy
“Fulfilling Scripture”
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).
I want you to pay mind to the fulfillment that Matthew draws attention to.
He quotes from a passage in Isaiah 7, where the people of Israel were under great oppression.
Ahaz was the king of Judah at the time and they had two “super-powers” bearing down on them.
God promises Ahaz....
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Prophecy in the Old Testament
Has been described as viewing multiple mountain ranges.
When you look out over a vista, it is difficult to discern how far mountain tops are from one another.
The same is true of biblical prophecy.
The promise to Ahaz was a child would be given to deliver the people from the oppression they were currently facing.
This child would come and be the deliverer they needed to get them out of their current situation.
Now this is all well and good except for the way the child is described later.
The child is described in language that seem to move beyond the temporary child that God was sending.
It is difficult to determine what is fulfilled in that particular day and what is fulfilled later on.
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.
How could this be the child born in Isaiah’s day?
If you were to ask the biblical authors they would say…
IT’S NOT about that temporary son.
There is ANOTHER ONE who is coming to fulfill this....
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. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
The fulfillment we see from the prophet Isaiah is that there will be one who comes and puts our greatest enemy to route.
He put to death our sin.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Christian
This means that if you are united with Christ, you have died to the body of sin.
You have been buried with him in his death, and you live in the life he now lives.
This is transformational when it comes to the way we put our sin to death.
We no longer wallow in our sin, we confess it, we turn from it, and we hate it.
Weak Conscience Christian
There are some Christians, typically those who are much more sensitive in conscience.
When they have sinned, they hate their former way of sin.
But sometimes what they will do is try to make themselves feel really bad for the “really bad sins”
They try to throw their sins back on themselves to show how sorry they are for them.
Notice what Joseph does then…
When Joseph woke from sleep, 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.
In light of what the angel has told him, he responds.
Took His Wife
Took His Wife
“Fulfilled His Commitment”
He doesn’t just say, “I know what God says, but it will be highly inconvenient, so I’ll continue the way that I’m going.”
Rather, he gets up and does all that God has told him to do.
Joseph had a task here from the angel…
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Named his Son
Named his Son
“Legally Adopted”
Joseph goes ahead and adopts Jesus to be his own.
He goes ahead and takes at cost a child that is NOT his own.
All at the command of God.
Application
No, we don’t respond in the same way that Joseph responded.
We can’t all take Mary to be our wife.
But the response that demanded from this text is no different than Joseph’s.
It’s the response of faith.
Joseph responded to God appropriately by believing the revelation that came to him.
And we, in like manner how to respond to the revelation given to us.
That revelation is that Jesus Christ is the one who has come to deliver us from our sins.
And only by believing and trusting and treasuring Christ while turning away from our sins, will we be able to respond in faith.
This new creation the God is creating in Christ is the new creation that needs to be created in each and every one of us.
The same God, who spoke light into being in genesis one, is speaking into the hearts of those who respond by faith.
So the question we need to ask is, are you believing in the one who can redeem you from your sins?