The Announcement of the King
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Intro:
Intro:
Good evening, so good to be here with you today. Would you pray with me. PRAY
Illustration
I read this story about a Persian Monarch , Shah Abbis was his name, who loved his people very much. And to know and better understand his people, he would often mingle with his subjects in various disguises.
one day he went as a poor man to the public bath and in a tiny cellar he saw a man sitting beside the furnace, it was the fireman responsible for keeping the furnace going.
When it was meal time, the monarch shared the man’s coarse food and talked to his lonely subject as a friend. Again and again the monarch visited and the man grew to love him. One day the Shah told him he was the monarch, expecting the man to ask some gift from him.
but the fireman sat gazing at his ruler with love and wonder and at last he spoke “ You left your palace and your glory to sit with me in this dark place, to eat of my coarse food, to care whether my heart is glad or sorry. On others you may bestow rich presents, but to me you have given yourself, and it only remains for me to pray that you never withdraw the gift of your friendship”.
This beautiful story reminds us of our King Jesus who left the glories of heaven in order to share Himself with us. That, the gift of His love and friendship will never be withdrawn from us.
Transition
This is what we will be looking at as we go through the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew’s main focus as he writes this book is to convince the Jewish readers that Jesus is the Promised King, the Messiah.
And Matthew’s first step in proving that Jesus is the promised coming King is to prove that Jesus comes from the right lineage, from the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob , from the tribe of Judah and from the line of King David. Randy did an amazing job last week walking us through this in the genealogies.
but today we will look at “ The Announcement of the Coming King”. The king who willfully chose to leave the glories of heaven, who took on flesh, in order that He would make a way of reconciliation between man and God.
so if you have your bibles, turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 1 starting in verse 18.
I. The Birth of Jesus Announced(v.18)
A. Mary Found to be with Child (v. 18)
now as we start off on this journey through the book of Matthew, we see Matthew record the birth of Jesus really from the viewpoint of Joseph.
Matthew does not go into all the details of the announcement or the birth of Jesus like the Luke does. This is why we tend to read the account in the Gospel of Luke during Christmas time as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour , the incarnation .... God stepping into flesh and coming down in the form of man to rescue the world.
now we are told here that Mary was found to be with Child after she was “betrothed” to Joseph and before they came together. This gives us insight into the timeframe of when this took place.
the pregnancy of Mary happened during the “betrothal period”.
Ancient Israel Marriage
now in order to get the full picture of what is happening we need to understand how a marriage took place during Ancient Israel.
I remember when my wife and i go married, We first met in Jr High School. We began dating in high School, i actually became a Christian because of her.
After high school we were engaged. We were engaged for a year. During this time, we planned for the wedding, we paid for the wedding, the honeymoon, we rented a place for us to live in..... then on April 19,2003 we got married. Actually today is our 20 year anniversary.
but this is a standard wedding in our days.
in Ancient Isreal the marriage was usually arranged by the fathers of the boy and girl when they were young. There was an agreement that they would unit their children when they were of age. At an point during this time, the arranged marriage could be called off.
When the couple was of age and ready for marriage, they would begin the marriage process. The marriage ceremony was a 2 step process. Normally a Jewish contract was created, called a “katubah”. This is where the dowery that was to be paid to the brides father would be decided and agreed upon
Betrothal Ceremony- They would have a ceremony where the couple was considered married yet they would still live with their parents. A part of this ceremony was to partake of the cup of sanctification. This symbolized the sanctity of the marriage relationship, a separation from others. At this point, the only way to break off the marriage was through a certificate of Divorce.
this betrothal period was usually 6 - 12 months.
2. Marriage Ceremony- After the Betrothal period, the couple would get together for the marriage ceremony. During this ceremony they would partake of the cup of consummation. At this time the husband and wife would be united.
it was during this 6-12 month Betrothal period of time where Mary was found to be with Child.
Transition
now While the Gospel of Matthew focuses on this announcement of the king through the eyes of Joseph, the Gospel of Luke focuses on this event through the eyes of Mary.
Luke gives us insight into how Mary found out that she would be carrying the Son of God. Something to keep in mind is the age of Mary and Joseph. Most scholars believe that they were young , possibly teenagers which was the normal age of marriage in this culture.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
Now it is of importance to note that both accounts in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew tell us that the Mary is found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.
Luke tells us that Mary was a virgin, that she had not known a man, Matthew tells us that this pregnancy happened before she knew Joseph.
In other words, the birth of Jesus was through supernatural means. His birth was of divine origin. And this is important. The doctrine of the virgin birth is important to the whole structure of our fundamental theology.
think this through with me....
If Jesus had been born of a Natural Father
He would have inherited the human sinful nature from Adam
his death on the cross would not have served as the substitutionary sacrifice us.
2. He would not have been Infinite
he would not have been able to die for an entire world.
3. He would have been merely a zealous religious leader
he could not have been the “only begotten” of the Father, He could not be God
4. Then we could not trust the Scriptures
the old testament prohecies would not be fulfilled and the bible would be unreliable
TRANSITION - Jesus is God
so it is important to note that the birth of Jesus was supernatural, it was of Divine nature, because He is Divine
The Gospel of John is written to prove Jesus’ Deity, to prove that Jesus is God. And he would tell us ....
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
John was telling us that Jesus was the Word who was from the beginning, He created all things.... Jesus is God who stepped down to earth as a man. This is what we call the “Incarnation”.
J.I . Packer- Knowing God
“The Son of God is the Word of God. When, therefore, the bible proclaims Jesus as the Son of God, the statement is meant as an assertion of his distinct personal deity. The Christmas message rests on the staggering fact that the child in the manger was- God”.
this fact that Jesus’ birth was supernatural would be important for the Jewish readers to understand as Matthew is presenting a case of Jesus being the Messiah, the promised King.
II. Joseph’s Response to the Announcement (v.19-25)
A. Joseph Hears about the news (v.19)
now we really don’t know how Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant as the scriptures do not tell us. But at some point he heard the news. And he must have been devastated by this
interesting that Joseph is called “her husband”. Remember the marriage process during this culture. Joseph and Mary had partaken of the betrothal ceremony. They had partaken of the cup of sanctification, they were considered married already at this point.
Therefore, the act of being unfaithful during this betrothal period was considered adultery and had great consequences.
this is why Joseph was looking for a divorce. But we are told that he wanted to do this secretly, he didn’t want to make this a big public scene where Mary and possibly him would have their reputations ruined. This goes to show you the love he might have had for Mary in spite of the news he received.
but we are also given great insight into who Joseph was. We are told that Joseph was a “just man”.
Just man- speaks of, just in the eyes of God, or approved by God.
one definition described it as- “not consistent with his uprightness to expose his betrothed to public reproach”
so the act of exposing Mary was not in line with his character. To expose Mary would be to cause harm, humiliation and possibly death.
this gives us insight into who Joseph was and what type of home Jesus would have grown up in. It is very possible that this was the character that God was looking for in a man who would be used to raise Jesus.
B. God Speaks to Joseph in a Dream (v.20-23)
i would ask you to put yourself in the shoes of Joseph. He is betrothed to the young woman he loves, he is preparing a home for them to live in and where they will raise their family.
all of a sudden, he hears the news that Mary is pregnant. He knows that this baby is not his because he has not been with Mary in this way.
the thoughts and emotions must have taken over. “what happened?”, “why would she do this?”, “who is the father?”, “what am i supposed to do?”, “what will people think of her?”, “what will people think of me?” “ what are my parents going to say?” , “ how do i go about getting a divorce without anyone knowing?”.
we are told while he thought about this things, he must have fallen asleep, because God speaks to Joseph in a dream through an angel.
Transition
all of these thoughts and decisions that had to be made must have created fear and possibly anxiety in Joseph, because the first thing that the Angel tells Joseph, is not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
it is interesting that God comes to Joseph to bring comfort at the time he needed it most.
God Brings Comfort
With reassurance of His Presence (v.20)
See God sends an angel to speak to Joseph in a dream on God’s behalf. Often times , knowing that God is with us , brings comfort in the midst of a difficult situation. Knowledge of His presences brings comfort and strength .
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
2. With reassurance of His Purpose (v.21)
the angel tells Joseph that Mary is carrying a baby of the Holy Spirit and His name shall be “Jesus”, for He will save His people.
interesting that the name Jesus in the Hebrew is “Yehoshua” or Joshua. which means - Yaweh is salvation
we see a neat parallel in the old testament with Moses who was a representation of the Law of God, as God gave the law thru Moses. Yet we understand that the Moses was unable to take the people into the promise land. God would raise up Joshua to take take the place of Moses and would eventually lead the people into the promise land.
the parallel is clear, that the law is important but it would never be able to take you and into the place where we could save ourselves by our own good works, we could never obtain a right standing with God based on our keeping of the law.
this is the main problem with humanity, that our sins have kept us from being able to have a relationship with God, and no matter how good we try to be, or how much we try to keep the law, our works will never be good enough to obtain a right standing with God.
But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
As the children of Israel, the law could never bring us into a right standing with God. But God would send His only begotten Son to the earth to take on the sins of the world in order that through Him we might obtain a right standing.
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
We are now saved by the grace of God and not our works of the flesh.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Transition
See the very name of Jesus was a description of His mission, to save the world. God is telling Joseph that their is a purpose for this baby, there is a purpose for this difficult situation that he is going through.
The purpose was to make a way for the world to be saved through His Son
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
3. With the Reassurance of His Promises (v.22-23)
- God brings clarity to the promises found within the word of God.
God is telling Joseph that there is a reason that these things are happening the way they are. Jesus would have to be born this way, of a Virgin Birth in order to fulfill the old testament prophecies. Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise of the coming Messiah, the coming king.
remember that Matthew is writing to convince Jewish readers that Jesus is the King , the Messiah, so it is no surprise that some 20 times in the Gospel of Matthew this saying is referenced. “That it might be fulfilled”. Each time paralleling what Jesus has just said or done with what was prophecied by the Jewish prophets.
Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies on His time on earth, from how the Messiah would be born all the way to how the Messiah would die.
Here the angel makes reference to .
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
this is the reason Mary was pregnant right now and the way she was pregnant, in order to fulfill this prophecy
Now Joseph is told that they will call Jesus is “Immanuel”, which is translated “God with us”.
This is in reference to God taking on flesh and coming down to earth, God has come down to us. This is the promise found within the scriptures, the promise of the coming Messiah. Jesus being the third member of the God head, came down to earth, took on flesh and died on the cross for our sins, in order to make a way for us to be reconciled with God.
God has made a way to have an intimate relationship with us through His Son.
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—
this is the ultimate promise found within God’s word, that God has made a way for us to have a relationship with Him.
Transition
now i don’t want to miss the practical things that are happening here. Because God is giving Joseph comfort, direction and promises through his word at the moment that he probably needed it the most.
i am reminded of a story in 1 Kings 18-19. In these chapters we see the Prophet Elijah have a great victory over the 450 prophets of Baal. The evil Queen Jezebel hears about what happens and threatens Elijah , she is going to kill him.
in his fear, we see him run for his life. We see him cry out to God in fear “I have been very zealous for the Lord”, “i alone am left and they seek to take my life”.
we see that at this low moment of Elijah’s life God speaks to him
God speaks to Elijah in a still small voice - God told Elijah to go stand by the mountain before the presence of the Lord, and the Lord passed by him. His voice was not in the strong wind, or in the earthquake, but was in a small voice , asked him “what are you doing here?”
2. God Gives Elijah direction - tells him to go your way back to the wilderness, anoint Jehu as king and anoint Elisha as the prophet to take his place (1 King 19:15)
3. God comforts Elijah with a promise- tells him that he is not alone, he has 7,000 men who have not bowed a knee to Baal.
and i want you to know that God often works in our lives in the same way in the midst of our anxiety and fear, during the pressures of life that can overwhelm us, it’s within that still small voice of God, that he brings comfort and direction through his word and through his promises.
God would say to Joseph, i have a plan for your life, i have a plan for what is happening in your life, even with this impossible situation that has shaken up your life.
maybe today you are here with a heavy heart. You are dealing with a heavy situation, you have decisions to make, you are not sure why things are happening the way they are.....
God would say the same thing to you and I today. I have a plan for your life, i have a purpose for this situation you are dealing with , in the midst of your anxiety and fear, know that you are not alone, i am with you
the Beautiful promise that God is with us.
C. Joseph Honors God (v. 24-25)
Joseph now wakes up from his dream and we are told that he does what God has told him to do. We see that Joseph is completely obedient to God.
he honors God and Mary by taking her as his wife and he names the baby Jesus just as God commanded.
We cannot neglect to see the great character of Joseph
Character of Joseph
He was a just man- a man who pleased God. Lived a life that was in line with God and his word
He was selfless- he thought about Mary and not just himself, didn’t want her to suffer harm
He trusted God’s promises , God’s plan and God’s timing
if i’m honest it is not always easy to surrender to God’s plan and timing. We want the promises of God, but we don’t want to deal with his timing or His methods of fulfilling these promises.
Joseph showed great character in surrendering his will for God’s will in order to bring pass the promises of God to the whole world
4. He obeyed completely the word of God
D. Birth of Jesus (v.25)
time does not allow us to go into all of the details of the birth of Jesus but i do want to read a portion from Luke in order to get a full understanding of the Coming of the King.
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
a beautiful reminder of God’s love for you and me. He was willing to step into flesh and be born in a lowly way, to live in this evil world and suffer reproach , suffer unjustly … and ultimately to die on the cross for you and I. Just so He could be with you.
J.I Packer
“ The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity- hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of Glory because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross. It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear”.
IMMANUEL , GOD WITH US- THIS IS OUR KING