The Christ is Born
Notes
Transcript
You may have noticed that over the past few weeks the texts that we have been looking at have more or less corresponded with the advent candle that we were lighting. However, what I have focused on more in the last month was what these texts communicate about to us about who Jesus in. And thus this has provided for us a primer in Christology - or a short overview in what the Bible teaches us about Jesus. The primary way that we have heard about who Jesus is and how he was prophesied about was through the names he would be called.
The primary feature in our texts from the past few weeks during this series in advent we have focused on various different names and attributes for Jesus that we are taught in the Bible. Names are often used in the Bible to communicate more than just what others called them. While we may just name our children something because we like how it sounds, or because we wanted to name them after someone - many instances in the Bible someone is named something because of what it communicates about the situation or the we see this pretty clearly with Abraham whose name means blessed father, or Isaac whose name means laughter, or the various names that Hosea names his children.
And today we’ll be looking at three names that Jesus is given in Matthew 1. But first to recap the names and descriptions that we looked at in recent weeks.
From Isaiah 7:14, which we will look at again today, we read that Jesus will be called Immanuel, God with us.
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.
In Micah 5 we learned that Jesus is the ruler of old born in Bethlehem to shepherd his people, who he himself is their peace.
“Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of Peace”,
Ruler, Shepherd, King, Savior,
And if you recall the past few weeks there’s a lot of meaning in these titles. Here however, we read three names that are applied to our Lord and Savior. The first of which from Matthew’s editorial comments and the other two from the angel telling Joseph different names that he will be called.
These names are:
Christ
Jesus
Immanuel
The way that this text picks up following the genealogy demonstrates that the birth of Jesus was peculiar. His birth is different from all of the names that were just listed, and every other human birth in all history. And that was evident in our text from last week - It’s not every day that angels come to proclaim a birth.
And in the narrative we are shown what makes this birth remarkable.
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.
A virgin conceives a child through the Holy Spirit. And this message is communicated for two purposes. Primarily, to communicate to Joseph that he shouldn’t dump his wife to be. This relationship was not merely an engagement, but rather a betrothal, a legal engagement that could only be broken off with a legal divorce - SO binding that Matthew calls Joseph her husband. But this verse in addition to informing us about the miracle of the virgin birth, and the incarnation of the Lord Jesus - also gives us the first of these names.
Christ
Christ
The first of these names, or titles is Christ. Now Christ isn’t technically a name. It isn’t Jesus’ last name. And it is not a profanity - or at least it shouldn’t be. But rather it is a title. And it is a title with a strong significance in the Old Testament. However, it doesn’t appear in the Old Testament.
Matthew opens our text for today with “the birth of Jesus Christ took place this way.” And this comes on the heels of the genealogy of Jesus. The genealogy begins with the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of Abraham.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Jesus as the son of David and the Son of Abraham is tied to this title of Christ. It shows that Matthew is clearly asserting that Jesus is the fulfillment promises that have been made to Israel. He is the one that they have been waiting for.
Matthew begins his gospel by strongly declaring that Jesus is the long awaited Christ. He is the fulfillment of prophesy made to Abraham and David. God promises both Abraham and David that they will have a son. Abraham finds this promise fulfilled in his son Isaac, and yet their is a continued promise that Abraham is made alongside - through you all families of the earth will be blessed. Matthew is by the statement of Jesus being the son of Abraham stating that he is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.
But he also connects that to the Davidic covenant. Where David was promised that the Lord would make him into a dynasty and that his offspring would be a king whose kingdom would have no end. Solomon son at first seems as if he might fit the bill for this promise from the Lord but then it is quickly shown that he leaves some to be desired. Likewise, Matthew is by the statement of Jesus being the son of David stating that he is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant.
The genealogy establishes Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of David. The King. All of these descriptions mean the same thing. So when Matthew refers to Jesus as the Christ for the 3rd time in verse 18 he has already well defended what he means by that in the historical sense.
However, in the literal sense - you might wonder what does Christ actually mean? We know that the Christ is the savior, the son of David… but why do we use the word Christ…Christ is a title meaning anointed one. Christ and Messiah mean the same thing. Christ comes from Greek, Messiah comes from Hebrew.
Who are the people who are anointed in the Bible? The King, and the priest. Jesus is shown as both our great high priest and our king in Scripture.
Now the second of these names is the one that we general refer to him as - Jesus
You shall call his name…
You shall call his name…
This name is introduced by way of the angel telling Joseph “you shall call his name” the angel is telling Joseph what to name this child. And telling him what the name means.
Interestingly when the angel appears to Joseph in the dream. He makes first an appeal to Joseph’ lineage. He states “Joseph, Son of David.” He reminds Joseph that he comes from the line of David, and with the rest of these statement he is telling him that this boy will be king.
Joseph is told that he will name this child Jesus. But there is a further statement following the instruction of his that further demonstrates the importance of the name.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
You shall call his name…
Now there is some debate over whether or not Jesus’ name was actually Jesus, or if it was Jeshua, or Jehoshua. And honestly none of that is important. And in short, here’s why - the New Testament refers to him as Jesus and that’s sufficient… However, what I have found is interesting about that whole conversation is in my personal experience those people get so caught up in how to pronounce his name that they often ignore who he is.
One example of this, is a man that I met one day when I was living in Louisville. I was on my lunch break from work and I was heading over to Chick-fil-a and there was a man standing on the sidewalk with a sign that read “Christianity has failed” so I walked over to him and talked to him about the sign he was holding. At some point I say something about Jesus and he corrects me and says that’s not his name, his name was Jehoshua. But then a few moments later he denied the divinity of Jesus, and the Trinity.
It’s ironic, and frankly foolish, that someone would insist that you can only know Jesus by a name that’s not listed in the Bible, the book that reveals him to us, and meanwhile ignoring who he is as listed in that same book. Now it is very possible that Jesus’ name in Hebrew or Aramaic was Jeshua, or Jehoshua - but the inspired Scriptures give us the name Jesus. But insisting upon a pronunciation and missing his character misses the person altogether. Jesus saves, but you have to be talking about the right Jesus. Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and most of the world around us are not talking about the same Jesus that we are.
The angel gives Joseph the name Jesus, because he will save his people. The name Jesus means YHWH Saves, the Lord Saves. So even at his birth, and in his very name is the confession that Jesus saves.
They shall call his name
They shall call his name
The second name we read he will be called is Immanuel. Notice the similarity to where Joseph is told what to name Jesus… you shall call his name… and the statement about Immanuel here… they shall call his name and then the description of what it means.It follows the same format as when Joseph is told that he is to call his son Jesus, but the scope changes. They shall call… the text is making a statement about his identity.
This statement is much more than just about what name Jesus will be called, but about his very identity. A few weeks ago we glanced at Isaiah 7:14 the text that is referenced here in verse 23.
A prophecy that was spoken to King Ahaz. Yet Ahaz seemingly rejects this promise - refusing to look for the sign that he is told. Instead he partners with Assyria, instead of trusting the Lord, and is soon after conquered by Assyria. And yet that isn’t that unfamiliar of a response today, and it was the same response that many had in Jesus day. That doesn’t stop reality though.
God, stepped into history, took on human flesh, was born of a virgin came and dwelt among his people.
His name is Jesus, but he will be the Immanuel. He will be God dwelling among his people. God with us.
Christology
Christology
But you cannot ignore who Jesus is merely by claiming his name. We beautifully confess
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
As well as
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
But you have to know who Jesus is…
The name Jesus Christ is not merely a magical word. The reason that we can confess that the name of Jesus is beautiful is because of who the name reveals to us.
There is a hymn in our hymnal, #95 called Jesus is the Sweetest Name I know. And in contemporary praise and worship music there’s several songs that touch on this idea of how wonderful the name of Jesus is. And while I agree that the name of Jesus is a wonderful - it is not merely the sound of the name, or knowing the name - but you must also know who Jesus is. You must also believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. While the name is beautiful it is not magical…
An example of this is from a terrible TV show that aired for about 15 years called Supernatural… not an endorsement by any means - but in one of the early episodes they had this issue where there was a demon on an airplane and to dispel it they had to say “Christos” which is of course a play at the title that Jesus takes on and fulfills - but that’s not what we mean by there being power in the name of Jesus. Magic things don’t happen just by saying Jesus’ name. Muslims “believe” in a Jesus - but they reject that the was born of a virgin, and that he is the sin of God. That doesn’t sound like Jesus to me. Mormons “believe” in a Jesus. Who was created and is the brother of Satan. That’s not the Jesus of the Bible - who we, as Christians, confess is an everlasting ruler, the alpha and the omega, one who was begotten not made.
Colossians - you cannot be a Christian and believe the wrong things about Jesus. I’m not saying you need to have perfect theology to be saved - but if you profess to believe in Jesus
Conclusion
Conclusion
The names that are given for Jesus in this text give us a significant picture of who he is.
Jesus - The Lord saves his people
Christ - the King, the fulfillment of promises
Immanuel - God with us.
And when we put that all together these titles teach us that God became a man to dwell among us to so that he might save his people, and yet he as the Christ takes on the role of the Eternal King whose kingdom will have no end.
One of the most important questions that you will answer in this life is “Who is Jesus?”
The late musician Tom Petty once said in an interview “no one gets Christ more wrong than the Christians.” Now he was wrong, though I think many self professed “Christians” may get Jesus wrong but it is not the Christians we get Jesus the most wrong - it’s those who hear of who Jesus is, and what he has done and do anything other than repent of their sins, look to Jesus for forgiveness, and profess Jesus as God and Lord.
We cannot afford get Jesus wrong. It is quite literally a matter of life or death, heaven or hell.
And that’s the question that the Christian must answer every day… who is Jesus? If he is indeed your savior - you believe that he live a perfect life, died to bring your forgiveness for your sins, and rose again conquered death and bringing you new life - then it changes everything about how you live your life. How you make decisions, where you find your hope and your encouragement. It changes
If it doesn’t change anything for you then you either do not know Jesus, or do not understand the gospel.
However, if you do not know Jesus and you want to - don’t leave this morning without talking to someone about that.