Advent of the King - Matthew 1.

Introduction

I am going to take different slant on the message this morning and my intention is to make it an apologetic sermon. Apologetics is that branch of Christian thought which intends to present a reasonable explanation and/or argument in defense for the Christian faith.

So here is the question, why should you believe that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God incarnate? Is the birth of this man, celebrated by millions of people the world over, really unique? I ask this question because there have been many throughout human history who have claimed to be a deity of some description. A physical representation of God.

False incarnations

I think that it is fair to say that humanity has been infatuated with the concept of incarnation throughout history. I remember watching the program Heracles when I was growing up and he was big and strong and had long flowing hair (which I will never have) and he was the idealistic image of what a big strong tough man should be. It turns out that Heracles is the offspring of an affair that occurred between the greek god Zeus and a human woman named Alcmene. This obviously made Zeus’ wife, the goddess Hera, very upset and so begins that tragedy that is the life of Heracles.

The idea that a deity would or could be embodied in human flesh has also been used to justify and validate both monarchical power and authoritarian rule. Incarnation claims are many. For example, the pharoah’s regarded themselves as gods and this becomes aparent in the confrontation between pharoah (the god of Egypt) and Yahweh (the God of the Jews) in Exodus 7 - 14. Others include the Roman emperors. Tiberius claimed divinity during the life of Jesus. Caligula, Claudius, and Nero claimed divinity during the years of the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ. More contemporary figures like Haile Selassie claimed to be the black Jesus and headed up the Rastafari movement, and the Dalai Lama are also examples.

Another fascinating example are the Japanese emperors who were believed to be descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu, they were living incarnations of this goddess and, therefore, living gods. Hirohito, the emperor of Japan at the time of the Second World War, sanctioned the entry of Japan into an agreement with Germany and Italy, known as the Axis alliance, through much of this was driven by dissatisfaction with how Japan was treated by America and its need for raw materials like oil. One of the reasons why the Japanese were so hard to beat during the war, was because of the motivation of the people of Japan to defend their divine emperor. Once the atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan and Japan subsequently surrendered, the allies convicted and executed a number of Japanese leaders, including Prime Minister Hideki Togo, who was hanged in 1947. Interestingly, this was not the fate of Hirohito. It was decided that he would help the allies establish democracy in Japan. The once glorious emperor was made to renounce his divinity in a Declaration of Humanity on 1 January 1946. The declaration read as follows:

“The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths. They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world”.

— Official translation of the Declaration[4].

The point is that many in history have claimed divinity. Does this mean then that the divinity claims of others disproves the divinity claim of Jesus Christ? Is the claim of Jesus Christ just one among many? My hope this morning is to show you that the birth of Jesus Christ was no insignificant event, but was in reality the birth of the true and rightful King of all creation. Jesus truly is God incarnate. I aim to give you three reasons in defense of the divinity of Jesus from Matthew 1.

I want to say at the outset that I will not be reading through our passage in its entirety at the start. Rather I will read each section under the three points of the message.

1) The Keystone of the arch of History (vs. 1 - 17)

There are two ways to view the history of the coming of Jesus Christ.

The first is to examine it at the eternal level of the Trinity. That is to say that Jesus didn’t begin to exist like you and I upon our human birth. No, Jesus has always existed. He has eternally existed as the second person of the God-Head and has no beginning and will have no end. When God created the world, it was decided that the love that eternally exists between the three distinct persons of the God-Head that Jesus would condescend and take on human flesh so that he could display the eternal love that exists between the three persons of the God-Head to a lost and dying human world. This is what Jesus means when he said to the Pharisees in John 8:58 “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.””

The second is look at it at the human level. That is, we can trace his ancestral lineage all the way back to Abraham (here in the book of Matthew, or all the way back to Adam as Luke does).

Read Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew 1:1–17 ESV

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. 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.

Matthew uses history as a tool to convincingly show that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah in three ways:

a) Jesus fulfills the promises made to Abraham and to David (verse 1).

Look at verse 1: Matthew says, “this is a book of the genealogy of Jesus, the son of David, the son of Abraham”. All that we need to know about Matthew’s view of Jesus is summed up in that verse. Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of David and heir to the promise made to Abraham. What was the nature of God’s promise to Abraham? We looked at that yesterday, didn’t we? God promised that all of the nations of the earth would blessed through him in Genesis 12:1-3.

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

And...

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

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. 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.

Matthew argues that thee words written by Isaiah 700 years before the birth of Jesus, apply to him. Jesus is the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace. It is his government (rule), once established, that will have no end. The throne and kingdom of David rightfully belongs to Jesus and he will rule it with perfect justice and righteousness.

B) Five woman of Faith

Why does Matthew do it? There are no other genealogies that do this!

By including these five woman in the genealogy, Matthew is showing that the grace of God extends even to non-Jewish woman. Remember that woman at this point in history were viewed as second rate citizens. Gentiles were viewed in the same category as dogs. But not in God’s eyes. The grace of God not only extends to them, but these woman of faith of been including in the genealogy of Jesus. God’s grace truly is astounding.

Tamar (vs. 3) and Rahab (vs. 5) both have links to prostitution and come from gentile nations.

Ruth (vs. 5) is a moabite.

Bethsheba (vs. 6) , though not mentioned by name, is the one with whom David committed adultery.

Matthew also records Jesus final words in Matthew 28:18–20“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

c) Matthew’s literary magic (vs. 17)

Skip down with me to verse 17. If Matthew’s readers missed the significance of the Kingly line of Jesus’ decent he then forcefully drives the point home by using a clever literary device.

Wayne E. Ward. The Teacher’s Bible Commentary (The Genealogy and Birth of Jesus (Matt. 1:1–25))

Matthew divides the genealogy into three parts: from Abraham to David, from David to the Exile of the Davidic royal line (the kingdom of Judah, not the kingdom of Israel), and finally from the Exile to Jesus. In order that the reader cannot miss it, Matthew carefully points out that there are fourteen generations in each of these three groups. Not only is fourteen a double seven, the most sacred number of the Hebrews, but it is the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew name, David. The Hebrews used letters to count, somewhat like Roman numerals are used, and the three Hebrew consonants of the name David add up to 14. Even the passing of the generations in the long centuries of expectant waiting for the Messiah was shouting the promise of David’s greater Son!

So what is the point? The point is that Jesus entry into the human world was foretold and promised long before his birth. The false claims of incarnation made by so many before Jesus do not disprove the incarnation, rather they highlight just how incredible and marvelous the real incarnation of Jesus truly is. No would-be demigod has ever been prophesied about and lived on in the commitment and devotion of their followers. Jesus stands alone in historical importance and his birth really is the keystone in the arch of history.

2) Paternal confusion (vs. 18 & 19)

Read Matthew 1: 18 - 19

Matthew 1:18–19 ESV

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.

One of the most famous cinematic scenes in history has to be the exchange between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. As Darth and Luke battle it out on some metal walkway, Darth cuts off Luke’s hand and begins to urge him to come to the dark side. Darth then reminds Luke that he still does not know who his father is. Luke says to Darth Vader - “you killed my father”. To which Darth Vader responds, “No, I am your father”.

Joseph couldn’t say this to Jesus. Even though Joseph was asked to take paternal responsibility for Jesus, Joseph was not the father.

It is interesting that Matthew chooses to highlight Joseph’s experience of the conception of Jesus (we will focus on Joseph’s experience). You may recall that Mark and John’s gospel don’t say anything about the conception and birth of Jesus. Luke gives a detailed account of Zechariah, Elizabeth and Mary’s experience, but is silent in Joseph. Anyway, back you our story.

The reason why Matthew highlights Joseph’s experience is to show unequivocally that Joseph is not the father. Matthew proves that Joseph is not the father in two ways:

A) Joseph’s surprise.

We are told that Mary was found to be with child. Now what the phrase ‘found to be with child’ means exactly is open to interpretation. We know from Luke’s account that the angel visited Mary and told her of what was to happen to her. Luke says that from that point she went with haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant with a child of promise. So does Mary tell Joseph that she is pregnant before she goes, or does she simply come back to him after spending three months with Elizabeth, at which point Mary wouldn’t have had to say much, Joseph would be able to see that his bride to be was pregnant.

Now we don’t have to use too much of our own imaginations to understand how difficult this news must have been for Joseph. Most soap opera’s and Rom-com movies are based around these sorts of scandals. Feelings of betrayal and murderous envy, of bitterness and resentment precede long drawn out arguments, door slamming and plate throwing. Joseph’s response in comparison is somewhat dignified.

B) Joseph’s Decision.

The second piece of evidence that Matthew gives to show that Joseph is not the father, is to point out that Joseph intended to divorce Mary. That would have been a huge decision for Joseph to make. Joseph is said to be a just man. The word just in the Greek is the word Dikaios, which means to be in accordance with God’s law. Matthew tells us that Joseph is just, meaning that Joseph lives in accordance with the law of God. Divorce is not in accordance with God’s law, though provisions were made for it in extreme circumstances. For Joseph, a just man to come to this conclusion, is evidence of how deeply Mary’s apparent betrayal had cut him.

The point that Matthew is driving home, is that Joseph is NOT the father of the child. If Joseph is not the father of the child, then who is?

3) Prophecy confirmed (vs. 20 - 23)

Matthew 1:20–23 ESV

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).

The angels message to Jesus can be seperated into two parts.

a) Angelic Reassurance

Before Joseph is able to carry out his plans to divorce his wife to be, an angel of the Lord visits Joseph, reassures him, and then explains what has happened. There are two essential points here that need to be fleshed out:

Angel calls Joseph by name and states his line of descent

Notice how the angel addresses Joseph. The angel calls him by name. That may seem trivial, but it suggests that Lord knows Joseph intimately and that the Lord cares for Joseph. Secondly, the angel calls Joseph, the Son of David, but why would he do that if Joseph is not the father of Jesus?

The short answer is this, though Joseph did not contribute any of his own genetic material to the conception of Jesus, the Angel was asking Joseph to assume responsibility for the child. In essence, in order for Jesus to be reckoned within the same lineage as David (in accordance with the prophecy), his earthly father needed to come from that same lineage. Joseph did (as we saw from verses 1 - 17) and so Jesus by right can be counted among David’s descendants.

Angel says the child is from the Holy spirit

The importance of Jesus’ immaculate conception cannot be overstated. The evil darkness the has enveloped the world since the fall of Adam is caused by a moral depravity that every man and woman inherits from their parents. Because the father is reckoned by God to be the head of his home, the moral corruption that exists in him and in his children is primarily his responsibility. So when we look back to sin of Adam (Genesis 3), though Eve was the first to take the fruit and eat of it, Adam was responsible for her and Adam was responsible for giving in to his own temptation to eat of the same fruit. Because he stands as the figurehead of all humanity, all humanity is descended from Adam - all of us without exception have inherited his moral corruption (with think bad things, say bad things, and do bad things). In that moment, Adam forsook God as his creator and father and embraced Satan. All of those who would come after him are born with the same moral corruption and, whether we like it or not, Satan the father of temptation and deceit, stands as our father. We are made in his image, not the image of God (John 8:44 - 46; ).

If the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”” were to be fulfilled, then the offspring of eve needs a different father. If Joseph is the father of Jesus, then Jesus is as morally corrupt as the rest of us because his father is a son of Adam. But, if Jesus is indeed the Son of God and his conception is indeed by the Holy Spirit, then Jesus represents a new figurehead, a new line than is no longer bound to the same moral corruption as the sons of Adam. Instead, through faith in Jesus, the sons of Adam can once again be transformed into the sons of God. And that is where the Angel goes in verse 21.

b) The saviour is come (vs. 21)

In my bible this verse is highlighted and underlined and has NNB!! next to it because it summarises the work of Jesus on earth so beautifully. In fact, everything you need to know about the gospel is in this verse.

The angel tells Joseph, that he is to name the child that is to be born to him and Mary, Jesus “For He will save his people from their sins”.

I want to break this sentence down to help you understand it:

The phrase “For He...”

Who is the he? It is Jesus.

What will he do? He will save. The name Jesus in Hebrew means Saviour.

Notice firstly, that this is a sure thing. Jesus will save. There is a certainty about this phrase, the angel isn’t uncertain, he isn’t partial, he doesn’t say maybe Jesus will do, or like scientists love to say (to my great frustration) he will possibly do it, or it could happen, no he says it will happen. As surely as your way to Pietermaritzburg will be blocked by endless queues of trucks or an accident involving trucks is the certainty here with which the angel speaks. It will happen.

Secondly, he says that “he will save”. But how will he save? There are some that argue that Jesus has merely come to show us the way to the father. In fact there is a song written by Rick Founds and famously sung by Mercy Me called “Lord I lift your name on high” and one phrase in that song goes something like, “He came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my debt to pay...” and you know the rest of the song, but the question is does the hymn writer have it right when he says that Jesus came to show the way? While this may seem semantic to you, I would argue that Jesus didn’t just come to show the way, he came to be the way. It is worth changing the lyrics of an otherwise excellent song to match this. Instead of singing he came to show the way, we should sing that he came to be the way.

John 11:25–26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?””

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Acts 4:12 “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.””

Jesus is the way, there is no other.

So the Angel says that Jesus will save. But who will he save? He will save his people. Who are his people? We can answer this on two levels. On the human level we can simply answer this by saying that all who...

Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

On another level, though we could say that there is a unique group of people that God has prepared from before the foundation of the world to give to his son.

John 17:6–12 ““I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

Ephesians 1:3–5“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”

What will he save them from? According to the Angel… he will save them from their sins. Why do we need saving from our sins? Sin is rebellion against God. When we sin we defy God. We reject his law. We confess by our words and actions that we love

Ezekiel 18:20 “The soul who sins shall die. [...] and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

Does Jesus fulfill the Angels prophecy? Does Jesus save his people from their sins? If so, how?

God expects moral perfection from his people. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This was also an expectation of those living in Old Testament Israel (see Leviticus 21:8; Exodus 19:6).

He lived a morally upright and perfect life.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2. His death was able to propitiate the wrath of God.

Romans 3:23–25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

3. Jesus was raised from the dead so that you too could experience eternal life in

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

4) Joseph’s response, and ours.

Matthew 1:24–25 ESV

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.

From Matthew Chapter 1, I have given you three reasons why the baby born to Mary and Joseph in the little town of Bethlehem is no ordinary baby.

Jesus stands as the Keystone to the arch of History.

The events that took place were confusing to Joseph and Mary.

Jesus fulfills all of the prophecies made about him.

The question now is how will you respond? Once the angel had spoken to Joseph, we are told that Joseph did all that the Lord commanded him. You to have a choice. What will you do with the person of Jesus Christ?

Do you recognise the wretchedness and sinfulness of the condition of your own heart. If that is the case then there is good news if you. The baby born to Mary and Joseph has fulfilled the prophecy of the Angel. He will save his people from their sins. Believe on him and you will be saved.

Let us pray...