Immanuel Has Come

Introduction

Good evening students! It’s great to be back with you. If you were here with us last week, you know that we learned about Jesus being promised by the prophet Isaiah. Our Immanuel, God with us.

Last week our focus was mainly on Mary, and the fact of the Virgin birth. Tonight, we will be considering Joseph and the way God used him in the birth of Jesus.

This week, we are going to see how the story continues. How the prophecy is fulfilled.

We are going to jump right in.

If you have your Bible, let me invite you to open to Matthew, chapter 1. We will be in verses 18-25. If you’re in the black Bible, it’s found on page _ _ _.

Text

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.

Big Idea

Here is the big idea I want us to see from this passage:

We must trust and obey God, even when it doesn’t make sense.

I want us to notice how Joseph had to first trust, and then obey God.

Trust

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.”

Let’s walk through this passage for a moment.

Joseph and Mary were betrothed. This is different from an engagement. Essentially, being betrothed meant you were legally pledged to marry someone. So it wasn’t something easily broken off. If you were to get out of the betrothal process, it would essentially be like divorcing your future spouse before even being with them.

So, Joseph and Marry are pledged to marry each other. However, before they actually got married, before they had been together, Mary found out she was pregnant.

Now stop for a moment and think about this. If Mary was pregnant, and it was before she and Joseph had been together, then who was she pregnant with? Now we know, as we learned last week, that this pregnancy was miraculous, a gift from God. Mary hadn’t been with anyone. But, try convincing Joseph to believe that!

Another fun fact to keep in mind: Mary and Joseph were not old. They were most likely teenagers when this happened. Imagine all of the pressure you would feel, ladies, if you were a young teenager and pregnant with the son of God! Imagine all the pressure you would feel, guys, if you were pledged to be married to this woman and be the earthly father of God’s Son!

Back to the story. So Joseph finds this out, and most likely believes that Marry cheated on him. But, because he’s a good guy and doesn’t want to shame her, (also, in their time, adultery was punishable by stoning. So Joseph wanted to protect Mary from that) he decides that he is going to divorce her quietly as the text tells us.

But then something wild happens.

Joseph is visited by an Angel in a dream. I’ve had some wild dreams before, some that make absolutely no sense, but I’ve never had an angel visit me in a dream. And I bet you haven’t either. This was a special dream used by God to communicate to Joseph. Notice what the angel says to Joseph:

“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.”

The angel says, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. The baby in her isn’t from anyone else, it is from the Holy Spirit. And this baby isn’t just your ordinary baby. This baby will be Jesus, the one who will save his people from their sins. The one who you’ve heard about for hundreds of years. The one that has been promised and prophesied about. This is Him. And you’re going to be the earthly father to Him.

Now, could you imagine the amount of trust that Joseph had to have? Sometimes we read this story and think it is a normal everyday event for your spouse to become miraculously pregnant by the Holy Spirit and to be visited in a dream by an angel to tell you this. All of these things are unique and special, they were not everyday events. Even after hearing these things, I’m sure it took Joseph time to process what had happened and to accept the reality of all that was taking place. It was a lot. It involved trusting God.

This was all to fulfill the prophecy that we looked at last week, Isaiah 7:14. Look what the passage tells us:

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).

This is the moment when it’s finally happening. When it’s finally coming true. This is it! The moment God’s people had been waiting on for hundreds of years. The moment promised many times and prophesied about by God’s prophets. This is it.

Joseph had to trust God. But not only did he have to trust God, he had to obey God.

Obey

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.

Notice what the text tells us. Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. Not only did he trust God, but he obeyed Him. Joseph took Mary as his wife, and waited to be intimate with her until after she gave birth to Jesus.

Here’s where things get tricky. It’s easy to trust in God and say that we do. But it’s a whole other thing to obey God and what He commands us to do.

Going back to the whole idea of how wild all of this is, imagine what those around Mary and Joseph thought. Here is this young teen girl, pregnant before she is married, most likely assumed to be an adulterous woman to those around her, and Joseph, a just man who is pledged to be married to her.

Their reputations had to take a hit. Because remember: the angel of the Lord didn’t come to everyone and tell them these things. It wasn’t a public service announcement that Mary was pregnant with God’s Son and that Joseph would be the father. Imagine trying to explain to someone what was going on. They probably thought Mary and Joseph were insane!

Yet, regardless of what others thought, regardless of what would happen around them, they both had to trust what God told them. That Mary would be the mother of God’s Son through miraculous conception. That Joseph would be the earthly father to him. And not only did they have to trust, but they had to obey. Joseph had to obey God by taking Mary as his wife, not divorcing her, and going through with what God told him.

This probably all didn’t make complete sense to them. Sure, they understood what God had said. But why this way? Why at this time? Why not a different way?

Even when things maybe didn’t make complete sense to them, it made complete sense to God. He had a plan. He was in control. He was fulfilling His promises.

Just as Mary and Joseph had to trust and obey God, we too are called to do the same.

Application

The question for all of us in the room tonight is this:

Where is God calling you to trust and obey?

Every single person in this room is called to trust and obey God. Period. There’s no way of getting around that truth.

Trust and Obey With Our Life

The first area that we all are called to trust and obey God is our life. We are called to trust Him with our life and obey by putting our faith in Jesus.

Did you know that it is disobedience, it is a sin, to not trust in Jesus?

You see, trusting in Jesus is not simply an optional thing. Sure, you can resist and rebel against Him, but know that by doing so, you are actively disobeying God and in sin.

How do we know this? The Bible tells us so.

In Acts 17:30, we see that God is calling all people everywhere to repent.

That means that God is calling everyone to turn from their sin, and obey by putting their faith and trust in Him.

Acts 17:30 ESV

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

John 6:29 tells us that it is the work of God, the will of God, that we believe in Jesus, the One whom He has sent.

John 6:29 ESV

29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. Impossible. No way to do it.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Have you trusted and obeyed God by putting your faith in Christ? This is the first step of obedience. Trusting that Jesus really is who He says He is, and obeying by surrendering to Him.

Trust and Obey In Other Areas of Our Life

But our trust and obedience doesn’t stop there. Trusting in Jesus isn’t a get out of hell free deal, where you can go on living however you want, but since you “trusted in Him”, you are saved.

Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus in faith will live like it.

They won’t be perfect, but when they fall short, they will acknowledge it, and turn from it back to Jesus.

Where is God calling you to trust and obey?

He is first calling you to trust and obey in Him

Even if your family and friends don’t get it

Even if you get made fun of for it

Even if you lose friends or relationships because of it

But maybe He is also calling you to trust and obey Him in other areas of your life.

Maybe He’s calling you to get out of that relationship you know you shouldn’t be in

Maybe He’s calling you to getting rid of some friends who are leading you in the wrong direction

Maybe there is a sin that you’ve been struggling with privately and you need to trust in God, obey Him by confessing it to someone and walking in the light

Maybe you have all these plans for what you want to do after high school, where you’re going to school, what you’re going to do, who you’re going to do it with, but you feel God is pulling you in a different direction. Maybe He’s even calling you to ministry.

Maybe God is calling you to trust and obey Him by leaving a job you’re currently in because He has something better in store.

This could look like many different things for each person, but one thing is for sure: just like Joseph was called to trust and obey God, we too are called to trust and obey Him.

If you haven’t put your faith and trust in Him, start there. Surrender your life to Jesus.

Then, consider your life. In what areas do you feel like God is calling you to trust Him, step out in faith, and obey what He has called you to?