The Purpose of the People of God - 1:18-25
The Purpose of the People of God - Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 41:38
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The Purpose of the People of God
The Purpose of the People of God
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of 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 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Let’s Pray
Let’s hit a bit of review from last week:
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Matthew answers all of the expectations of the Jews
Messianic Expectation
Roles: Priest, King, Prophet
Covenant Fulfillment
Association with Torah
Lineage
In this section Matthew declares what was missing from the Jews Messianic Expectation, Jesus is God!
Count the markers of Jesus’ deity in this section.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
Christ = Messiah
We need to add some baggage to this word in the New Testament
The Messiah!
We need to bring all of the weight of the Messianic expectation forward with us as we read Matthew. He spent the opening of his gospel defining the term Messiah, we need to use it rolling forward and make sure we don’t shortchange this understanding.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is God:
1:18 - Holy Spirit
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
Betrothal Period
Accompanied by an exchange of gifts
Legal Contract
It was treated as marriage in the eyes of the community
So Mary, is considered married in the eyes of the community within this betrothal period.
Of Note:
This betrothal period portrays how the church stands before Christ today!
2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.
7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
The phrase “send her away” is the Greek απολυω, which literally translates to loose, to unbind, to set free. It is also the word Matthew uses for divorce.
That is what would be required for end the legal contract of the betrothal period.
In fact the law shows in Deut:
23 “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them, and they will die; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
This shows the significance of the betrothal period. Regardless of whether stoning was enacted or not, this would have resulted in great shame for Mary, and she would likely never get married, whether Joseph sent her away quietly or not.
19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
We get a glimpse into Joseph’s character here as he is described as “a righteous man.” He wants to minimize the shame that would be placed upon Mary.
Remember, Honor is due those who uphold the law.
Simultaneously, Joseph, continuing with the marriage to Mary would have resulted in great shame for him, to the extent that he may have been disowned/disinherited from his family.
Perhaps this is why in Luke’s account of the birth narrative, Joseph, along with his extremely pregnant wife, are not granted a place inside the home of a family member and seek lodging elsewhere.
So if we step into Joseph’s shoes
He is weighing before him, the honor and shame on both himself and Mary, and there is no honorable way out before men for them both.
That is the reality of their current scenario, but to Matthew this is unacceptable. He has accounted for this, as he will not allow dishonor, even from the Jews, to be placed upon the Messiah.
You may remember from last week, that there were 4 women specifically mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah:
Tamar
Rahab
Ruth
Bathsheba
All of these were involved in “disreputable sexual activity.” This is not to be equated with sin or responsibility. Each of these situations is unique. Clearly, Bathsheba is a victim of David’s sin.
Including these as an honorable portion of Israel’s history, and excluding those like Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah removes the ability for a Jewish audience to look back on Mary with shame. To do so, would be to dishonor their heritage as well as that of David, their most righteous king to date. Matthew has preserved the honor of Mary before the Jews in his genealogy.
So in terms of Joseph, Matthew has portrayed what happens in a way that cannot be seen as shameful, and we would agree, there is no shame to be given to Joseph or Mary here. Yet in the immediate situation that Joseph finds himself in, this end cannot be seen. Joseph isn’t told how the story ends.
So what is Joseph told?
20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the One who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Behold! Pay Attention
Angel of the Lord (LC) <> Angel of Yahweh
“Do not be afraid” - Joseph’s fear is justified
Faithfulness of Mary
Shame/Dishonor he will face if he marries her
God answers the why for the fear of Mary’s faithfulness
He does not answer the fear of shame before men
Because it is going to happen
What has God done, He has provided Joseph with the revelation of the next step.
I propose that God has given you just as much instruction, if not more, than Joseph! (Hold up Bible)
Also note:
2. 1:20 - of 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.”
Why the name Jesus?
Jesus was a popular name at the time of Christ. In fact, Barabbas, the prisoner released before Pilate, is named Jesus Barabbas in some Greek texts. (Matt 27.26)
But that is not the reason.
In Greek, Jesus and Joshua are the same name. As such, there has been much written on the parallels of the life of Christ and the life of Joshua, of which there are many. In fact, the author of Hebrews uses this parallel in Chapter 4:
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
Joshua led Israel into:
posses the kingdom
rest from the wilderness wanderings
the land so they could permanently establish their dwelling with God
What does Jesus do?
Jesus:
Provides the means to posses the kingdom
Provides rest in the midst of the wilderness
Permanently established our dwelling with God
Joshua inaugurated physically for Israel, what Jesus has inaugurated permanently for the world
This is what the author of Hebrews is referencing in Heb 4.
How does Jesus do this?
21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Jesus accomplishes these things by dealing with the sin that separates us from Him.
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
3. 1:22 - Divine Prophecy Fulfilled
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
4. 1:23 - “God with us”
Matthew is quoting from Isa 7.14 here.
If we turn there, in context, Ahaz is king. Israel, the northern kingdom, and the Rezin, the king of Damascus, have marched against Jerusalem. Their plan is to breech the walls of Jerusalem and set up the “son of Tabeel” as king. (v6)
This is Yahweh’s response:
7 thus says the Lord God: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8 “For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people),
9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.” ’ ”
Translations of Isa 7.9, as it is difficult, particularly the last sentence.
9 Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”
9 The capital of Ephraim is Samaria, and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah. If you don’t take your stand in faith, you won’t have a leg to stand on.”
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”
9 And the head (the capital) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son [Pekah]. If you will not believe and trust and rely [on God and on the words of God’s prophet instead of Assyria], surely you will not be established nor will you remain.
9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not establish your faith in Yahweh, you surely shall not be established.” ’ ”
This rendering is confusing but fits well to the text.
This word establish is literally “believe.”
“If you do not believe your faith, you surely shall not be believed.”
The key here, is that God, Yahweh, is calling Israel to its faith.
He continues:
10 Then Yahweh spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign for yourself from Yahweh your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
What is God telling Ahaz here in Isaiah?
The deliverance from your enemies, the basis of your nation, is faith in Yahweh. The sign to you is the birth of a child who’s name is “God is with us.”
What is God telling Joseph?
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Joseph! Your deliverance is through faith in Yahweh. The sign to you is that Mary, a virgin, will give birth and He will be God with you! Your honor is before me, not before men!
What is Joseph’s response?
24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Joseph did exactly as he was commanded. Joseph chose the honor of the Lord over the honor of men.
So what are we to take from this section of Scripture, the Christmas Story?
First, what is being conveyed to Joseph?
Choose honor before God over honor before men
Dwelling with God is on the basis of faith
Be grounded in what you believe
Not only in the beginning of relationship
But the ongoing of fellowship
Second, let’s look at what Matthew furthers to his readers.
Choose honor before God because:
Jesus is the Messiah, the fulfillment of the covenants
Jesus is worthy of all the honor
Jesus is God, 100% God and Man, the “Godman”
Dwelling with God for eternity is on the basis of faith
Both in Salvation (Making Disciples)
And in “Establishment” (Equipping Disciples)
Third, what is the timeless truth that Matthew is communicating to Christ Fellowship?
Choose honor before God over honor before men
Dwelling with God for eternity is on the basis of faith
Who do you know that needs to dwell eternally with God and does not have that promise today?
As we walk through Matthew, the disciples manual, the book that articulates the Purpose of the People of God we must recognize that we are here to glorify God by making and equipping disciples.
So I want to relay to you the challenge found in God’s Word today, not my words, God’s Word, in the form of a couple of questions.
1. How will you honor God this week?
What will it cost?
2. Is faith your basis? What is your foundation?
Do you talk to others before you talk to God?
3. Who will you pray comes to know Jesus?
If we’re not reaching the lost, are we fulfilling God’s purpose? Are we really any different than Israel, who was told to be a kingdom of Priests and didn’t do it?
Let’s Pray
