Who is this Child – Of Royal Descent
Notes
Transcript
Who is this Child – Of Royal Descent
Matthew 1:18-25, Isaiah 9:1-7
Scene 1. Mary’s Disgrace: v 18
Imagine you are a young woman in Israel 2000 years ago, you are between 12 and 14 years old and you are pledged to be married to a man who is 18 to 20 years old.
It is an arranged marriage.
You may have known this man for some time; your family and his have been planning this marriage since you were a young child.
He is a carpenter, a very respectable profession and your family is overjoyed that they have secured a good husband for you.
You have recently been formally introduced and over the next year you are expected to spend time talking and getting to know each other.
This is a crucial time in your life and you know that it is essential for your future and your families well being that you make a good wife.
Joseph, your husband to be is a respected man, you know he is going to treat you well.
You also know that he will not touch you until you are his wife.
So when the angel Gabriel turns up and tells you that you are going to have a child you are shocked.
Firstly that an angel is sent to bring you a message and even more so at the message itself.
How can you a young woman, who has never been with a man, be pregnant.
You know the implications of such an event, the worst will be assumed.
You belong to Joseph and the only conclusion that he can possibly come to is that you have been unfaithful.
You will be seen as a disgrace.
Joseph will have the right of divorce; you will never become his wife.
You may even face the penalty, which the law requires for such a sin, to be stoned at the city gates.
But the angel’s message is clear; you have been chosen to bear the Son of the Most High God, Jesus, which means the Lord saves.
And to reassure you of this the angel tells you that your relative Elizabeth many years older than you is now six months pregnant.
So you leave at once to visit your Elizabeth, to see this miracle that the angel has told you about and to share with this trusted older friend the news that you yourself are going to have a child.
You wait with Elizabeth until the birth of her child John, then you return home, obviously pregnant.
Scene 2. Joseph’s Despair: v 19
Imagine Joseph’s reaction.
He hadn’t seen Mary for 3 months.
She comes home pregnant!
It’s not his child, his fiancée has been unfaithful she has shamed herself and him.
He is totally within his rights to protect his reputation.
After all she had gone away, there must have been have someone else.
Perhaps a childhood friend?
He knew he was within his rights to have her stoned.
For that was quite possibly what would happen if he publicly divorced her.
Or he could let her live and possible be seen to admit that the child is really his.
No!
Joseph is a righteous man.
He will not act out of anger, if possible he will send her away quietly; spare her life and the child.
Obviously Joseph has some feelings for Mary.
The despair, the pain he would have felt.
This young woman who was to be his bride has rejected him.
Scene 3. Joseph’s Obedience: 24-25
But then an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream.
God has intervened.
Joseph, reassured by the divine commission to take Mary as his wife and to name the child Jesus, saviour of his people, takes Mary home as his wife.
The cost to Joseph would have been huge.
Be certain of this, tongues would have wagged.
Joseph would have been seen to be admitting that the child was his.
In those days a very embarrassing situation!
Joseph not only obeyed God, he played a central and often overlooked part in the early life of Jesus.
On a number of occasions, Joseph’s obedience to God’s instruction through dreams saved Jesus from the hands of Herod and his descendents.
The Flight to Egypt where God warned Joseph in a dream that Herod was seeking to kill the baby (Mt 2:13)
The return from Egypt to Israel in Matthew 2:21.
And when they arrived back in Judea Joseph was obedient to another dream and moved the family to Nazareth in Galilee.
Can you imagine what Mary & Joseph risked for Jesus to be born.
Reputation,
Income,
Honour & even life itself!
What did they do all this for?
It certainly wasn’t because they were promised fame and great fortune.
Joseph died when Jesus was between 12 and 30 years old.
Leaving Jesus the eldest child to take responsibility for the family and his younger brothers and sisters.
Mary had to endure the agony of watching her son’s execution.
Scene 4. Was it for this, the heavenly manger scene, or the reality of a hard labour in an overcrowded rural village?
The reality of the birth is simple.
Joseph and Mary and if they were lucky a midwife or two.
No drugs, no doctor just the old fashioned way of a young woman, probably no older than 16 giving birth with one or two others doing what they can to help.
At least she couldn’t say to Joseph, “YOU DID THIS TO ME” whilst leading with a right hook.
Scene 5. God’s Purpose: v 20-22
What was God’s purpose in all this?
Why did the Lord allow a young couple to go through so much?
Quite simply there is something profoundly earthy about this whole story.
A dubious pregnancy leading to a strained relationship.
It could have been out of any TV soap opera!
Into this raw earthy drama breaks God’s messenger.
The impossible has become possible with God.
Joseph has been called to support Mary as she fulfils God’s call on her life to be the woman through whom God himself will come to live physically among his people.
The preceding verses tell us that Jesus had a human ancestry.
And as we look at these lists we see that Jesus laid claim to King David’s line.
The ruler that the people of Israel look to as the indicator of God’ favour.
This couple were given the responsibility to bring the bearer of God’s favour into the world.
This baby is the king of both heaven and earth
Yet among this king’s ancestors were a few skeletons in the cupboard.
Tamar, Rahab and Bathsheba, all women who had a few things to hide.
What an encouragement for us that far from perfect people are named as Jesus ancestors.
It reminds us that by God’s grace disgrace can be turned into victory.
Joseph and Mary knew disgrace, yet they were to raise the child who would bring the ultimate victory.
Victory over death.
They were told that the baby’s name was Immanuel (God with Us) & Jesus (God saves).
This child is a king; he is literally God living with us.
This child is a saviour, God who has come to save.
He is the fulfilment of prophecy.
Both fully divine and fully human at the same time.
Should not our response be both awe and wonder?
For this is the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1-7
1 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. 2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. 4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. 5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. 6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!
