Jesus: When God Became a Man
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 1:1-21
The Bible refers to Jesus Christ as the Second Adam. He came to accomplish what the first Adam failed to do. The first Adam was created, but not born. The Second Adam (our Lord) was born, but He wasn’t created.
When you were born, you had no choice in the matter. You didn’t choose your parents. You didn’t control the time or circumstances surrounding your birth. But Jesus did.
Jesus was the only baby who chose His own mother. In fact, He knitted His mother together in her mother’s womb! For He created all things. Colossians 1:16 tells us, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created by Him and for Him.” So when we come to study the incarnation of Jesus, we’re looking at a birth like none other.
I want to look at the first 21 verses of Matthew chapter one this morning. I’m going to read the first seventeen verses (the genealogy) and then slow down for a look at verses 18-21. This is a lengthy passage, but let’s look at the way Matthew introduces the Son of God. In honor of God and His Word, let’s stand for the reading of these verses.
1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 To Abraham was born Isaac; and to Isaac, Jacob; and to Jacob, Judah and his brothers; 3 and to Judah were born Perez and Zerah by Tamar; and to Perez was born Hezron; and to Hezron, Ram; 4 and to Ram was born Amminadab; and to Amminadab, Nahshon; and to Nahshon, Salmon; 5 and to Salmon was born Boaz by Rahab; and to Boaz was born Obed by Ruth; and to Obed, Jesse; 6 and to Jesse was born David the king. And to David was born Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah;
7 and to Solomon was born Rehoboam; and to Rehoboam, Abijah; and to Abijah, Asa; 8 and to Asa was born Jehoshaphat; and to Jehoshaphat, Joram; and to Joram, Uzziah; 9 and to Uzziah was born Jotham; and to Jotham, Ahaz; and to Ahaz, Hezekiah; 10 and to Hezekiah was born Manasseh; and to Manasseh, Amon; and to Amon, Josiah; 11 and to Josiah were born Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 And after the deportation to Babylon, to Jeconiah was born Shealtiel; and to Shealtiel, Zerubbabel; 13 and to Zerubbabel was born Abihud; and to Abihud, Eliakim; and to Eliakim, Azor; 14 and to Azor was born Zadok; and to Zadok, Achim; and to Achim, Eliud; 15 and to Eliud was born Eleazar; and to Eleazar, Matthan; and to Matthan, Jacob; 16 and to Jacob was born Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
17 Therefore all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the time of Christ fourteen generations.
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, desired to put 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 that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” [NASB]
[Prayer] This is the beginning of Matthew, which we usually save for Christmas. At some point in time, I’ll go back to those names (one day) and perhaps preach a Christmas series on the “peculiar branches” in the family tree of Jesus. But this time we’re going to bypass that study to look directly at the narrative beginning in verse 18.
I. The virgin birth is simply stated as fact with no arguments or embellishments (18).
This fact is one of the strongest arguments for the divine revelation of these verses. If men wanted to concoct a story of God becoming a man through a virgin conception, it would end up being a long, well-padded, even defensive account of how it happened. But that’s not what we have. There’s no long account; no arguments; no embellishments. Just a simple statement of the bare facts.
Matthew opens with 17 verses to disclose the human genealogy of Jesus, but only one verse to reveal His divine ancestry: “Before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit” (18). It was the Holy Spirit who placed the divine seed into the body of Mary. This is a unique place where theology overshadows biology. That’s what makes this a miracle. The virgin conception can’t be explained by natural means. The Holy Spirit is named as the supernatural means. She is pregnant… while still a virgin.
“Before they came together” means they had no sexual union. Over the years, I’ve actually heard some people say, “What difference does it make if Mary was a virgin? Who cares if Joseph was His father or even another man…?” They say, “Isn’t His life and teaching what counts most?” The answer is no; because the life and teaching of Jesus are inextricably bound to His person and His origin.
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If Jesus had been the offspring of a human father, He could not have been our Savior. He would not have been divine. He could not have lived a sinless life or died a substitutionary death. He would merely be a child of the first Adam, and like the rest of us, dead in trespasses and sins. He, like us, would need a Savior.
Furthermore, it would mean Jesus was a fraud who lied about His eternality, who lied about His oneness with the Father and His sinless nature. We would have no Savior and we would still be lost in our sins with no hope for heaven after death. But the Bible proves it matters a great deal who Jesus really is and how He came into this world. It actually happened as Scripture records. Jesus was born of a virgin.
But Mary and Joseph had their own questions about the virgin birth; they were the first ones to struggle with this unprecedented event. It was especially critical for Joseph to understand this miracle. He was righteous; but he wasn’t stupid. Look at verse 19…
And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly.
II. Assuming the worst, Joseph sought to honor God while protecting Mary (19).
The words “put her away” translate the common word for divorce. Divorce seemed inevitable in Joseph’s mind. He loved Mary so much… but he loved God first and foremost. That he was a righteous man means that he was an OT believer in the promises of God. How could he honor God and still marry a woman who has apparently committed adultery? Joseph was on the horns of a terrible dilemma.
A private divorce required only two witnesses; a public divorce required no less than three rabbis in a court of law in which case (if found guilty) capitol punishment was required according to Deuteronomy 22. They did this by stoning without Roman consent.
By divorcing her secretly, Joseph felt this would honor God in the eyes of the community who would view Mary as an adulteress; but it would also shield her from the disgrace of a public divorce… sparing her from the possibility of stoning from outraged moralists.
In an instant, Joseph’s world crumbled into a thousand pieces. All of his hopes and dreams for marriage and children with the woman he loved – dashed! But even in his grief and anguish, his primary concern was for Mary. He didn’t want to disgrace her any more than she was already being disgraced. Mary couldn’t explain what was happening; but Joseph didn’t think he needed an explanation… oh, to see the pain in his eyes!
He must have felt a tremendous sense of betrayal from the woman he loved. Then, to make matters worse, Mary seemed to be in denial about her adultery! She won’t even admit it! Maybe she tried to explain, but breaks down in tears when he doesn’t believe her. And how could he? There was no rhyme or reason he could see. Yet even in his hurt and confusion, he still wants to protect her. Could anything untie this tangled mess? Yes! He needs special revelation from the spoken Word of God. Look at verses 20-21.
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 that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
III. God’s Word came to Joseph, removing his doubt and fear (20-21).
Oh, the comfort and relief of God’s Word when nothing else can explain. The Word of God, through the angel of the Lord, explained the inexplicable to Joseph; it reconciled His great love for the holiness of God with his great love for Mary. They were no longer at odds because of a miracle. There was no sin here, no unfaithfulness! The baby in her womb was not the result of sinful infidelity – quite the opposite – it was the result of God’s divine favor.
When verse 20 says “when he had considered this”, it means he looked at this situation from every different angle. But there was one angle Joseph couldn’t consider; that was the supernatural angle. God had to reveal that before Joseph could even entertain that thought. The Bible is that for us. The Bible is our special revelation. It tells us about things we can’t naturally discern or humanly discover.
God had spoken to the patriarchs through dreams, so this would have been convincing to Matthew’s original Jewish readers. The dream was an instance of divine revelation. Even though we tend to think of dreams as distinct from reality, that’s not the way Matthew uses the word dream. Here, the meaning is of a vision from God – it is real; it is authoritative; it is verbal and clearly understood by Joseph.
The greatest struggle Joseph faced was that of fear. So the angel of the Lord spoke directly to his fear: “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
For Joseph to go through with his marriage to Mary while she’s known to be pregnant apart from him would require great courage. He would be required to bear the public disdain of negative opinion on a daily basis; the shameful stares in the marketplace; the muted whispers in the synagogue; the friendships lost because of misunderstanding; and the difficulty of earning a living because of slander from those who hadn’t heard from God. But Joseph had heard from God… and that changed everything in his life!
Once you and I have heard God through His Word in Scripture – it changes the way we go through life. It changes our perspective on what really matters. It changes our values from an obsession with trivial, temporal matters to a growing delight in eternal realities that become more valuable with each passing day. God’s Word removed Joseph’s doubt and fear – and the Bible has this same power for you today if you’ll receive it. Amen.
October 12, 2007