A Family Story
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I love Christmas time. It gives time for extended family to gather together and celebrate. I have a lot of family that I never see other than Christmas time. Often people come from all over back home to Mawmaw’s house or whoever is your patriarch of your family. People catch up about their lives over ham and turkey, fruit salad and pecan pie.
Earlier sons were failures: Adam, Israel, David. Jesus as Son: approx. 150 NT references to Christ as “Son.” Most of which are in the Gospels.
Earlier sons were failures: Adam, Israel, David. Jesus as Son: approx. 150 NT references to Christ as “Son.” Most of which are in the Gospels.
Earlier sons were failures: Adam, Israel, David. Jesus as Son: approx. 150 NT references to Christ as “Son.” Most of which are in the Gospels.
Earlier sons were failures: Adam, Israel, David. Jesus as Son: approx. 150 NT references to Christ as “Son.” Most of which are in the Gospels.
Family is important to God. God created the whole concept of the family. But family is actually even more important than that. Family is part of the very nature of who God is. When God describes to us who he is, he says that he is one God made up of three persons, the Trinity. To describe the Trinity, he uses language of family: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Over 150 times, the NT references the Christ as “Son.”
Earlier sons were failures: Adam, Israel, David. Jesus as Son: approx. 150 NT references to Christ as “Son.” Most of which are in the Gospels.
It is important to note as we prepare for our Christmas season, as we celebrate the incarnation of Christ, that the Son of God was born a son on earth.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Jesus was born the son of Mary and stepson of Joseph. In so many ways, this is a very human story of a young teenage girl that has the fingerprints of God all over it. Many mothers here can sympathize with Mary in her labor pains. Many of you dads can identify with Joseph as you watch the baby placed on Mary’s chest for the first time.
The evangelist tells us that Joseph and Mary were required to travel to Bethlehem to register.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
“The time of which Luke speaks refers not only to the fact that Mary’s period of gestation was coming to an end (), but that events are progressing according to the divine plan. God is the one moving the hands of the clock of salvation history as the countdown for Mary’s firstborn son enters the world.
When Luke says, “the time came for her to give birth” (v.6), he is not simply speaking of the end of 9 months, but that God is unfolding his plan in his perfect timing to bring salvation to the world.
Luke 2:4
This was the blessing of family. God intends family to be a blessing. We like to say that God created the family and ordained the family. But really family is even more foundational than that. Family is even at the core of the nature of God. We recognize that there is one God and three persons. But those three persons are related to each other. God even calls the second person of the Trinity, his Son. The Story of God is the story of family.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
The apostle Paul strikes a similar note when he writes:
When a Jewish girl was married, her mother would give her a small piece of leavened dough from a batch baked just before the wedding. From that gift of leaven the bride would bake bread for her own household throughout her married life. That gift, simple as it was, was among the most cherished that the bride received, because it represented the love and blessedness of the household in which she grew up and that would be carried into the household she was about to establish.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ()
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
This was the blessing of family. God intends family to be a blessing. We like to say that God created the family and ordained the family. But really family is even more foundational than that. Family is even at the core of the nature of God. We recognize that there is one God and three persons. But those three persons are related to each other. God even calls the second person of the Trinity, his Son. The Story of God is the story of family.
Paul emphasized here that the concept of Christ’s sonship provides a foundation of what it means for Christians to become sons and daughters of God.
Why would he say this? Where did this come from? This idea of sonship is embedded in the Old Testament message and helps us understand the Gospel.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Christians become sons and daughters of God because Jesus was the son of God. We enter his family not via our physical birth, but we enter God’s family view our spiritual birth in Christ.
Jesus isn’t the first person to be called the son of God. In the OT, we see types of Christ that failed as sons. Adam, Israel, David were all considered “sons of God.”
Jesus is the Son who did not fail. He fulfilled perfect sonship. By doing so, he accomplishes everything needed for us to become sons and daughters of God and also shows us how to live as part of the family of God on earth.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
27 And I will make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
Yet they all failed. Adam cast mankind into sin. Israel had a faithful Father from which they constantly rebelled against. David was a man after God’s own heart, but ultimately he became prideful, took another man’s wife and had him killed.
Jesus is the Son who did not fail. He fulfilled perfect sonship. By doing so, he accomplishes everything needed for us to become sons and daughters of God and also shows us how to live as part of the family of God on earth.
Only when we have first understood Jesus’ filial relationship to his Father will we ever be able to grasp the significance this might have for the Christian’s relation to God as his sons and daughters.
Do the New Testament authors present Jesus’ sonship as a model for Christians as the children of God to emulate and follow? To help us answer these questions we will emulate and follow? We will focus on the critical points in Jesus’ life, his birth (); 2:13-18), baptism (), temptation (), transfiguration (), death (, ) and resurrection (). Each of these scenes is a cameo of the life of Jesus and should help us glean important insights into his sonship.
I.Birth and Infancy narratives
I.Birth and Infancy narratives
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
Normal
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ()
English Standard Version Chapter 4
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
So Jesus is san integral part of the rich and many layered tradition of sonship which flows directly out of the OT. The firstborn son is not only first by reason of being the first child and therefore special, but is also thereby the leader of a new spiritual family.
So Jesus is san integral part of the rich and many layered tradition of sonship which flows directly out of the OT. The firstborn son is not only first by reason of being the first child and therefore special, but is also thereby the leader of a new spiritual family.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
The apostle Paul strikes a similar note when he writes:
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Paul refers to here that Jesus’ sonship is also the basis for our becoming the sons and daughters of God. ().
1. Sonship distinguishes the family of Christ. ()
1. Sonship distinguishes the family of Christ. ()
Luke
The first direct reference to the sonship of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is Gabriel announcing that Mary’s son will be the ‘Son of God.’
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Uuke
This resonates in the foreshadowing of the Old Testament that Jesus would be the fulfillment of the promise of sonship. He is the fulfilment of the sonship promised in the OT.
This sonship is foreshadowed in Solomon:
14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,
2 Samuel 7:14
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Pslam 2:7
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ 27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
Psalm
Sonship is displayed in the lineage of David’s Kingdom.
This
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
The true king who is God’s son and Messiah is coming from David’s lineage. This is also reflected in
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ 27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
Pslam 89:26-27
This not only shows that Jesus has a special relationship with God, therefore in Christ, Christians have a special relationship with God. We are not just his creation, but we are his family.
This not only shows that Jesus has a special relationship with God, but he is also God’s representative on earth.
This also shows the unique relationship with have with the Spirit of God through Christ. There is a link in between the Son and the Spirit.
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
It is important to understand Jesus’ conception. The Spirit has a role of Jesus displaying his sonship. So, the Holy Spirit also has a role in our being accepted into God’s family. Paul hits on this idea in Galatians 4:6.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
The role that the Holy Spirit plays in our Sonship has a lot to do with the assurance that we have of our salvation.
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Christian, we you see the son in the manger, you remember that because of him you are made the unique child of God. You get into heaven, not because you are good, or you deserve it. But because in Christ you have been born again into his family.
You are the unique
2. Sonship declares the authority of Christ. ()
2. Sonship declares the authority of Christ. ()
The phrase ‘Son of God’ (1:35) is one of the many important titles for Jesus in the New Testament
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
This title of Christ challenged the earthly authority that was in place. Roman rulers after their death and even during their lifetime were often deified and given the title ‘son of God’. This was even true of Caesar Augustus during Jesus’ lifetime.
, but this is a designation that had other resonances at the time: emperors, for example, such as Caesar Augustus (), took on such a title for themselves. Roman rulers after their death and even during their lifetime were often deified and given the title ‘son of God’. Thus by identifying Jesus chiefly as the Son of God (and not ‘a son of God’) Luke is not only subtly subverting the ruling powers and authorities of his day, he is also in the worlds of the American rock band, the Eagles, telling his readers ‘there’s a new kid in town’! Luke wants his audience (and us) to know that the first Christmas and Christianity is not about any earthly potentate, in this case the emperor, but only and always about Jesus, Mary’s firstborn son, Jesus the Son of God.
So, by identifying Jesus as “the true Son of God” and not even as “a son of God,” Luke is challenging who thinks they have authority on earth and who really has authority on earth.
So we need to be mindful that we have an authority on this earth. And the authority that we have deserves complete allegiance because he wasn’t born into the right family who had earthly authority. His authority wasn’t given to him by man. His authority comes via who his is.
Jesus is God. So when you bow to the child at the manger. You yield to the authority of the ruler of all.
3. Sonship displays the humility of Christ. ()
3. Sonship displays the humility of Christ. ()
The circumstances of Christ’s birth show that he was born in humility. After Mary had given birth to her firstborn son we are told she wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger (v.7).
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
*When a child is born today, their is great care and planning that goes into exactly how he will be cared for when he returns home. The nursery has to be perfect. The color of the room has to be right (pink or blue). The crib is put together. The cradle set by the bed. The clothes they are going to where for their first 2 years is planned out. The clothes the child is going home in is planned months in advance.
The money we spend on our children is insane! Compare that to the fact that Mary’s firstborn was wrapped in swaddling clothes. Do a word study on that. It is literally strips of cloth and laid in the place the animals ate. You might think about it like this. He was wrapped in what would use to clean your table, dish rags. This was not normal for that day or ours and it should capture our attention.
The king and ruler of all came as the most humble of all that he might be the savior of all. No one can say they had less birth privilege than Christ.
So his humility speaks to the fact that their is no one beneath Christ that he can not save. Second it speaks to Christians, we should never think too much of ourselves.
4. Sonship receives deliverance from Christ. ()
4. Sonship receives deliverance from Christ. ()
English Standard Version Chapter 11
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
After Jesus was born, Joseph is told through a dream “to get up…take the child and his mother and escape to ‘Egypt (13).”
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
The prophecy that was fulfilled was actually a quote from .
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
Here’s what is interesting about that passage. was originally used to describe the nation of Israel as son. There are important parallels between God delivering Israel as his son and God delivering Christ as his son.
This was a quote
In the OT, God delivered his son, Israel from the tyrant Pharaoh through Moses from Israel. God delivered his son Jesus from Herod by fleeing to Egypt. In both cases their is a deliverance.
What Matthew is saying that what we have in Christ is a new exodus. That in Christ we have a new deliverance. But the deliverance that we need is not from Pharaoh or Herod or any the political leader or even any great earthly trial. The deliverance we need is the deliverance from sin and the penalty of sin which is death.
was originally used to describe the nation of Israel as son. There are similarities in the events which happened to Israel in the OT and in the life of Jesus here in this passage: for example, just as God delivered Israel his son from the hands of the tyrant Pharaoh son Jesus as God’s Son is rescued from the hands of oppressor, king Herod. Differences, Israel escaped from Egypt, Jesus escapes to Egypt. (Israel as God’s Son, Jesus as God’s son).
That’s why the child who came did not stay a child. He grew up fulifilling all righteousness. He earned heaven. But instead he bore our sin and went to the cross and bore our penalty. He died in our place. And the rose again over coming sin, hell, death and the grave.
There are similarities in the events which happened to Israel in the OT and in the life of Jesus here in this passage: for example, just as God delivered Israel his son from the hands of the tyrant Pharaoh son Jesus as God’s Son is rescued from the hands of oppressor, king Herod. Differences, Israel escaped from Egypt, Jesus escapes to Egypt. (Israel as God’s Son, Jesus as God’s son).
Essentially what Matthew is doing here is using the exodus the forming of a new people of God as God’s son, which was a ‘potent symbol’ pointing to a much greater work and deliverance which God was about to bring about. He takes this up and applies it to the ‘new exodus’ that has been ushered in by Jesus. IN other words, Matthew is recapitulating salvation history, the exodus story, by taking a well-known metaphor of Israel as God’s son in the Old Testament which he uses to describe another exodus in the New Testament, one associated with his unique and only Son Jesus.
And now he calls all the earth to turn from their selfish lives and put faith in him for salvation. That really is faith in him for sonship.
He is our ultimate deliverer. Would you look to him this morning. You’ll find salvation. And in salvation, you’ll find family.