Preparing for His Arrival

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning if you will, start turning in your Bibles back to .

This morning as we go into the second week of Advent, we are going to be pushing the conversation forward just a bit.

If you recall last week the message was all about the hope that is offered through the announcement of the arrival of the Messiah.

Through the voices of the Prophets, hundreds of years prior to Jesus’ birth, we hear them announcing to the people to hold on that salvation is coming.

We hear them proclaim that the suffering will only be temporary and the reward eternal.

Which is the same message that we need to hear in our sin-filled world today.

However, with any announcement of the arrival of anyone, there comes a time of preparation.

Think of it this way—If someone calls and says we are going to be coming in for a visit next week and we will be staying with you if it’s okay, what do we do?

We prepare.

We make sure we have food in the refrigerator.

We make sure that the house is cleaned up, or at least all of the junk is locked away in a back room or closet where no one will see it.

We make preparations, don’t we?

Well, the same thing holds true with the announcement of the arrival of Jesus.

There was a great deal of preparation that took place from the time of the first announcement of the first prophet, but as the days drew closer and closer the level of preparation grew more and more intense.

Which actually speaks to part of human nature to procrastinate and put things off.

It is like the announced guest, instead of beginning to prepare the day their arrival is announced, most will wait until an hour before they show up to start throwing all of the junk into the back room.

And the preparation is rushed and hectic, which is exactly what we find going on here in with the announcement of the imminent arrival of Jesus.

Now, the rush is not Joseph and Mary’s fault, but we get the sense of the urgency, the anticipation, the uncertainty, the nervousness surrounded with the final announcement of his arrival.

So, if you have found in your Bible’s I’d invite you to stand with me if you able as we read, starting in verse 18 . . .

Scripture Focus

Matthew 1:18–25 NIV - Anglicised

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Trouble in Paradise (vs 18-19)

So, very familiar passage around Christmas time, all centered on how Jesus came to be in human form.

And I know that we have been here before but just to give us the historical perspective we need to talk just a little about Jewish tradition and marriage.

The passage starts out saying that . . .

Matthew 1:18–19 NIV - Anglicised

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Matthew 1:18-

The key thing here is that Mary as pledged to be married to Joseph, meaning that they were engaged in our modern society.

The decision had been made, probably by their parents, that these two would be husband and wife and they were in the time period of preparation prior to the marriage.

Joseph was preparing his house to receive a new wife—he could have even been building a house, since it was common for boys to live with their parents until they were married.

So, he was getting things ready on his end and so was Mary and her family with her dowry and whatever agreement her parents had made with Joseph’s parents.

So, those preparations were going on.

Also, the Bible makes it very clear that before they came together, she was found to be with child, which means that there had been no hanky-panky.

In fact, if at any point, Joseph found out that she was not a virgin before their marriage, he could have divorced her and even called for her to be stoned.

So, other than a miracle, there was no way that she could be pregnant.

And we find out in the last few words of verse 18, that she had became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, which in itself sounds crazy.

Mainly because this had never happened before and biologically the way we understand biology it is impossible.

However, God created life, so God can do anything God chooses to do.

Life was created from God’s will, so God is not bound by our biology, or anything else for that matter.

However, this was of course, a little much for Joseph to accept and understand.

And I would say that he was pretty disappointed because he had spent about a year making preparations to take this woman as his wife and now this happens.

So, Joseph starts to develop a new plan . . .

Matthew 1:19 NIV - Anglicised

19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Now, this often confuses people a great deal, because in verse 18 it says that Mary was pledged to Joseph, what we would call engaged.

Now it is saying that Joseph is her husband and he was going to divorce her quietly.

This is where Jewish tradition really must be understood.

I know I’ve been calling this engaged, but that is mainly because we do not have anything like what was going on here in our culture.

What they had done is enter into a marriage contract.

The decision was made that the two would be married and Joseph’s family had paid Mary’s family a sum of money called a mohar, that was meant to compensate the family for any financial loss they would incur with their daughter leaving the family—because in those days everyone had their own business—whether it be a merchant, farmer, etc...

In exchange for this money, the two were legally considered married—but this year engagement was a “probation period” in which they would date and get to know each other, but the marriage was not allowed to be consummated for a year.

In fact, during this year of preparation, the bride would still live with her parents and only when the house was ready, would the groom and his “best-men” come and get the bride, they would have the wedding feast, exchange vows, and finally the marriage would be consummated.

However, because money had exchanged hands, and all of this preparation had taken place, for them to go their separate ways, there had to be a formal divorce.

The Angels Intervene (vs 20-25)

So, now Joseph has his plan and he is ready to divorce Mary, but before he gets a chance to, he gets a visit . . .

Matthew 1:20–21 NIV - Anglicised

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

So, things have now gotten much more complicated.

The angel appears but it is for one reason only—to ease Joseph’s concern and let him know that Mary is telling the truth.

And it is at this point that Matthew interjects into the story, to show just how long these preparations had been in play . . .

Matthew 1:22–23 NIV - Anglicised

22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

Matthew 1:22-

And what Matthew is quoting here is , which says . . .

Isaiah 7:14 NIV - Anglicised

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

And if you remember last week, we talked about how long ago Isaiah wrote this, 733 BC, so 733 years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah told of His coming.

So, the preparations were in play for a long time.

And now as we are beginning to draw closer and closer to the day of His birth we see these preparations intensify with visits from angels and prophecies being exposed once again.

So, Joseph, wisely recognizing that this was in fact an angel from God.

And that God had given him the task of watching over the Messiah—the Savior of the world, look what he does . . .

Matthew 1:24–25 NIV - Anglicised

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

He did exactly what the Angel told him to do.

Some people would have dismissed it as just a dream.

Some people would have cut and run.

But not Joseph, he stood firm and fulfilled the mission that God put him on.

And Joseph was really nobody special.

Sure he was Jewish and from the lineage of David, but even Joseph’s branch wasn’t such a direct path either.

He was just an ordinary carpenter.

Which is something we need to understand as well.

God calls all of us to a mission, and one of the things we often say is, “I’m nobody special…I can’t do that.”

That’s not true.

Because God doesn’t care how great we are in the eyes of other people, God is just looking for people who are willing to do what He asks.

People who seek after Him.

If we can just do that, then there are no issues because God takes the ordinary and turns it into extraordinary.

Point 3

Altar Call

And all we have to do is be willing and obedient, which is what God is telling some of us in here this morning.

He is saying, I am calling, will you answer?

He is saying, I have a mission, will you accept?

And we go around saying that we want to be God’s people and that we want to be “sold out for Jesus,” but do we really?

Do we mean that, or only mean it when it is convenient or doesn’t interfere with the path that we have forged for ourselves?

And listen, God isn’t calling us all to pastor churches, quit our jobs and become missionaries.

Some he is, but for most, he is calling us to just trust Him.

To just respond when he tells us to do certain things in our everyday lives.

To just develop a deeper relationship with Him, to allow Him into our lives, to let Him walk with us and help us through each day.

That is really what He is calling most of us to.

However, and this is a big deal, he is also calling us to be prepared.

He is telling us that Jesus came once and the Jews were not prepared.

And the result of their lack of preparedness was disastrous for them.

He is telling all of us, Jews and Gentiles, that he is coming back again, for all who belong to Him.

And we must be prepared to receive Him when he comes.

We can’t shove all of the garbage and clutter in a backroom and hope he doesn’t see it.

We can’t wait until the absolute last minute when he splits open the sky and shows up to get ready.

We must be prepared always.

We must be preparing ourselves today and every single day.

And it is obvious that our world is not prepared.

It’s obvious that the Christian Church world is not prepared.

And I would also venture a guess that many here today are not prepared.

What would happen if today was the day?

If Jesus came back—or worse—if we drew our last breath on earth.

Would we be prepared to meet him?

If you get nothing else from the message this morning—get that we must be prepared.

And if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you this morning, telling you that you are not prepared—heart racing, palms getting sweaty, getting a little nervous, a big lump in your throat—that is Him telling you that you are not prepared.

Are you willing to do something about it?

Are you willing to come and get prepared?

The altar is open, will you come this morning, will you come?