You Are Not Alone

God's Presence & Deliverance

Wendy Widder, PhD; Bible Study Magazine, November/December 2019 (p. 22)

p. 22

" recounts the story of Jesus' birth, highlighting Mary's miraculous conception and the naming of Jesus. When the angel instructs Joseph about Mary's situation, Matthew notes that all the things fulfilled the prophet's words. He cites , where the prophet Isaiah tells King Ahaz (one of David's descendants) that God will give him a sign about his conflict with the nations to the north: a young girl will give birth to a son during Ahaz's lifetime and will name him 'Immanuel,' a Hebrew phrase meaning 'God with us.'

Isaiah 7:14 NIV

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

Matthew saw Isaiah's themes of a Davidic king, a young girl giving birth to a son, and the presence of God with his people as anticipating Jesus the Messiah. Jesus was the ultimate Davidic king. His miraculous conception was infinitely greater than God's sign to Ahaz. In Jesus, God himself was with his people to save them from their sins. Jesus filled up the prophet's words."

I. YOU ARE NOT ALONE...

a. When you are AFRAID

* Joseph was rightfully angry, conflicted, and feeling quite alone when Mary shared news of her pregnancy.

Maybe he was also worried that he had missed signs of Mary’s unfaithfulness?

When he woke up from the dream, did he feel guilty about “discounting Mary’s claims about the angel of the Lord and the overshadowing of the Spirit?” (Joseph Dodson, Bible Study Magazine, Nov/Dec 2019, p. 27)

He would have wondered how he was going to influence the son of God?

He was probably afraid to face the “damning derision” for having an illegitimate son. (Dodson)

Echoes something Jesus said in...

>

Matthew 28:20 NIV

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The New International Version Chapter 26

I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people

b. To PAY for your sins

Psalm 130:8 NIV

He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

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.”

The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew Bridging Contexts

God has come to be with his people to fulfill the deepest meaning of the covenant. In Jesus, God is now with his people personally as their Savior. This theme forms the heart of a personal relationship of Jesus with his followers that comes to characterize his unique form of discipleship (see comment on 4:18–22).

The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew Contemporary Significance

The virgin birth signals Jesus’ true humanity without inherited sin. Through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary in the conception of Jesus, the unbroken line of the descent of sin was interrupted, so that Jesus was born holy (cf. Luke 1:35). As a true human, Jesus can empathize deeply with our human experiences and temptations (Heb. 4:15–16) and can provide an example of how to overcome temptation (see comments on Matt. 4:1–11). The sinlessness of Jesus throughout his life is centered in the fact that his divine nature is so powerful in its determination to do good that it cannot be overcome by any temptation to his human nature. Thus, he is enabled to be the unique, human, sinless sacrifice for our sin.

1 Wilkins, M. J. (2004). Matthew (p. 84). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.