Journey to the Cross

Don’t read this - Becoming a Father

2 weeks ago I became a dad.

Amanda gave birth to our son, Benjamin Levi.

And of course, I think he’s the greatest thing in the world.

I want to think he’s completely unique, and far and above every little boy that’s ever been born.

I’ve got pictures of him on my phone, and he’s even made it to the background of my computer.

I love holding him and seeing his smile.

It’s natural for a parent to think their child is exceptional.

And I’m sure, one day I’ll have a bumper sticker that says that I have an honor roll student at some elementary school.

As special as I think my son is, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus.

We will be in .

And Matthew does what I want to do, but on an even grander scale.

He shows that Jesus is unlike any child who has ever been born.

Let’s read 5.

Read -25.

I want to think my son is different.

Matthew Gospel shows that Jesus is unlike any other child.

So just like how a father pulls out his wallet and shows people pictures of his family, Matthew pulls out the birth of Jesus and shows us 3 ways that Jesus is unlike any other child, and therefore worthy of your trust, worship and admiration.

So what I would like to do is take Matthew’s first chapter and show you 3 ways that Jesus is unlike any other child, and therefore worthy of your trust, worship and admiration.

These are 3 ways He is completely different.

But truly Jesus is different.

3 Reasons why He is different

The first way that Jesus is different is that He was Born by the Spirit.

If you’ve got your Bibles open, look at the beginning of .

begins with a genealogy.

It records Jesus’ ancestors from Abraham, all the way to Jesus.

It follows a familiar pattern.

Abraham was the a father of Isaac.

Isaac was the father of Jacob.

Jacob was the father of Judah.

And on it goes.

It lists a father, then it lists the son of the father, and that man’s son.

This is pretty typical.

If you were to look at my family tree it would say.

Raleigh Kirkendall was the father of David Kirkendall.

David Kirkendall was the father of Luke Kirkendall.

Luke Kirkendall was the father of Benjamin Kirkendall.

That’s normal.

After Matthew lists the family tree, look how verse 18 begins, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.”

Those are all normal family trees.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.”

is one way.

The birth of Jesus took place in this way.

The ancestors of Jesus came from a man and a woman coming together and having a child.

Jesus is different.

“When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit?”

What’s different about Jesus?

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

There was no normal mother - father relation.

The Holy Spirit, who is a life giving Spirit, placed the life of Jesus within Mary’s womb.

He’s different.

The second thing that makes Jesus different from any of us He was Born of a Virgin

Matthew continues to show us that the birth of Jesus is unique.

He is not to be confused with any other child.

3 times in , Matthew points out that Jesus was born of a virgin.

The first time is found in verse 18.

“… his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.”

The second time is found in verses 19-20.

Joseph and Mary were betrothed.

Mary was a virgin, she’d never known a man in an intimate way.

This is something that Matthew makes repeats and makes clear.

Verse 18 says that this all happened before they came together.

The end of the chapter in verse 25, Matthew repeats that Joseph did not know Mary in a sexual way until after Jesus was born.

Verse 18 Matthew says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph.

They weren’t married yet, but they were more than engaged.

They weren’t married yet, but they were more than engaged

In our culture we have these levels of courtship.

Friends.

Dating.

Engaged.

Married.

A couple can date and break up, and it’s not the end of the world.

A couple may be engaged and break up, and it means they’ve probably wasted money on wedding plans, but it’s no different than if a dating couple split up.

But when a married couple splits up it’s called divorce.

They have to file papers.

They go to court.

It’s ugly.

In , when it says they were betrothed, it’s in between our engagement and married relationships.

Betrothal was a legally binding relationship.

You couldn’t just break up when you were betrothed.

They are essentially married, but they haven’t consummated the relationship.

You can see the depth of a betrothal relationship in the words that are used.

In verse 19 it says, “And her husband.”

You can see that in the language of their relationship.

In verse 19 Joseph is called her husband.

Greek doesn’t have a word for husband, so literally it says, “And her man Joseph.”

It doesn’t say boyfriend, or fiance’, it’s her man.

They belonged to each other.

They were bound to each other.

But they hadn’t consummated the relationship yet.

When Joseph finds out his wife, his woman, Mary is pregnant and he knows that they haven’t had sex yet, it’s easy to assume what he is thinking.

She’s cheating on him.

Even though they hadn’t consummated anything, even though they were only betrothed, you couldn’t just break up.

They had to go through the legal process of a divorce.

She’s been unfaithful.

So he considers divorcing her.

Then in verse 20, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream, and he says, “do not fear to take Mary as your wife.”

He reassures her.

Don’t worry about her commitment to you.

Don’t worry about whether she will be faithful to you.

Don’t worry about trusting her.

He says, “For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

She didn’t pregnant become unfaithful because of adultery.

She became pregnant because of a miracle of the Holy Spirit.

And the third way that we know that she was a virgin is because at the end of the chapter, in verse 25, Matthew reinforces her virginity.

Jesus was born in a way that none of us ever were.

He had no earthly father.

He entered humanity through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Her virginity proves the miraculous nature of His birth.

As Matthew shows the uniqueness of this special child, he also shows that Jesus was Born Divine.

When parents get together they love to brag about their children.

They talk about how their kids are growing fast.

They talk about how smart their kids are.

They talk about the huge vocabulary of their kids.

I’ve got a 2 week old.

I haven’t had to spank him yet, or ground him.

But all of our kids have one problem.

They have a sin nature.

They are sinners.

Even my 2 week old has a sin nature.

But Jesus was different.

He was born human.

He had a human body.

He had the weaknesses of our body.

But Jesus was also born fully God.

No human can ever make that claim.

No one can say that about their child.

In verses 22-23 Matthew says, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”

The religions of the world have different ways of describing Jesus.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

He’s been called a good teacher, a moral man, and even a prophet.

But the Bible describes Him as much more than that.

Born by the virgin Mary.

Matthew says that He’s the Immanuel, which means God with us.

He’s God in flesh.

Jesus being God in flesh is absolutely perfect.

Unlike our children, He has no sin nature.

This means that He is able to become one of us and He is able to save us.

He is worthy of being worshipped.

As Matthew thumbs through the childhood photos of Jesus he comes to this conclusion, Jesus was born to save.

Look at verse 21, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

His name

The child will be called Jesus, and the reason is because He will save his people from their sins.

He will save.

This is a future verb.

Meaning that the baby that Mary will give birth to has a mission ahead of him.

There is a plan for His life.

It’s an indicative.

That means its a fact.

Notice the intention of Jesus it’s to save.

Jesus will be born and He will do something.

I’m really glad it’s written the way that it’s written.

It doesn’t say He might do something.

It doesn’t say that there is a possibility that He will do something.

He came for a specific reason and that was to save.

He will save.

And who will He save?

His people.

This means that Jesus is not attempting to save people.

You ever go to an arcade and see those claw machines?

Remember Toy Story - “The Claaaawww ...”

I’m terrible at that game.

You insert 4 quarters into the machine, then move a hurky jerky claw around with a joy stick.

Your goal is to try and use that claw to move down and pick up a stuffed animal from the bin beneath it.

You do your very best, but most of the time, you try to grab one, but fail.

When you use the claw machine, you are trying to grab something.

Jesus didn’t come to earth and play the claw machine.

He didn’t come attempting to do anything.

It says He will save His people.

He doesn’t look down into earth and say, “I’ll give it my best.”

It says, “He will save His people.”

What does it mean for us?

It means that you never have to wonder if He’s able to save.

He saves all those He intends to save.

Coming to earth wasn’t taking a chance.

He wasn’t trying something.

It was definite.

And lastly, what does He save us from?

Our sins.

Our sins.

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden, God gave Adam a single command.

Don’t eat from the tree.

You can eat anything you want, just not from this one specific tree.

Well you know what happened.

Eve was tempted.

She then gave Adam the fruit and he ate it.

Afterward, God appeared to them and questioned them.

Do you remember what Adam said?

It’s not my fault.

“The woman whom you ave to be with me, she gave it to me.”

What was he doing?

Passing the blame.

But it wasn’t the woman’s fault.

Adam knew better.

Adam’s the one who broke God’s law.

Adam’s responsible.

It was His sin.

A lot of people think that Jesus came to say, “You’re a really great person. Merry Christmas.”

But really Jesus came to save us from our sins.

This means we need to own up to our sin.

You need to own up to your sin.

You need to acknowledge it, understand it, then you’ll understand why Jesus came.

Jesus came to save people from their sins.

You are responsible.

Your sins have earned you Hell.

What could you possibly have done to warrant such a drastic response?

Sin.

If you’ve lied - you’ve earned Hell.

If you’ve stolen - you’ve earned Hell.

If you’ve refused God as He has revealed Himself - you’ve earned Hell.

And Jesus came to save us from our sins.

This is a specific kind of saving.

You need saving from your own sinful behavior.

How did He save us?

That little child that was in the womb of Mary, He grew up.

He went through all the memorable stages of life.

He learned to walk.

He learned to talk.

He grew physically.

And eventually, as a 33 year old man, He was crucified.

But not because of anything He had done.

But because of what we had done.

“For He will save His people from their sins.”

So what do you think of Jesus?

Matthew wants you to know that He is unlike any child.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

He was fully man and fully God.

And He is Savior.

If this is true, then He deserves, commands, and is owed your surrender and worship.