Trusting God/Immanuel who is with us and His word - Joseph
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Trusting God/Immanuel who is with us and His word - Joseph
Trusting God/Immanuel who is with us and His word - Joseph
Trust - “Firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something.” (Oxford Dictionary)
Whom do YOU trust?
Some one has said that “Trust is the linchpin of relationships”. Without trust, those in any kind relationship cannot advance together with the unwavering calmness that they are in step and can count on each other.
Essex/Kingsville Marching Band - marching in step and in file
Arizona Law Enforcement Academy procedure
How we answer is integral to interdependence plus developing and maintaining healthy relationships. For that reason when trust is lost it is very hard to proceed. That is true of any relationship - sports, work, life, family, marriage and ministry.
As believers, when we are asked whom do we trust, we should be able to answer unequivocally not only in terms of physical but also in terms spiritual/eternal relationships.
Whom we can trust and choose to trust provides some balance in keeping life on an even keel, even in the midst of storms. In the storms of life, sometimes others ask how we are and sometimes if we need any help. That is an indirect way of asking if we have those whom we trust. When we bring God into They ask with cynicism and sarcasm that drips with disbelief that someone would trust in the LORD our Lord/word.
Unbelievers do not understand. An instance in the life and times of the prophet Isaiah illustrated that. Isaiah recorded what a nearby king asked King Hezekiah.
Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?
The prophet Isaiah recorded broader details of Sennacherib, the king of Assyrian’s consternation that Hezekiah would not only not trust Pharoah, king of Egypt, but that he, Hezekiah would trust a God whom Sennacherib incorrectly concluded was confined to a temple in Jerusalem.
Is 36 -37
Isaiah’s message - Is 37:6-7
Hezekiah’s prayer - Is 37:14-20 - especially Is 37:18-20
During Advent, when we remember and celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, the reactions of conservative evangelicals range from downplaying Christmas because of the overshadowing commercialism, to focusing on the festivities to the extent that the wonderful truths integral to the incarnation, God in flesh now appearing, are not regularly reviewed and affirmed. I pray that with our Lord’s help we could strike and spiritually healthy.
Celebrating Jesus’ birth allows us to again affirm “whom we trust”. In the Scripture portion open before us today, Joseph provides and excellent template for trust, as well as how the word of God encourage and at times commands us to trust those who review what the Scriptures and admonish to trust them and the word.
1. The context of Joseph’s crisis of trust - Matt 1:18-19
Most of details surrounding what Joseph faced involved the very complicated relationship in which he was more or less bound.
Birth of Jesus Christ :
Jesus - Jeshua - means “the Lord is salvation”
Christ - Greek form of the Hebrew - Messiah meaning “annointed one”
Having outlined the lineage of Jesus Christ from Abraham through David to Joseph, Matthew told us that this was how the birth of Jesus Christ took place.
Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ:
Lk 1:28 - favoured one - blessed by receiving God’s grace
Betrothed to Joseph:
Usually arranged, dowry paid, binding apart from divorce, did not live together and no sexual intimacy until marriage ceremony
Before they were come together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
Sexual purity highly regarded in both OT & NT
Mary’s virginity an evidence of her godliness and living in the fear and trust of God
Testimony - her’s, her betrothed,her family and community.
Found to be with child by the Holy Spirit
Virgin birth should not have surprised those Jews who knew the OT
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
In human terms the virgin birth cannot be explained. But people even sincere people try and sometimes muddy the water. Some rabbis suggested that Jer 31:22 referred to the virgin birth when in fact this vague portion probably the former virgin Israel, married and divorced now embracing her husband the Lord.
How long will you waver,
O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing on the earth:
a woman encircles a man.”
Matthew, vols. 1-4 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) The Virgin Birth
many rabbis believed the Messiah would have an unusual birth. They said, “Messiah is to have no earthly father,” and “the birth of Messiah shall be like the dew of the Lord, as drops upon the grass without the action of man.” But even that poor interpretation of an obscure text (an interpretation also held by some of the church Fathers) assumed a unique birth for the Messiah.
Her husband - being a just man
Just - righteous - by faith - by Joseph’s understanding of moral standards from the word of God, marrying a pregnant woman was already pregnant a dilemma - with no confession and repentance from Mary, he became part of the problem because after the marriage proper, he would also have been seen as indirectly complicate. Some might have suggested that Joseph and Mary came together soon after their betrothal.
Saw no way that he could trust Mary
Unwilling to put her to public shame, resolved to put her away quietly
grace and truth
Righteous love and kindness meant that he could not bear the thought of shaming her publically.
“If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
No evidence of anger, resentment or bitterness
Joseph would have also eventually faced some shame when the expected marriage did not take place.
Put away - common gentle term for divorce in that day
2. The confirmation of Joseph’s trust - Matt 1:20-25
As Joseph considered these things - did not rush, thought and no doubt prayed. This was between the Lord and him and Mary, whom he did he did not see how he could trust.
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying:
Only one of a very few appearances of angels in the NT - most re birth of Jesus Christ.
Matt 28:2; Acts 5:19; 8:26; 10:3; 12:7-10; 27:23; Rev 1:1
First of 5 revelation/direction dreams - Matt 2:12; 2:13; 2:19; 2:20;
Joseph, son of David
Promised Messiah would come from the line of David
Taking Mary as his wife, as the husband, the baby to be born to them would his legal son and also of the line of David.
Trust Mary - do not fear - stop being afraid:
For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit:
Clear testimony to the virgin birth.
Matthew, vols. 1-4 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) The Virgin Birth Confronted
One critic has waved his fist at God and called Him an unholy liar with these words: “There was nothing peculiar about the birth of Jesus. He was not God incarnate and no virgin mother bore him. The church in its ancient zeal fathered a myth and became bound to it as a dogma.” But the testimony of Scripture stands.
She will bear a son - Mary had also been told that - Lk 1:31
Trust God - You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
Jesus - Jehovah/Yahweh will save
Others had had that name - Joshua/Jeshua
This Jeshua though was to be born to Mary, not only testified Jehovah/Yahweh will save, but would himself be that salvation.
Will save His people from their sin
Jesus did not come set a moral tone, to be a great teacher. He came to provide salvation from sin.
Then as now, for the need of salvation to be recognized, the crushing unavoidable moral/spiritual cancer of sin must be acknowledged. This invasive moral/spiritual cancer permeates and infects all of mankind past, present and future, until Christ returns.
The Scriptures make it very clear that sin is the unavoidable moral/spiritual pandemic of all pandemics. Denying it does not negate its reality. Suggesting that it is not as deadly as the word of God explains does not and cannot spiritual and moral results in the lives of those who refuse to acknowledge and counter the pandemic.
The Bible leaves no question with regard to the reality of sin and the resulting problem.
David understood this.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
In Jesus’ day, most, even those who were religious incorrectly believed sin as something bad people do, rather than what we all are.
Ironically, today most people even those who are somewhat religious and spiritual regard the concept of sin as an outdated misguided concept that should been filed with ideas like an absolute true standard of morality, miracles and the truth of the word of God.
And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
FOR CHRISTMAS TO HAVE ITS TRUE FULL MEANING, ALL OF THE GOOD NEWS MUST BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND PROCLAIMED. TO DO LESS IS IN ITSELF A SIN.
Trust the Lord and the word of God:
All this took place - retrospect by Matthew - to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet Isaiah - simple definition of inspiration. The word of God came through human instruments.
Jesus’ birth predicted in the OT
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to the neck, and its outspread wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”
Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing;
speak a word, but it will not stand,
for God is with us.
Matthew quoted the OT more than 60 times - What God said and promised He did.
Might be fulfilled - 60 times in Matthew
This part of Isaiah was part of promise to King Ahaz (Judah) that God would turn back the attack of Israel (strongest of northern divided kingdom) ans Syria.
Matthew, vols. 1-4 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) The Virgin Birth Connected
The scene in Isaiah 7 is the reign of King Ahaz in Judah. Though son of the great Uzziah, he was a wicked king. He filled Jerusalem with idols, reinstated the worship of Molech, and burned his own son as a sacrifice to that god. Rezin, king of Syria (Aram), and Pekah, king of Israel (also called Samaria at that time), decided to remove Ahaz and replace him with a king who would do their bidding. In the face of such a threat to the people of Israel and to the royal line of David, Ahaz, instead of turning to God for help, sought the help of Tiglath-pileser, the evil king of the Assyrians. He even plundered and sent to Tiglath-pileser the gold and silver from the Temple.
How did the prediction of the virgin birth fit the situation of that day?
Matthew, vols. 1-4 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) The Virgin Birth Connected
Isaiah was telling the wicked king that no one would destroy the people of God or the royal line of David. When the prophet said, “The Lord shall give you a sign,” he used a plural you, indicating that Isaiah was also speaking to the entire nation, telling them that God would not allow Rezin and Pekah, or anyone else, to destroy them and the line of David (cf. Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:13). Even though the people came into the hands of Tiglath-pileser, who destroyed the northern kingdom and overran Judah on four
Then and now, God with us - even with Roman occupying forces.
Joseph’s trust confession/affirmation:
Took his wife - Mary - as the angel of the Lord commanded him
BUT knew her not until she had given birth to a son - called his name Jesus
As we celebrate Jesus’ birth, whom do WE trust?
The Lord and His word:
Virgin/ Virgin birth
Not the dogma and traditions of some systems
Jesus/Saviour from sin
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Immanuel
Jesus is God, the Son of God
Jesus was God in human flesh
John the Apostle and the other disciples understood and trusted that.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—
2. Our confession - re “whom do you trust?”
Our clearest confession is what both say and do when they dovetail with each other and the word of God
Believe, repent
Conversion - do we receive that give
Confess - baptism
Confess - message
Confess - trust
Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me?
Charles Spurgeon - Morning & Evening Devotional
“On whom do you trust?” I trust says the Christian, “in a triune God. I trust the Father, believing that He has chosen me before the foundations of the world; I trust Him to provide for me in providence, to teach me, to guide me, to correct me if need be and to bring me home to His own home where the many mansions are.
I trust the Son. Very God is He - the man Christ Jesus. I trust in Him to take away all my sins by His sacrifice, and to adorn me with His righteousness. I trust Him to be my Intercessor, to present my prayers and desires before the Father’s throne, and I trust Him to be my Advocate at the last day, to plead my cause and to justify me. I trust Him for what He is, for what He has done, and for what He has promised yet to do.
And I trust the Holy Spirit - He has begun to save me from my inbred sins; I trust Him to drive them all out; I trust Him to curb my temper, to subdue my will, to enlighten my understanding, to check my passions, to comfort my despondency, to illuminate my darkness; I trust Him to dwell in me as my life, to reign in me as my King, to sanctify me wholly. spirit, soul, and body, and then take me up to dwell with the saints in light for ever.”
Oh, blessed trust! To trust Him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never wane, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never fail, whose wisdom will never be nonplussed, and whose perfect goodness can never know a diminution! Happy art thou, reader, if this is thine! So trusting, thou shalt enjoy sweet peace now, and glory hereafter, and the foundation f thy trust shall never be removed.”