The Birth of The King: Immanuel

Happy Mother’s Day! May I publicly say that I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my mother! To all the mothers, and really all the ladies here which we couldn’t live without, thank you for everything you do for you families, your children, your communities, your church.

Jesus had what you might call a culturally inordinate view of the importance of women in his day. Women show up all throughout the Gospels and the New Testament, and while Scripture doesn’t disregard that there are differences between men and women, it places a high value on both men and women being created in the image of God, for his glory, and for his service.

Last week, we noticed that Matthew includes four women in his genealogy of Jesus, and five if you include Mary. We looked at some snapshots of those women and the fact that they were placed in Jesus’ line sovereignly, by grace. The fact that those women made the list prepare the readers for the shocking birth story of Jesus, and that is what Matthew gives us in this next section today.

I want to read Matthew 1:18-25, and that will be our text for today.

We said before that Matthew, in his introductory statements and his genealogy, is speaking to his Jewish family, his first century audience, and saying, “don’t you see how obvious it is that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the King?” One of the proofs of that in all the Gospel Records is the miraculous nature of Jesus’ life. Jesus’ miraculous life, however, begins with a miraculous birth.

One of the fundamental truths of biblical Christianity, held by believers from the first century on, is the truth of the Virgin Birth of Christ. Now, i can hear you saying “Aren’t we supposed to talk about this at Christmas time?” Well, consider this Christmas in May, because Matthew talks about it, so we’re going to talk about it. At the onset, we should note the fact that the way the Gospel writers speak of the Virgin Birth is almost unceremonious. That is, they don’t go to great lengths to parade it and defend it elaborate on it. Its spoken of as something that is just assumed, understood, almost like the way that we speak of breathing. We rarely speak of our breathing, or our heartbeat, or these things, unless there is a problem of course. They are just, assumed. They are sort of irreducibly a part of our existence.

Well, that is how the Scripture treats the Virgin Birth of Christ - it is irreducibly a part of the Gospel story.

Here in this passage, the Virgin Birth is also coupled with another irreducible part of the Gospel Story - the Deity of Christ.

Just as all believers throughout the ages have unequivocally confessed and believed in the Virgin Birth of Christ, they have also unequivocally confessed and believed in the Deity of Christ.

Now, what is the point of this? Am I just trying to sneak a lesson in Systematic Theology into today’s sermon? No, the point is that these beliefs didn’t emerge over time, they weren’t simply adopted centuries later by councils and creeds, they didn’t become part of the truth of the Gospel of Christ - they are essentially part of the truth of the Gospel of Christ - case in point, Matthew chapter 1.

These truths come together in what we call the Incarnation - the fact that Jesus took on, or added, a human nature to his Divine person. We put it simply, Jesus is Truly God and Truly Man. This is a miracle beyond miracles, and here we have it explained in basic terms by Matthew. Why is this principle so vital, and why does Matthew put it forth so soon in his record?

Because apart from Jesus being both truly Divine and truly Human, you have no Gospel. If Jesus was just an ordinary human, then he isn’t Immanuel - God with us. And if he isn’t Immanuel, God with us, then he cannot be Yeshua - the one who saves his people from their sins.

The Birth of the King glorious because The Messiah is Immanuel, God with us; and he is Jesus, the one who saves us from our sins.

1. A Remarkable Introduction - 18

Matthew’s birth narrative of Jesus is much shorter than, say, Luke’s. That’s the traditional passage read at Christmas time, with the most details about the time of the birth itself. Matthew’s is relatively brief, and really, verse number 18 is almost a summary of the whole thing.

I want to encourage you to view it with fresh eyes this morning - perhaps the fact that we are looking at it in May rather than December will be a difference enough catch your attention. But we read verse 18, having read it time and time again, knowing the truth and believing it, and we aren’t taken back by the seriousness with which Matthew is giving this story.

Here is this young couple, betrothed. That is, engaged. Probably quite young - it wasn’t rare at all for young girls to be given to marriage by the age of 13 or so, and young men only a few years older than that. Regardless, the story begins with a regular occurence. A betrothal, or engagement, that was arranged and took place before the wedding.

A betrothal like this, in that day, however, was much more binding than a modern engagement. They were, legally, as good as married, in that for the betrothal to be broken, it took the equivalent of a divorce. To be in betrothal, the groom or husband would have to pay a betrothal price to secure the future of the bride. There was very little social interaction or contact between the couple, and they would not live or have any normal marital relationship together until they “came together” which refers to the actually marriage celebration, and the consummation.

So this was a time of preparation, usually a year - they were a couple, but not fully. There was no physical or sexual relationship, so there was no chance of conception or childbirth. And any breach of this would be adultery, which of course was punishable by death in the Jewish civil law.

Then Matthew drops the bomb - before Joseph and Mary had come together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit! Now, this was a serious thing. A woman betrothed, not yet married, but pregnant? Of course, what would the assumption be? As if that fact was not shocking enough, Matthew gives us one of the most understated miracles in scripture - this pregnancy was from the Holy Spirit.

Other ancient myths that put forth counterfeit stories of so-called “virgin births” go into great detail about how the god or divinity came upon the woman forcibly, crassly, crudely, and had a normal physical conception, so that the divine agent involved was a physical father. But the Bible gives us no crass or crude explanation of this conception - there is none necessary. It is simply miraculous, a true virgin conception.

Luke 1 records the Angel’s announcement to Mary.

Luke 1:34–35 ESV

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 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.

We noted that the beginning of Matthew started with the Greek word for “Genesis.” Here he uses it again, it is translated as “birth.” It is the beginning, earthly and humanly speaking, of the Messiah’s story. Of course, it is not the beginning of God’s story - rather, it is a new beginning and a pronouncement of his redemption marked by this miracle of miracles.

Thus the first miracle we have in the Gospels is here introduced - the remarkable, understated miracle of the Virgin Conception, the “genesis” or beginning of the incarnation of the Son of God.

2. A Just Reaction - 19

But Matthew isn’t retelling merely a book of theology, or a book of miracles, but he is retelling a story - a true story with real people. The Genealogy was full of real people, and the rest of the story is also.

He tells the story from Joseph’s perspective, and we find Joseph in a dilemma. A predicament.

The Bible uses the word “husband” here, even though they are just engaged. This is not an error, for as we mentioned, the betrothal period was binding legally. They were “as good as married” in the legal sense. Which heightens the stakes when Joseph finds out this news, this shocking news that Mary was pregnant. Can you imagine the feeling in his stomach? He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it wasn’t his child. His heart was broken. And the story he heard, was that it was from the holy ghost?

Perhaps he thought - “Mary has never lied to me before, why would she make up a story like this?”

The Bible calls him “just.”In this context, he was upright, fair, equitable. He was undoubtedly devout in his Judaism, and he knew the law. He knew the text in Leviticus 20 where Adultery was seen not just as a cause for separation or divorce, but it was punishable by death.

Had he been in a different frame of mind, he could have easily called for this sentence. Yet, something in his mind told him to take a more sentient route. Matthew says “because he was just, and unwilling to put Mary to shame, he resolved to “put her away” quietly.”

He wanted no harm done to Mary, but the relationship was off. He was in the right, at least if there had been adultery involved. He was not being unfair, or cruel - just the opposite. They would legally separate, though that didn’t make it any easier.

Notice here that, humanly speaking, Joseph was not committing any sin. He was not overreacting, unfair, or unrealistic. He was being gracious, kind, even displaying mercy. The humiliation of an unplanned birth out of wedlock would have been enough, he didn’t need to display his own wrath.

But this is where the mundane, human nature, even a just display, is shattered and overtaken by the Divine and Miraculous.

3. An Angelic Intervention - 20-21

“as he considered these things.” No doubt, this decision was dreadful and difficult! He was thinking of his options, his betrothed, his reputation, her reputation, the law, the consequences, the sacrifice - and while he was thinking, he was given this vision.

Notice how the Angel addresses Joseph in his dream - “Son of David.” I wonder if that caused Joseph to think? I wonder if there was even an inkling of imagination, an imagination that thought, “is that part of this puzzle?”

“do not fear.” That summed up Joseph’s feelings. Fear - uncertainty. I always define fear as a lack of understanding, a lack of control, or a combination of the two - and that describes Joseph’s circumstance to a T. He didn’t understand! How could Mary be with child? Was she unfaithful? He couldn’t control the situation - what had been done had been done.

But the Angel reminds him, his lack of understanding and lack of control was irrelevant here. There is one who has perfect understanding and perfect control, and he has wrought a miracle. What Joseph perceived to be a disastrous and heartbreaking situation was revealed to be miraculous, and not only miraculous, but liberating and redemptive!

A child from the Holy Spirit. When I think of this interaction, my mind wonders if Joseph was thinking, “well, this isn’t my child. It is miraculous and wonderful, but how do I relate? What is my calling in this opportunity?” It would be, to say the least, both wonderful and awkward. Now he believes in this miracle, but what is he to do?

He is to move forward with his Original calling. Consider, he was betrothed to Mary. He was promised to be her husband, with all duties, responsibilities, privileges. The Angel says, “don’t fear - just do what you were originally called to do.” Joseph was not called to be the physical Father of Jesus, but he was called to be the Husband of Mary, to raise Jesus as an adoptive father in the human sense, and to take that role with faith and courage.

Verse 21 gives Joseph further instruction.

They were to name the Child. But they weren’t to simply name him whatever they chose. This is an intervention in itself, for naming children was an all-important task in the Jewish home. In fact, naming in general began as one of the first tasks of Adam and Eve in the Garden. But often, when a special child was born, with a specific task from God, the privilege of naming that child was taken away.

This had happened to Zacharias, in luke 1:13

Luke 1:13 ESV

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

Only here the call was much more clear. You will name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

The name Jesus, which was quite common in this time period, is from the Hebrew “Yeshua” meaning, “Yahweh Saves.”

Every other little Jewish boy with this name had a name that would point elsewhere - it would point outward and say “God saves. The Lord Saves.” But in this case, with this Jesus, the name was applicable to the child himself. Why? for HE would save his people.

There were other boys born with that name. There were other boys born in the royal line. There were other boys born to more noble people, with more noble birth-stories. There were other boys born with less “questionable” circumstances. There were other leaders born who would prove to be strong and mighty. There were other kings born who would lead earthly kingdoms to victory and salvation from physical enemies. Yet, there was only born one boy in human history of whom it could be said, “he will save people from their sins.”

Don’t fear Joseph - this child is not the result of sin, rather he is the savior of Sin.

Don’t fear, Mary - your baby will not bring you shame and reproach forever, he will be your savior.

Don’t fear, Christian - your savior was not born like the other kings and rulers, he was born the Sinless Son of God, and he is your rescuer and redeemer.

4. A Fulfilling Conclusion - 22-25

As we come to verse 22 and 23, we get to Matthew’s very first “fulfillment quotation.” Matthew, as we said a couple weeks ago, loves to point out the fulfillment of Jesus. He cannot help but point back to the scriptures and say “This is talking about Jesus! You can’t miss this!”

Isaiah 7:14 ESV

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matthew quotes this prophecy in Isaiah. Interestingly, this prophecy in Isaiah is typological - it has a two-stage fulfilment. This is not at all uncommon in the Prophets, to have a promised person or fulfillment in the immediate sense, in which the promise is kept, but the fulness of it points to something bigger. Isaiah’s passage seems to talk about a fulfillment in the immediate future - but Matthew tells us here that the fulness of the fulfillment comes now in Jesus.

The fulfillment in Isaiah’s day pointed to God being with them in judgment, in the destruction of their enemies. But the true and complete fulfillment pointed to God being with them in the person of Jesus Christ.

Why the two names? Of course, his actual given name was to be “Jesus” - the savior. But the name “Immanuel” describes what Jesus does, or rather, who he is.

The one who Saves his people from their sins is “God with us.” This is God, not just in typological presence, not just in spiritual presence - this is God in flesh, the savior of His people.

Joseph, then, having had this vision and revelation from the Angel, did exactly what the Angel told him to. He took Mary as his wife, controversy and all. The story of Joseph and Mary is a story of great faith on the part of both of them. Imagine young Mary, a virgin, betrothed but never with a man - now pregnant with the child of God himself. Imagine the fear, what will Joseph say? What will the people say?

Yet, as we’ve seen, the answer to both Joseph and Mary’s fear was the very baby that was in her womb. Jesus was the answer to the fears and questions.

That was Mary’s first son, and just as her first son would be her savior, he would be the savior of her other Children as well. The Bible doesn’t give us any reason to believe that Mary remained a Virgin - nothing would have been gained by that. In the plain sense, the Gospels speak of her other children. The final verse of Chapter one tells us that “Joseph knew her not until she had given birth.” Joseph and Mary were still, a normal couple. Mary was not Divine or Sinless, the miracle was not Mary, the Miracle is Jesus. Jesus the savior of His people, Jesus who is Immanuel - “God with us.”

Application

I want to give some points of Application, and they are going to progress in importance from general to urgent.

1. When God calls you to something, your fear is only founded if you are relying on yourself.

It has been said countless times that the command “do not fear” is found in the Bible hundreds of times. That is true. But we do fear, don’t we! And what is fear? It is a lack of understanding, a lack of control, or a combination of the two. God has called his children to follow Him - a task which, if done in our own strength, is daunting at best and truly impossible. How could Joseph move on with a marriage that had started, at least he thought, with infidelity? How could he faithfully be a husband in this circumstance? We often find that when we trust the Lord, the circumstances aren’t what meet the eye - there is always more to the story in God’s plan of redemption.

2. Bible-Characters aren’t Mythical Legends

Bible people are normal people. When something miraculous happens in scripture, it is not because the people are miraculous - it is because it is God’s story, and God is a miracle worker. Joseph and Mary were a normal engaged couple. They were faithful and just, but they weren’t perfect. God didn’t choose Mary to be the mother of Jesus because she was perfect any more than he chose Noah to build the ark because he was a master Ark-builder. God works in and through people because of His Grace!

3. Don’t be afraid of Miracles in the Bible

I said that this was the first Miracle recorded in the Gospels, the miracle of the virgin-birth. This teaching has been attacked and rejected and explained away so many times. There is a propensity to view scripture with naturalistic eyes and to say, “anything miraculous is mythical.” Don’t be afraid of miracles. I heard a preacher tell of an interaction he had in which the person said, “if someone came to you and said that their child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, would you believe them?” The preacher said, “If I had that confirmed by the Angel of the Lord, and then the child grew up and lived a life like Jesus did, then yes I would believe it!”

This is only the First miracle we will see in Matthew - Jesus is God. His whole earthly life is full of the miraculous, things that confirm his personhood, his deity, his ministry. And his miracle-working power is most evident in his saving grace.

4. You Cannot have Salvation without Incarnation

We said at the beginning that Matthew introduces two of the foundational Christian doctrines in this passage - the Virgin Birth and the Deity of Christ. You don’t have one without the Other. The second person didn’t just “inhabit” a person who was already alive. Jesus didn’t “become God” when he became an adult, or performed his first miracle. Jesus was born, Immanuel - God with us. That is, God in flesh.

John 1:14 ESV

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.

The Word is Jesus. And what does Jesus’ name mean? “Yaweh Saves.” Jesus can’t be savior unless he is Immanuel. You can’t have a Messiah and King who “saves his people from their sins” unless you have a Messiah who is “The Word become flesh.” Jesus didn’t become the sinless son of God, he WAS and IS the sinless Son of God, the rescuing King.

And from our perspective, the opposite is true. You can’t have the presence of God, Immanuel, “God with us” unless you have a King who “Saves his people from their sins.” There is no presence of God to bless unless there is the work of God to save.

The Birth of the King glorious because The Messiah is Immanuel, God with us; and he is Jesus, the one who saves us from our sins.