Matthew 1:18-25 The Birth of Christ

Intro

Pray for Dave & Kathi Morse

Today we are going to look at the birth of Christ

I’m not sure if there is anything more exciting than the birth of a child

I think we can all agree that the gender reveal parties have gotten out of hand

Everyone wants to top the previous person

From what started as a color of the cake has turned into these elaborate events where people shoot rockets off

As you can imagine the bigger you go the more epic the failures

Refugio and Angela Ramirez wanted to do something special so they gathered family & friends in a park in the San Bernadino Mtns

To reveal the gender they decided to set off a smoke bomb but they didn’t take into account the especially dry landscape and temps that were 10-15 degrees higher than normal

When the smoke bomb went off it sparked a fire and 22,000 acres later the El Dorado fire was put out

Needless to say the couple was arrested and are facing multiple charges and jail time

Today we are going to see a gender reveal that tops them all

An angel is going to visit Joseph and tell him that the woman he is betrothed to is pregnant with a boy

In the process we are going look at several doctrines that are essential to every Christian

Read Matt 1:18-21

Transition

Matthew wants to give his account of the birth of Christ

It is not as in depth as Luke’s version and that is on purpose

Luke’s goal is to give the most accurate account

Matthew is trying to show the Jews that Jesus fulfilled prophecy and is the Messiah they are looking for

He emphasizes the work of God in the process

Vs. 18a Betrothed

The first thing Matthew mentions is that Mary was betrothed to Joseph

Betrothed = Promised, Having been asked, to take possession

Betrothal then was more binding than most engagements are today and was normally accompanied by the groom’s payment of at least part of the bride price.

Mary would have probably been between the ages of twelve and fourteen (sixteen at the oldest), Joseph perhaps between eighteen and twenty; their parents likely arranged their marriage

A man who was to marry another’s daughter was already regarded as a son-in-law at the time of betrothal

It commonly lasted a year, meant that bride and groom were officially pledged to each other but had not yet consummated the marriage; advances toward anyone else were thus regarded as adulterous

To get out of a betrothal meant the man had to issue a certificate of divorce

If the woman had been found to have committed adultery or be pregnant the law called for her to be stoned

That didn’t happen very much so they would publicly shame her and her family

It was a great disgrace

So, the fact that Mary is pregnant, is no small issue

Later we see a lot of Joseph’s character by him willing to do it privately to alleviate the shame

It would cause a scandal in that time

Jesus’ birth to Mary, and Joseph being his legal dad gave him the right lineage

They both came from the line of David

Vs. 18b Virgin Birth

Mary was with child but it wasn’t through another man

Galatians 4:4 ESV

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

Notice it only says born of a woman and doesn’t mention the man?

Mary was a virgin

Even she had questions

Luke 1:34 ESV

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

Jesus had to have one human parent or He could not have been human, and thereby a partaker of our flesh.

But He also had to have divine parentage or He could not have made a sinless and perfect sacrifice on our behalf.

This is called the incarnation

Incarnation: Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh, or man, so that he could become the perfect sacrifice to appease the wrath of God and erase our sins

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the central fact of Christianity.

The whole superstructure of Christian theology is built on it.

The essence and the power of the gospel is that God became man and that, by being both wholly God and wholly man, He was able to reconcile men to God.

Jesus’ virgin birth, His substitutionary atoning death, resurrection, ascension, and return are all integral aspects of His deity

Vs. 19-20 Conceived by the Spirit

How did this virgin birth happen?

That which was conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit

Luke 1:35 ESV

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.

This verse emphasizes the supernatural character of the whole event.

The phrase that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit is profound.

In those words is the ultimate testimony to the virgin birth.

It is the testimony of the holy angel from the Lord God Himself.

This leaves Jospeh in a bind

Although Joseph and Mary were only betrothed at this time (v. 18), he was considered her husband and she was considered his wife.

For the very reason that he was a righteous man, Joseph had a double problem, at least in his own mind.

First, because of his righteous moral standards, he knew that he should not go through with the marriage because of Mary’s pregnancy.

Second, because of his righteous love and kindness, he could not bear the thought of shaming her publicly

He had been shamed (if what he assumed had been true), but his concern was not for his own shame but for Mary’s.

He was not wanting to disgrace her by public exposure of her supposed sin. Because he loved her so deeply he determined simply to put her away secretly

Fortunately an angel appears to Joseph

He tells him not to be afraid and take Mary as his wife… God is at work

vs. 21 Save Us from Our Sins

After consoling Jospeh, the angel continues to give him details

It will be a son

He will be called Jesus

He is going to save us from our sins

This backs up what Gabriel had told Mary

Luke 1:31 ESV

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

So far we’ve seen that the Messiah had to be from the tribe of Judah, in the line of David, born of a virgin, conceived of the Spirit, become flesh, and named Jesus

Now we see the doctrine of Salvation

Salvation is God’s plan to rescue creation from hell and deliver them from the bondage of sin

Jesus means Jehovah Saves

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God sent his only son out of his immense love for us

He wanted to save us from our sin which separates us from him

He also wanted to rescue us from an eternity in hell

This salvation can only be found in Jesus

Acts 4:12 ESV

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.”

Many religions say that there are many roads to heaven

Christianity is ridiculed because it says there is only one

Jesus lowered himself and became man so that he could become the perfect sacrifice to save us from our sins

vs. 22-23 Immanuel

The next two doctrinal issues are prophecy and deliverance

It was foretold Jesus’ birth was coming

Isaiah 7:14

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 fact, Jesus fulfilled 300 prophecies during his time on earth

This is important to us for two reasons

First, Jesus is who it was proclaimed he would be

Second, God’s word can be trusted

Prophecy: derived from a group of Greek words which, in pagan Greek, mean “speak forth,” “proclaim,” “announce.”

If what was said about Jesus in the past came true, then we can believe that what is the said about the future will come true as well

The second doctrinal topic we see is based on the word Immanuel

This is the only place in the NT you see this word

Immanuel means “God with us”

Immanuel: The name symbolized the fact that God would demonstrate his presence with his people in this deliverance

Combined with incarnation you have God who became flesh and dwelled among the people

He came to deliver people from the penalty of sin

vs. 24-25 Jospeh’s Obedience