Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO: I love telling the story of the birth of my children.

All of them unique, but all incredible stories!

Jax… Abby… Bennett

Jesus’ birth story from Matthew far more unique and incredible that the births of even my own children.

1) Jesus was CONCEIVED by the SPIRIT of God

Mary and Joseph betrothed… NOT MARRIED…

In Israel, betrothal was much weightier than engagement in western societies today.

It was so binding that Matthew already calls Joseph “her husband” (1:19).

The couple did not sleep together during their betrothal, yet Mary’s body was swelling.

Her body declared that she was pregnant.

What a crushing blow to Joseph!

He had never been with Mary but, so it seemed, someone else had.

His bride-to-be was pregnant but was not carrying his child.

He was a righteous man and wanted a righteous wife.

If Mary had been unfaithful to him before they even married, what kind of woman was she?

What kind of marriage could they have?

In every moral, emotional, and legal way, he had a right to plan to end the betrothal.

Since betrothal was so binding, its termination amounted to a divorce.

However miserable the thought, Joseph considered divorce.

v.19 says: “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly” (1:19).

But Joseph was merciful too.

He could have exposed Mary, as an unwed mother, to public disgrace and to severe penalties.

A quiet divorce, however, would preserve some of her dignity.

She would bear the consequences of her action, but would not suffer the most public humiliation.

So Joseph settled on a quiet divorce.

The Lord let Joseph struggle to solve his problem for a season before he revealed a better plan.

He often does this, letting us make our plans, then revealing a better way.

When this happens, we must change our plans, as Joseph did.

We must test our plans and purposes against God’s will, as revealed in Scripture and in the counsel of the wise.

Even plans that look sound must be open to revision.

God wanted Joseph to proceed with the marriage, and sent an angel to tell him why.

Here we must purge our popular images of angels.

In the Bible, angels are not cute and do not specialize in romance.

They are as likely to say something frightening as to say something comforting.

Their appearance in our realm is a rare, weighty, and awesome event.

Angels are God’s mighty messengers.

There is a cluster of angel appearances near the birth of Jesus because it is such a great event.

Here God’s angel Gabriel intervenes for the sake of Joseph (and for our sake) so he will know what this virgin conception means: “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’ ” (1:20).

Every phrase counts.

The address “Joseph son of David” links the virgin conception to the Davidic genealogy.

The Holy Spirit is the author of this life, yet Joseph has a role to play.

“Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife” addresses his sad resolution to divorce the woman he loves.

The angel assures Joseph that things are not as they seem.

Because the child is conceived not by a man but by the Holy Spirit, Joseph can marry his beloved.

She is as pure and godly as he had hoped.

Into his new marriage, Joseph must take this child as his son.

“For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is conceived by the Spirit of God, but Joseph must adopt him into the line of David.

Therefore Jesus is both the Son of God and the son of David.

Because of the adoption, Jesus will grow up in a normal home, with both father and mother to love and nurture him.

CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

2) Jesus was COMMISSIONED to the WILL of God

Joseph told baby’s name will be Jesus… “the Lord saves.”

The Lord saves and delivers his people in many ways:

he gives food to the hungry,

he heals the sick,

he comforts the brokenhearted.

Many hoped the Messiah would save Israel from its Roman oppressors.

Where we often fail… Try to declare God’s agenda for our own lives

“Lord, I want you to be my Savior, but I want to set the parameters.”

If Jesus is not LORD of all you say and do, then He is not your SAVIOR at all.

The angel declares God’s agenda.

“Jesus came to his people from their SIN”

Jesus will not save his people from physical enemies;

Jesus did not come to save from physical ailments

Jesus did not come to give them a better job

Jesus did not come to make their kids star athletes… SACRIFICED TO THE IDOL OF TRAVEL BALL

Jesus did not come to be a bumper sticker, yard ornament, fancy decoration in a church,

he “will save his people from their sins.”

Sin is the root of all other calamities.

Yes, calamity comes from many sources—accidents, forgetfulness, and disease, for example.

But the root, the cause, of disorder is SIN—the greatest disorder causing us to be at odds with God.

Jesus will save his people from that.

THIS IS TO FULFILL THE WILL OF GOD AS PROPHESIED THROUGH ISAIAH...

This birth of Jesus begins the unfolding of God’s salvation; it also fulfills Scripture.

Matthew’s precise words are instructive: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet” (1:22).

That is, the prophet Isaiah spoke as God moved him (2 Peter 1:21).

These are God’s very words, spoken by a prophet, to prepare the way for God’s salvation.

The birth of Jesus shows that God is with us.

In important ways, God is always with us.

We can never flee from his presence.

We can resonate with the Psalmist David...

He is in the heavens and the depths, on land and at sea (Ps.

139:7–10).

We can try to ignore God,

We can try to deny God,

We can try to curse God.

But he never disappears.

His reign extends over all creation, even, in a way, over hell itself.

God is omnipresent.

Nevertheless, Matthew says that with Jesus’ birth, God entered human history in a new way.

He is with us with power and for blessing.

Three times in the gospel of Matthew we hear that Jesus is God with us: in the beginning, at its midpoint, and at the end.

It is a crucial moment each time.

In the BEGINNING, we hear that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, to save his people from their sins (1:21–23).

In the MIDDLE, we hear that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, to purify his church.

Jesus promises,

We often use this verse to find assurance that God hears when we gather for prayer, and rightly so.

But in its original context, Jesus had a specific prayer in mind.

In the agony of church discipline, when a Christian persists in sin and will not repent, when the leaders deal with such rebellion,

Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, to preserve the purity of the church.