Matthew
1:18-25
God’s faithful People await Christmas- They Are Saved
Miraculously, Purposefully, Prophetically
Dear Christian Friends,
The game show contestant was set to come back the next day for more cash and prizes. All he had to do was correctly answer one last question: “To be today’s champion,” The show’s smiling host intoned, “name two of Santa’s reindeer.” The contestant, a man in his early thirties, gave a sigh of relief, gratified that he had drawn such an easy question. “Rudolph!” he announced “and “Olive!” The studio audience started mumbling, and the confused host replied, “Yes, we’ll except Rudolph, but can you explain Olive? The man gestured impatiently, “You know, Rudolph –the Red Nosed Reindeer—Had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glowed, OLIVE, the other reindeer……..”
It’s amazing how ignorant people are of what Christmas, is all about. They can’t even get their facts straight about Santa and his reindeer, It’s no wonder people don’t grasp the virgin birth and the importance of Christ’s birth. What is Christmas? A time for seeing what gifts you get? It’s much more important than that, it’s about salvation. Then how are we saved? Tonight as we await Christmas, we focus on our salvation and that starts with getting the facts straight about Jesus birth. We see that we are saved, Miraculously, Purposefully, and Prophetically.
In the first 17 verses of Matthew 1, we are given the genealogy from Abraham to Jesus, to show that He is indeed true man. Matthew gives us the account of the Savior’s birth in a much shorter version than Luke 2 does, but focuses more on His divine birth.
Let’s take a look at the miracle that takes place in our text, and let’s get our facts straight.
VERSE 18, We are introduced to the cast of characters, Mary, a descendant of David, and cousin to Elizabeth. We are also introduced to Joseph, who in the original language, says he was a tekton, which means a mason or carpenter, we figure he was both, because both skills were needed in building. He too was from the line of King David and as VERSE 19a tells us, He was a righteous man, one who respectfully followed God’s laws. He wasn’t going to seek revenge or wanting to bring humiliation to Mary, in others words he was a nice guy, that was concerned about others and didn’t want to upset any one.
The
problem: Mary is pregnant. Why is this a problem? In order to understand the situation we
need to look at that word pledge and what it meant in NT. Biblical times. Were
they engaged? Were they going steady
and Mary was wearing Joseph’s class ring or letter jacket? Would he give her a
ring? What does it mean? To better answer the skeptics, it is
imperative that we be acquainted with the Jewish marriage customs in Jesus’
day. By Jewish customs, a betrothal or
pledge to be married was very significant.
A Hebrew marriage involved two stages, the kiddushin (the pledge) and the huppah (marriage
feast). There was up to 12 months
between these two stages of marriage in Jesus’ day. The couple would have no physical relationships during this
period and they would not live together.
This time period between the pledge and the marriage festival was called
the “betrothal period” and served as a time of prohibition and testing of
faithfulness. Now at the end of this
period the huppah took place.
It was their wedding service in a sense, it was more like our
reception. This wedding reception of huppah
lasted 7 days. I see a lot of
father’s wincing at that thought of having friends and the neighborhood over
for 7 days. You have to feed them,
provide drink and lodging. That’s the
wedding of Cana, remember what happened?
They ran out of wine during the 7 day celebration. That is why when you gave your daughter
away, you asked for some payment for her so you could help pay for the huppah. This was called the mohar.
The mohar was the
price that you would have to pay for the daughter. And it would vary, depending on the girl. It could be anything from a couple dozen
sheep to a lame chicken. Genesis 24
& 34 says it was goods or services.
It had several purposes. First,
it would compensate the father for the wedding feast. It was also to act as life insurance for the wife. Normally, the Jewish father would hold it in
trust and if the husband died he would give it back to the daughter. It was also a kind of divorce insurance in
case her husband would run out on her; in that event she would receive back the
price. So this pledge period was a
period of testing to insure the virginity and fidelity of the couple. What I want you to see is that from the very
beginning they were considered husband
and wife, even though they did not live
together. That’s why in verse 19b The word “divorce” is another evidence
that they were considered married.
This custom of Jewish betrothal is quite different than our modern custom or engagement and marriage. In Jesus’ day the pledge or betrothal was recognized as the legal act of marriage. Today in our society people are not recognized as being legally married until they have a marriage license and have gone through a ceremony with a public official. Our custom of engagement is not tantamount to marriage. Too many people believe engagement is a testing period when you can “test out or experience” some or all of the benefits of marriage – living together or sexual intimacy. That is wrong in God’s eyes. He considers that sin. God recognizes marriage when our society recognizes marriage and in our case that involves a license and a ceremony by a public official.
Joseph is going to divorce Mary. So now what? We need to introduce ourselves to two more characters from our text. VERSE 20 the angel comes to Joseph, angels as you recall our messengers from God. This messenger, reminds Joseph that the Savior was to come from David’s line, his relative. The angel then reminds Joseph of the most important character in this text, the Holy Spirit. VERSE 18b As we state time and time again in our creeds, this baby in Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit. It was a miraculous conception. Skeptics can pick this apart and shoot holes in it all they want. But it is an article of faith, something to be adored and appreciated. The bible plainly states in VERSE 25 “no sexual relations”.
Hark the herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born king.” Even though the world is ready to sing the song, they are not really ready to receive the reality of it. We take the truth of the virgin birth for granted, not everyone does even in the church at large. That is why it is of vital importance that we study it. For example in a survey carried out among 10,000 Protestant pastors by the Jeffery Hadden firm gathered in December 1987 the following information was gathered. One question in the survey asked: Do you believe in the virgin birth of Jesus.? Over 50% of the 7,700 pastors who answered the question said “no”. But we really should not be surprised. Paul said in (Rom 3:3-4 NIV) What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? {4} Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge." Don’t ever base your beliefs on the majority rule. When it comes to the virgin birth we cannot doubt it, we cannot deny it, and we cannot ignore it if we simply open our eyes and see the miracle in our text.
What are you doing here? What is this text here for? Busy work? No VERSE 21 gives us the purpose.
A great deal can be said about a name, I looked on the internet the other day, for what my name meant, Clark means “Scholar” and you know I have to agree with them. But in this verse the angel gives the name of Mary’s baby to be. JESUS. In the OT it was the same name as Joshua or Jehovah “The Lord Saves”. We recall that Joshua was the military leader and replacement for Moses. He led many fierce battles and brought the children of Israel to the promise land. This baby in Mary’s tummy was going to be much more than an earthly ruler or leader. Unfortunately when Jesus came on the scene that is what many of his people were looking for and wanted to make Jesus. The Angel gives Jesus purpose or mission. (Mat 1:21b NIV) he will save his people from their sins." This Savior was not just for Jews, but for all people you and me included. (1 Tim 2:4 NIV) who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
After all we couldn’t save ourselves, we wallow in our own selfishness, and at times want to make Jesus into our own type of Savior. Jesus doesn’t get called on until when He’s needed or his name doesn’t get spoken unless we are in these four walls and if it is outside, it is in cursing. A great deal can be said on how we use that name of Jesus.
But my friends God has given us a Savior, this miraculous birth, means He is true God, perfect, and with out sin, meeting all of God’s requirements, and his main purpose was to save you, to save you and all sinners. What was the best Christmas gift you got? Normally when you shop you have a purpose in mind for getting somebody something, I remember reading about one gift exchange that went bad, Aunt Erma always used to give out to her family, A Crucifish, yes Crucifish, a fish in the shape of a cross, needless to say that gift got fired into the trash. But the gift that you have from God is given in Love, and for ALL!!!!!!! A gift that gives you peace and forgiveness.
Prove it, show it to me? Ever hear those words, give me some kind of a sign, so I can believe you. We have that very thought in our text, VERSE 22 and 23 This links the OT with the Gospels. Matthew wrote his Gospel to the Jews, so in his book alone you are going to find quotes from the OT, that prove Jesus is the Savior, this in our text is the first of 47 quotes found in the NT.
It is taken from Isaiah 7:14. The King of Judah was Ahaz, and he was in a war with the King of Israel and Syria, and on the verge of being defeated. The Lord assured his people that they had no reason to fear their enemies at that time, even though Ahaz was godless and faulty as a leader. The Lord instructed Ahaz to ask for a sign to be doubly sure for the people’s safety from their sins. Ahaz responded by saying he didn’t want to tempt the Lord. On the outside this may seem pious, but we know that Ahaz was striking up his own deal with Assyria, and felt he had his based covered and didn’t need the Lord’s sign.
Isaiah told him, you are going to get the sign anyways! Immanuel = God visibly with us! Here we see this prophecy being fulfilled in the lives of Mary and Joseph. Jesus not only fulfilled a few prophecies, but ALL OF THEM, He was the perfect substitute, keeping all of God’s laws and doing what we could not do, and that alone my friends is how we are saved, through Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
Another Advent is coming to a close, we celebrate his miraculous and purposeful and prophetic coming as a babe in Bethlehem. We look to the skies for his return, to take us to be with him in heaven, just as he said he would.
What do we do in the meantime? We wait patiently, preparing and sharing his name with all that we meet. That maybe scary, intimidating, but the most comforting words we have are from our Savior, (Heb 13:5 God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Isa 43:1-2 NIV) But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. {2} When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. (Mat 28:20 NIV) And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." This Advent Season we savor this sweet message, share him, and feel secure ALWAYS! AMEN.
Pastor Clark R. Schultz
Luther Preparatory School