Sermon Manuscript Matthew 1:18-25 Christ in Prophesy: The Virgin ...

Sermon Manuscript
Matthew 1:18-25
Christ in Prophesy: The Virgin Shall Conceive and Bear a Son
Pastor Joe Anady
12/2/2012
I would like to begin by telling you a story. It’s a true story that took place over 2,000
years ago. It’s the story of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We talk a lot
about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection; and rightly so. His life was spectacular. He
preformed miracles, he taught the truths of God, and never did he sin. His death was
significant in that it was there, on that cross, that he took upon himself the sins of all who
would believe. It was there that he appeased the wrath of God on our behalf. So it is
right that the cross is at the center of our faith. And of course it is important that we talk
about the resurrection. It was through the resection that Jesus proved beyond a
shadow of a doubt that he was more than a great teacher or religious leader. It was
through the resurrection that sin and death were finally and fully conquered. It is
because of the resurrection of Christ’s that we ultimately have hope for life beyond the
grave. The scriptures tell us that Christ, in his resurrection, was a sort of first-fruits. He lead
the way for us so that we can rest assured that we will be like him in his resurrection,
after we pass on from this world. So of course it is right that we talk often about the
resurrection.
But we should not forget about his birth. His birth was in no way any less miraculous than
his life, death, and resurrection - nor was it any less significant. In fact, I think it is safe to
say that the birth of Christ was just as significant as anything else that Jesus said or did.
The interesting thing is that, just like any child ever born, Jesus, humanly speaking, had
no control over the events surrounding his birth. Humanly speaking, Jesus could not
choose when he would be born, or where, or to whom.
And yet Matthew in his gospel seems bent on convincing us that the birth of Jesus Christ
was miraculous indeed. The details of the event were far from random, but rather they
were in direct and unmistakable fulfillment to the prophets of old. Therefore, our
confidence that Jesus is indeed the messiah, our confidence that he is the Savior, our
confidence that that was indeed God with us, rests upon, not only the life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus, but also upon his birth. This is why it is important that I tell you this
old, familiar story yet again.
Matthew begins by introducing us to two young people. Their names were Mary and
Joseph. I’m sure you have heard of them. Over the past 2,000 years the fame of
Joseph, and especially Mary, has spread throughout the earth! But truth be told, we
really don’t know much about either of them. We know that they lived in a small and
very poor town called Nazareth. Joseph was a carpenter. Mary would tend the home
like most mothers of her day. Really, for as famous as they have become we should be
careful to think of the both of them as they really were. The were in fact humble, poor,
and very common.
Mary and Joseph were betrothed. Betrothal was like our modern day concept of
engagement - but on steroids. Betrothal was legally binding to the point that if the
relationship were to be cut off a legal divorce was required. So Mary and Joseph were
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very serious about preparing for marriage. Joseph was getting his house in order and
Mary was preparing herself to be a wife, all under the watchful eye of the community.
You should know that Joseph was probably under 18 years old and Mary was perhaps
as young as 14. Times were obviously different back then. Girls and boys grew up faster;
they had more responsibilities given to them at a younger age and they were ready for
marriage by this time in their lives.
So when you picture Mary and Joseph you should picture two very young, poor, and
humble people. The scriptures tell us that Joseph was a righteous man. He lived in a
way that was pleasing to God. He had integrity. Mary must have been a very strong
and mature young lady as well. We know this because of the trial that she would
eventually endure and the honorable way in which she endured it. She had
tremendous faith in God, that much is sure.
In the process of time something very out of the ordinary happened to these two. When
they were in their betrothal period, before they lived together, and before they were
officially married, Mary found out that she was pregnant.
Now as you could imagine this created some tension. Mary, as we now know, had
received a vision that the child growing within her was of the Holy Spirit. She had been
faithful to Joseph, and she told him so.
But I want you to put yourself in Joseph’s position for just a moment. Joseph had not
received such a vision. He was listening to his betrothed wife and the story that she was
telling him. She was insisting that she has been faithful to him. She insisted that she had
received a vision from the Lord and that the child growing inside of her was of the Holy
Spirit.
I would imagine that all of us can understand why Joseph was initially hesitant to
receive all of this as true. This story, after all, when considered from a purely human
perspective, is rather unbelievable.
Joseph was confounded. I would imagine that he had about a thousand thoughts
running through his head all at once as he considered what was happening. I’m sure
he was asking himself, “Is it possible that Mary is telling me truth?”, “how can a virgin be
with child?”, “or was she unfaithful to me, and with whom?”, and “what would my
friends and family think if I kept her as my wife?” I would imagine that Joseph lost plenty
of sleep over this. I would assume that his stomach was in knots, and his mind foggy as
tried to make sense of it all.
His human intuition was telling him that it was time to call off the marriage and to end
the betrothal period through divorce. Because Joseph was a righteous man he
intended to do so in a quite way so as to not put Mary to shame. I think most of us
would have probably came to the same conclusions if we were in Joseph’s place.
But it was in that moment that God intervened in a miraculous way. The Angel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream as he slept, saying,
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“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his
name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Of course everything changed for Joseph in that moment. He went from being a
humble, poor, desperately confused and heartbroken young man to being the direct
recipient of the most significant news in the history of redemption up to that point.
Certainly Joseph understood from his study of scripture that when the Angel of the Lord
appeared something significant was about to happen. For example, The Angel of the
Lord had appeared to Abraham when he was about to sacrifice Isaac so that a
substitute could be provided for his one and only Son through whom the messiah would
come. The Angel of the Lord had appeared to Moses in the burning bush when God
called him to deliver the people of God from their bondage in Egypt. And now the
Angel of the Lord stood before him and announced something that was greater than
any announcement given to anyone ever before.
Evidentially this vision was effective. Joseph changed his mind concerning divorce and
took Mary as his wife. He did so at a great cost to himself. He was shunned by his
community and faced challenges of many kinds for the rest of his life, but he was
faithful to what the Lord had called him to. He did not know Mary until the child was
born. And he called his name Jesus in obedience the word of the Lord.
This story comes from Matthew 1:18-25. Please turn there as we ask the question, “what
is the point of this story.” We are mistaken if we think that Matthew just liked to tell
stories. The truth is that he, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had an agenda. He
had a point to make. It is our aim to understand what that point is.
The point that Matthew is making is that Jesus is the Christ; he is the Messiah, the
Anointed One of God. Matthew wants us to know, through the telling of the events
surrounding Jesus’ birth, that this Jesus is the One to whom all of the Old Testament
scriptures point. He wants us to be sure, beyond a shadow of doubt, that Jesus Christ is
the Savior, God incarnate, the most significant figure in human history, the pinnacle of
God’s plan of redemption.
Matthew makes his point in at least three ways in this short passage. I will briefly touch
on two and then spend more time on the third, as I think it is most significant.
First of all, Matthew supports the truth that Jesus is the Messiah by emphasizing that
Joseph, and therefore, Jesus are in the linage of David.
When Joseph is in angst concerning what to do with Mary, Matthew tells us that the
Angel of the Lord called out to him He saying, “Joseph, Son of David, do not fear to
take Mary as your wife.” This may seem insignificant at first but I think it is of great
significance that The Angel of the Lord calls Joseph, “Joseph, son of David.”
Every Jewish person on the planet, of whom Joseph was one, knew that the Messiah,
the anointed one of God, the savior, would have to come through the line of David
according to the scriptures. He could not come any other way. And so when Matthew
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tells us that Joseph was called, “Joseph, son of David”, that should be a clue, a flashing
red light, something obviously pointing to the fact that all of these miraculous events
are happing in fulfillment to the promise made to King David a thousand years before.
In 2 Samuel 7:12-14, 16 we are told that the prophet Nathan spoke to King David the
word of the Lord, saying,
“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up
your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his
kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son... And your
house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall
be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:12-14a, 16, ESV)
And now Matthew, writing over a thousand years later, wants us to understand that
Jesus is the Christ coming in fulfillment to that promise. Jesus is the King who will reign for
ever in the line of David.
This point only becomes more obvious as we consider the context in Matthew. We
picked up in verse 18 this evening but we skipped right over a very significant
genealogy in verse 1-17. I won’t read the who thing, but I want you to notice that David
is clearly emphasized.
Verse 1:
Verse 17:
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
(Matthew 1:1, ESV)
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from
David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to
Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. (Matthew 1:17, ESV)
Clearly Matthew is picking up on this very important theme when he tells us that the
Angel of the Lord referred to Joseph as “Joseph, son of David.” Jesus, then, is in the
proper lineage to in fact be the Messiah. I believe the Angel of the Lord spoke this way
to Joseph as a way of encouraging his heart that what was happening was indeed
according to the scriptures,
More could be said but I will move on to the second indication in this passage that
Jesus is the Christ.
I would also like to draw your attention to the significance of Jesus’ name.
Joseph is specifically told to name the baby, Jesus. Look with me in verse 21:
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, ESV)
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The name Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name, Joshua which means,
“whose help is the Lord” or, “the one whose salvation is the Lord”. If you remember
back to our sermon series through the Bible you will remember that Joshua was a very
significant character. He was the one who lead the people of God into the Promise
Land. He was the mighty conquerer, the delivered, the Savior.
And given the way that the New Testament looks back on the Old it is right to
understand that the conquests of Joshua, though they were real and significant in and
of themselves, they were a picture of the true salvation that was yet to come. Joshua
was a savior, but a greater savior was on the way. Joshua conquered, but a greater
conquest was coming. Joshua established a kingdom and earned a land, but the
kingdom and the land were pointing forward to someone and something greater,
namely Jesus Christ and his kingdom which has no boundaries and will have no end.
Notice that the Angel of the Lord actually told Joseph why the baby was to be named
Jesus. Look again at verse 21:
“You shall call his name Jesus, for... he will save his people from their sins.”
Joshua saved the people in one way, Jesus would provide salvation of another sort. The
salvation that Jesus would provide would not be earthly or political, but spiritual and
eternal. Jesus, the Angel says to Joseph, would save his from their sins.
It’s true that many people were named Jesus in that day. Being named Jesus was no
guarantee that someone was the Messiah, nor was the name used to claim
Messiahship. The point I am making is that given all of the circumstances surrounding
the birth of Christ, the fact that he is named Jesus points us to the reality that he is
indeed the savior, the mighty conquer, the one to establish an everlasting kingdom in a
much greater way than Joshua ever did over a thousand years before. Joshua and the
land were types and shadows, Jesus was the substance.
The first two points that Matthew makes in support of Jesus being the messiah are
admittedly fine points. The third point is the major one because it is the point that
Matthew emphasizes.
It’s interesting that in verses 18-25 Matthews is, for the most part, telling a story. It is
narrative. But in verse 22 and 23 there is break in the middle of the story as Matthew
adds some commentary of his own. He explains,
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet...”
This is in fact my third point, and the main one:
Not only is the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, and God with us supported by
his lineage - he came in the line of David, and through the giving of his name - He is
Jesus the true Joshua, but also Jesus came in direct fulfillment to the prophesies of old.
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This is what we are going to be looking at this Advent season - Christ in Prophesy.
Matthew is a great book to look at on this topic because he makes such and emphasis
on this very point - that Jesus Christ came in fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy.
The first two chapters alone mention this point a number of times concerning events
surrounding the birth of Christ:
Verse 22:
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet...” (Matthew
1:22, ESV)
Chapter 2 verse 5:
“[The chief priest and scribes] told [Herod that Jesus was to be born in] Bethlehem
of Judea, for so it is written in the prophet...”
Chapter 2 verse 15:
“And [Mary, Joseph, and Jesus] remained [in Egypt] until the death of Herod. This
was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my
son.”
And again in chapter 2 verse 17:
Concerning the massacre of children in Bethlehem, “Then was fulfilled what was
spoken by the prophet Jeremiah...”
And one last time in chapter 2 verse 23:
Concerning Jesus‘ hometown it is said that, “[Jesus] went and lived in a city
called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled.”
I get the sense that Christ fulfilling prophesy is a big deal to Mathew. A close look at the
whole New Testament would indicate that much of the confidence concerning Jesus
being the Messiah comes from his fulfilling Old Testament prophesy.
In fact the reason I decided to emphasize this particular theme this Advent season is
due to the exhortation that we recently encountered in our study of 2 Peter. Peter tells
us at the end of chapter 1,
“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well
to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and
the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of
Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever
produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19–21, ESV)
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And so that is what we are doing this Advent season. We are, at the advice of Peter,
paying attention to the prophetic word as emphasized by Matthew in the first two
chapters of his gospel.
Matthew tells us in verse 21 and 22 of Matthew chapter 1 that,
“All this [that is, the events surrounding the birth of Christ and the virgin birth itself]
took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
And then he quotes from Isaiah 7:14 saying,
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name
Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:22–23, ESV)
I find this fascinating. The virgin birth of Christ was not just a random event or a fairytale
made up after the life of Christ, but rather it was in fulfillment to a prophesy that was
given hundreds of years earlier.
I think it would be a good idea to go and take a quick look at the prophesy in Isaiah 7
so that we know what we are d3ealing with here. By the way, this is always a good idea
whenever you see an Old Testament passage being referenced in support of a New
Testament teaching - you should always go and take a look around.
Let me tell you something about the context here surrounding this incredible statement
made by Isaiah that, “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14, ESV)
This all took place in about 735 b.c. King Ahaz was King of Judah. He was a wicked King
who ignored warnings of the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah. One of his downfalls
was that he did not trust in the Lord, but rather he put his confidence in foreign
alliances.
It came to pass that Rezin, the King of Syria and Pekah the King of Israel came up to
Jerusalem to wage war against it. The scriptures tell us that Ahaz, the King of Judah was
so troubled by this threat that he and his people, “shook as the trees f the forest shake
before the wind.” from a human perspective, Judah would be overrun. The could not
stand against this threat, against this alliance of powers.
This is where the ministry of Isaiah comes in. He and his son Shear-jashube (which, by the
way, means a remnant shall remain) go out to meet Ahaz to bring the word of the Lord
to the King. Isaiah says,
‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of
these two smoldering stumps of firebrands... [they have said] “Let us go up
against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son
of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord God: “ ‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass. (Isaiah 7:4–7, ESV)
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Of course this word was almost unbelievable. From a human perspective there was no
way that City of Jerusalem and nation of Judah could servive. And so the Lord offered
Ahaz a sign, saying through Isaiah,
“Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as
heaven.” (Isaiah 7:10–11, ESV)
“Ask anything”, says the Lord to Ahaz, “so that I can prove to your doubting heart that I
will preserve the nation.” But look at what Ahaz says in verse 12:
But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” (Isaiah 7:12,
ESV)
Now certainly there is some truth to this idea that we should not put the Lord to the test,
and certainly their is wisdom in not asking for signs of the Lord, but here a sign was
offered! And instead of graciously accepting Ahaz arrogantly dismisses the offer!
It is to this situation that Isaiah replies,
“Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary
my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat
curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land
whose two kings you dread will be deserted. (Isaiah 7:13–16, ESV)
Isaiah says, “fine! You refuse to trust in the Lord? Then the Lord himself will give you a
sign! Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel.”
There are a verity of opinions as to what this prophesy originally meant when it was
given by Isaiah way back in 735 b.c.
Liberal scholars claim that the Hebrew word translated virgin here really only means
“young woman” and in so doing they deny that any prediction was ever made
concerning a virgin birth, let alone the virgin birth. To respond briefly to this their is no
truth to their claim. The Hebrew word is used consistently to refer to young women who
are of marrying age who have remained chaste. Also, I don’t see how a young woman
having a child could be considered a miracle by Isaiah, Ahaz, or anyone else for that
matter.
Christian scholars understand this passage to mean that a virgin, a young woman of
marrying age will give birth to child miraculously. The question is, when would this
happen? Some would say that it happened twice, once in immediate fulfillment to
Isaiah’s prophesy as a sign to Ahaz, and second time as a future fulfillment to Isaiah’s
prophesy in the coming of Jesus Christ as recorded by Matthew. It should be noted that
this is often times how Old Testament prophesy works; there is usually and immediate
fulfillment and then a future fulfillment, and so this view is certainly possible.
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But I hold to the view that Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled once in the virgin birth of Christ as
recorded by Matthew in the passage we are studying tonight.
Ahaz in his pride refused to trust in the Lord. His heart was still trusting in himself and his
allies. That is why he refused the sign offered to him by the Lord. But the Lord would not
be brushed to the side. Isaiah took the opportunity, through the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit to make a very important point. The point was that even if the people of God
refuse to trust in their Lord, his purposes will never fall.
Israel, the northern kingdom, had already apostatized. Judah, the southern kingdom
would last a couple hundred more years but they weren't much better off. Ahaz and his
people were clearly not trusting in the Lord. But it is in this context, in this dark, dark
situation that the light of prophesy was able to shine fourth.
The message is that though man is faithless, God remains faithful to his promises. The
message is that the plan of God does not depend ultimately on human obedience but
upon God himself.
And so when we read the birth narrative according to Matthew and consider the
coming of the Christ this Advent season I hope that you are reminded the faithfulness of
God to the degree that it would cause you to trust in him more today.
Do you trust him? Do you believe that he is trustworthy?
In this life there are probably people that you trust and others that you don’t. You
probably don’t trust strangers to much because they haven't earned your trust. There
are others who you don’t trust because they have broken your trust by proving
themselves unfaithful and undependable. But there are probably a few people who
trust a great deal. Why? Because they have over time proven themselves to be faithful.
Church I would exhort you to trust in God more completely. He has proven himself
faithful to his people throughout the ages. Even when we are faithless, he remains
faithful to his promises.
Matthew wants us to see that very thing, the light of the world broke in to this dark world
in the most miraculous way. He is the King in the line of David, the Savior who is greater
that Joshua, and Emmanuel, God with us in fulfillment to prophetic word. He is the
Messiah who is worthy of all our trust and praise.
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