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

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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