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

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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. 8
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. 9
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Sermon Manuscript Matthew 1:18-25 Christ in Prophesy: The Virgin ...

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