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Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ1 took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed2 to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “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. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Hey, everybody. We're gonna continue our advent series in Matthew tonight. If you would, go ahead and get your bibles out or your worship guides, we'll be in Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. We'll begin with verse 18.
Speaker 1:As you're making your way there, that's where we're gonna spend our time tonight, but I wanna begin by reading from Psalm 105. So reading from Psalm 105. Let us listen carefully for this is God's holy word. We'll give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name.
Speaker 1:Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Tell of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name.
Speaker 1:Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Let's pray. God, we are desperate for you, and we are desperate for your word tonight. And so we come expecting you. We come longing for you.
Speaker 1:And Lord, we ask that by your spirit, you would teach us tonight. You would confront us with your mercy and your grace, and that you would transform us, that you would renew our minds, that you would change the very way that we think, and in that, that you would change the way that we live, that you might be worshiped in all that we do. And so we dedicate this time to you. What you want to say to us, give us ears to hear it. And, Lord, as as we often pray, in this moment, the distractions that we have in our hearts and our minds, the things that are weighing on us, the things that are confusing us, the things that we are fearful about, Lord help us to bring them into this place, into this very moment, and to give them to you.
Speaker 1:And then give us the faith to trust you. So we we listen now for your servants. Your servants are listening, so please, Lord, speak. Amen. So on on my mom's side of the family, it's it's pretty large family.
Speaker 1:Not like in physical size that would be rude. But they're they're it's a it's a large it's there's a lot of people. That's a better way to say it. There are a lot of people on my my mom's side of the family. That's because my grandmother on that side, she's one of 8.
Speaker 1:And then they were, you know, they all got married and then they had kids and then they had kids. And now we're like 4 or 5 generations into this and, and there's there's a lot of us. And so when we when we come together for Thanksgiving and for Christmas, we actually rent out this, senior citizens hangout. I don't know. Like, I guess it's like a hangout place for senior citizens in Benton, Kentucky.
Speaker 1:And we fill it up with all these people and then about 10 years ago, Jess and I started dating. And, and I brought her to one of those gatherings. And as a good boyfriend should, I was to introduce her to people. And I was really quite nervous, because there's a lot of them. And although I had been going 2, 3 times a year to see these people for 20 something years, I was nervous about getting all the names right.
Speaker 1:And so I would just kind of sheepishly like bring her over and be like, this is my girlfriend Jess. And then just kind of hope they would interject like, and I'm Uncle Bob! And I'd be like, yes Bob! And it's Uncle Bob! And then, yeah.
Speaker 1:Good to see you Uncle Bob! And then we move to the next person. And so I was just, I was a little nervous just about getting all of those names right, because it's a little awkward. It's like, you should know this by now. Which is what my mother would say to me, like, you should know this by now.
Speaker 1:And sometimes I feel the same way about the bible. Like, as though I'm sitting there and I'm reading and the holy spirit's like, you should know this by now. You should really Come on. Like, you should remember these stories. You've heard these stories all of your life and I confuse things.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that was really confusing growing up was that, you know, here's Jesus. Okay? Jesus, he's the son of and I could never remember if he was the son of Joseph or the son of David. Because they say son of David a lot. Okay, so just a little bit of credit here.
Speaker 1:Like, I heard that and it went in somewhere and it locked in. So, he's the son of son of David but he's also the son of Joseph. But he's not really the son of Joseph, he's the son of the, it's the Holy Spirit that he's conceived by And the Holy Spirit's name apparently is Holy Spirit. So, trying to keep all those names straight and keep all these things, it was it was difficult. And so, it's it was almost like the fact that I was exposed to these stories so many times, they all just kind of melded together like photographs.
Speaker 1:You know, when you you you go back and you try to remember some family memory, but really you're probably just remembering a photograph that you've seen so many times. And so you're trying to piece it all together. And it can be tricky with biblical names, but names are really, really important in the Bible. What someone is named tells a lot about them. And we, we actually, we still do that today.
Speaker 1:Like the names that we choose for things, even for our pets, like we, we labor over these names. Like sometimes it's ironic. I had a friend he named his dog Kitty. So, you can you do these ironic names or you know if it's a child use a family name. I've heard people struggle with what to name their dog because they might use it for a child later.
Speaker 1:Like, you know, those kinds of serious life concerns. But some of you are looking at each other like you've done this. Anyway, names are really important, and they're really important in the Bible. And throughout that culture, it was, it was just really important. Like what, what your name said about you and and what your purpose was.
Speaker 1:And like with Abraham, Abraham means father of a great multitude. David, well beloved. And then Hosea's kids, 2 of his children, they had, prophetic names. Loruhamah, that meant no mercy. And lo ami, not my people.
Speaker 1:Names throughout the scriptures, they, they carry a lot of meaning. And tonight I want us to consider, I want us to meditate on 2 names that we see here in Matthew 1. Two times where we see, they shall call him. I want us to consider tonight the name Emmanuel and the name Jesus. Look at verse 18.
Speaker 1:Matthew sets the scene very straightforwardly. He says this, Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. After the genealogies, all those names, the whole generation after generation after generation, all these names, no real clean segue here. It's just this is this is how the birth of Jesus Christ happened. Joseph was betrothed to Mary.
Speaker 1:And before they had come together, meaning that before they were in in one home, before they shared a household, all those things were joined together. And then, with that, that they would be physically joined together. Before any of that happened, she was found to be with child. And we know from Luke's account that Gabriel had come to Mary and had told her about this. Had told her that the the Holy Spirit was going to come to her and she was going to be with child.
Speaker 1:That's what we actually read about when she then travels to see her cousin Elizabeth. And then she returns. After spending this time with Elizabeth, she returns back to Nazareth and, and that's when she is found to be with child. Meaning she's showing and now, you know, like 3 or 4 months have gone by. She's noticeably pregnant.
Speaker 1:And there are 2 explanations. Really, there's a third, but that's the secret, that's the big reveal. Okay? So the first, the first explanation is Joseph is the father of Jesus, the father of this child. And so he's a he's a law breaker.
Speaker 1:He's a rule breaker. He is he has gone against what was set forth as the as the way that you were supposed to treat your betrothed and and he went against that and he sinned and and now she's pregnant. Or the second option is that Mary was with another man and now she's there to stand in shame alone. And then there is that that hidden third option, right? So far in the game though, Joseph does not know this.
Speaker 1:So he finds out she is, she's, she's found to be with child and he decides that he will divorce her quietly. See, they're not fully married yet, but there still has to be a divorce for the way that this, this, betrothalment has already begun. And so he resolves to do this quietly. So notice this, God allows Joseph to come to the wrong conclusion. God permits that.
Speaker 1:God permits that Joseph would think I have to divorce her. You see, 3 or 4 months ago, an angel came to Mary and revealed these things to her. Why couldn't god have just sent the angel a few doors down, you know, just down the street, pop in, see Joseph, and let him know what the heck's going on. But God permits this to take place. And in all of this confusion, Joseph is confused.
Speaker 1:He he's conflicted and he doesn't want to put her to shame. He doesn't want do all of this to her, but he resolves to divorce her quietly. And then God brings comfort and clarity with the angel. And this this should give us comfort as well. That there are times when we don't see what's what in the world is going on.
Speaker 1:We don't understand it. We are confused, and and we're scared, and we're full of fear. That all along God is in control, that all along God is sovereign. And he permits sometimes for that confusion to linger. And that's an opportunity to trust him.
Speaker 1:Gabriel tells Joseph, verse 20, 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. Verse 22. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us.
Speaker 1:Verse 24. When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. So first, let's let's consider the the name foretold by the prophet.
Speaker 1:Emmanuel. The prophet mentioned there is is Isaiah. In Isaiah written around, 700 BC. He's writing, he's a prophet to Judah, which Israel broke into 2 different sections, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. And Isaiah is a prophet to that southern kingdom, the kingdom named Judah.
Speaker 1:And Ahaz is now the king of Judah. And Isaiah is talking to Ahaz because now the Assyrians are coming in and they're wanting to just topple everybody. And so the northern kingdom has, ponied up with Syria. Syria, Assyria. See how that happens?
Speaker 1:It's tricky. Alright. The northern kingdom, they've they've teamed up with Syria to try and take on Assyria. And they want to pressure little Judah into joining up with them. And so word has gotten to King Ahaz that this is this is all going to take place.
Speaker 1:And he is scared to death. In fact, in Isaiah 7, it says that the heart of the king and the hearts of the people shook. They trembled like the trees of the forest shaken by the wind. That was the heart of the people. So they were afraid.
Speaker 1:And Isaiah, Isaiah says, you can ask God for a sign. Ask ask him for any kind of sign so that you know that you can trust in him. You don't have to you don't have to side up with with these other countries. You don't you don't have to trust God because he's gonna protect you. He's he's gonna care for you.
Speaker 1:He's gonna tend to you. He will defend you. He will save you. He will deliver you. So all this is is declared, and Ahaz says, I'm not I'm not going to test the lord.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to ask for a sign. And so Isaiah says, okay. That but he's he's going to give you one. He's gonna give you one, and it's gonna be this. Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel.
Speaker 1:And that name means, as Matthew points out to us, to clarify, just in case we miss it, it means God is with us. Now, the people of Judah should have known. They should have known that God would be with them. They should have known that when you trust in the Lord, that he would be with them. They have history after history after history of of how God had proven himself that he would be faithful.
Speaker 1:But the reason that they're shaking like trees in the forest when the wind comes is because they doubt their god. And as we come to Matthew chapter 1, and we see this genealogy, we see these names generation after generation after generation, The people should know that God uses broken people, busted up, broken, sinful people. He uses them to show how he is faithful. He uses the unfaithful to show that he is faithful. So just like Judas should have known, the reader should have known, as we see these generations and God's faithfulness to them, that God would refuse to abandon his people.
Speaker 1:Generations after generation testified that God refuses to leave his people. And that refusal, God's refusal to leave his people, his refusal to abandon his people is made manifest in a manger. And a tiny baby, vulnerable. That baby, Emmanuel. They shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us.
Speaker 1:And before we can truly drink deeply, in the riches of this promise, this promise of Emmanuel, we have to realize, and we need to confess that we need God with us, that the supreme need of your life, the thing that you are most desperate for is God to be with you. Once we see that, once we see our deep need for God to be with us, then we see that this promise that God would be with us, that a baby would come, that a virgin would conceive a son, and that he would be called Emmanuel, that this is the longing of all our hearts. This is the incarnation. A show that, Jess and I often watch, sometimes it stresses me out so much that I have to leave the room. It's called Parenthood And, and it stresses me out so much that sometimes I have to watch it from or not watch it and I have to walk away.
Speaker 1:And then I hear it from the other room and then it just sounds like people are fighting in my house. And I just I want whoever's fighting in my home to leave. So, really, it's more controlled anxiety if I see what's happening in front of me and I can I can kind of go through the storyline? And, and it hits you right off the bat. It's a it's a very dramatic show and they take on some very real themes.
Speaker 1:And one of the themes, it all centers around this, this large family and then kind of the different, smaller families within the bigger family. And one of the families, they have 2 children and their youngest boy, Max, is diagnosed with Asperger's. And like right off the bat in the maybe even the first episode. And one of the symptoms that that kind of manifests is that he he wants to dress like a pirate to go to school. And he just like is adamant about it.
Speaker 1:He's going to dress like a pirate. He's going to wear that to school and that's just what he's going to do every every day. And as the parents are so confused and and they're wrestling with all of this and then, then he is he is diagnosed and they're trying to take all these things in, The dad is looking out the kitchen window and he sees in the backyard his son Max playing in the yard dressed as a pirate. I'm not going to make it through this. Okay.
Speaker 1:So he sees his son back there and he's playing and he's dressed like a pirate. And he's so confused as to what to, what to do. And as he's wrestling internally with what what he needs to do to love his son well, he dresses up like a pirate, and he runs out there and he plays with him. That's a glimpse of the incarnation. When God looks at us in his deep love, and he refuses to abandon us, and he takes on our flesh and our blood, that is the incarnation.
Speaker 1:When he refuses to abandon us. That is god with us. That is Immanuel. And Gabriel says, he shall be called Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. Behold the second name of the messiah.
Speaker 1:He'll he'll be called Jesus. Now Jesus was a pretty common name at that time. Yeshua. Pretty common name. But what's going to set this name apart?
Speaker 1:What's going to set this Yeshua from every other Yeshua in the neighborhood? And it is this. Look at verse 21. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. You'll call him Yeshua for, another way to render that would be, you will call him Yeshua because, because he will do this.
Speaker 1:There's a reason he will be called Yeshua and he will be called Yeshua because he will save his people from their sins. Yeshua, meaning Salvation, Deliverer. Yahweh is our Savior. So let's look at this promise, this promise from Gabriel after his name is declared. We can kind of look at it in 3 parts.
Speaker 1:For he will, for he will, there's one section, save his people, another section, from their sins. As we just move, move through it first, for he will. There's certainty. There's certainty. He will, he will do this.
Speaker 1:He will accomplish this, for he will. Secondly, save his people. It's particular. The people of God, the sons and daughters of God, he will save his people. But he won't just save them from bad morality or bad philosophy.
Speaker 1:He will save his people from their sins. And this is the scandal of Christmas. Not only that God would become human, but that he would do that to save his people because they're sinful. Which means that when we declare that God has come among us, that the Word of God dwelt among us, When we say that this happened, we're saying that he did it with the purpose to save his people, to redeem his people, because we're also confessing that we're sinful. And if we if we leave out any section of that, if we leave out for he will, if we leave out save his people, if we leave out from their sins, then the whole thing veers off the tracks into vague notions of religiosity that is worthless.
Speaker 1:So we must hold fast this Advent and Christmas to these words, for he will save his people from their sins. The very name of Jesus is offensive to those who deny their sin and deny their need for a savior. But to those of us who are willing to confess that we are in desperate need of saving, then the name of Jesus is life and is grace and salvation. He is God with us, but he's God with us to save us. This is what we anticipate during Advent.
Speaker 1:This is the wonder of Christmas that God refuses to abandon his people. God refuses to abandon his people. He will save his people from their sins, and this will be done. It's not just the incarnation is not just about opening up the possibility of saving His people from their sins, but the certainty of Jesus saving His people from their sins. This is the wonder of the incarnation, that God would take on flesh, that he would dwell amongst his people in order to save his people from their sins.
Speaker 1:Now, the incarnation came up for debate, only a couple 100 years after, Jesus walked the earth. And the church fathers kind of they they banded together. They they took this head on because they people were so confused, and and rightfully so, in the mystery of the incarnation. So they tried to say, well, he wasn't divine. He wasn't he wasn't fully god while also being fully human.
Speaker 1:And so they wrote these words. And I just want to read these words to you, that they might be encouraging to you and to me as we think on Emmanuel Jesus. God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten and not made, of the very same nature of the father, by whom all things came into being in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate, was made human, and was born perfectly to the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. In 325 AD, those words were written down to cement in our hearts and to cement within the church that this is what we believe. The mysterious and crazy truth that God took on flesh to rescue his people.
Speaker 1:Love has come for you. Love has come after you. You've tried to run away. You've been full of fear. Your hearts have shook like the trees in the forest when the wind blows through.
Speaker 1:But God's love has come for you in the person of Jesus Christ. God's love in the person of Jesus Christ has come after you to rescue you from your sin. God is with you this Advent season. He is with you to save you. And may we give thanks to the Lord.
Speaker 1:May we call upon his name. And may we make known the deeds of his wondrous works among the people. Amen. Let's pray. God, we thank you that you have refused to abandon us.
Speaker 1:That in your love, you came after us. That you would dwell with us, not just to model good living, but that in your life and in your death and in your resurrection, that we would have life. So help us during advent to long for you, to long for You, perhaps in a in a way that we never have before, to see You, to worship You with hearts that are a flame for your second coming. Lord, help us not to trust in anything or anyone else. Help us to look to you.
Speaker 1:Pray these things in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy
Joel Brooks:spirit.