|
|
2011 Christmas Message 2 Matthew 1:18-25 Key Verse: 1:23 "'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'--which means, 'God with us.'" THEY WILL CALL HIM IMMANUEL Today's passage is Matthew's Christmas message mainly for himself. In this story we learn about Joseph, who made an environment for the birth of Jesus, and especially about the baby Jesus, who is the Immanuel God. May the grace of Immanuel be with us today. I. Joseph, a son of David (18-20,24,25) As history shows where there is romance, there is history. Matthew's Christmas message begins with a beautiful romance between Joseph and Mary. Verse 18a says, "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph...." Joseph was a country man who lived in the country town of Nazareth. Though Joseph was a carpenter, he was born in the lineage of King David. No doubt Joseph was very handsome and well-built, with a lofty and kingly bearing. In God's providence, Joseph was engaged to Mary. According to Jewish custom, engagement was equivalent to marriage, but the couple had to spend one year of engagement time before the wedding. One day an unexpected thing happened to them. Verse 18b shows, "...but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit." As God had promised in Gen 3:15, a Savior of the world was to be born from the offspring of a woman. This Savior had to be a perfect man, and at the same time he had to be the perfect God. So Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary. What did Joseph do in this situation? At the news of Mary's pregnancy, Joseph did not give in to his emotional turmoil, nor was his love driven into hatred. He dealt with this problem in God. Verse 19 says, "Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." If Mary were exposed to public disgrace, she might be stoned to death; if Joseph were to hide her pregnancy, he would turn out to be a violator of Moses' law. It is certain that he knelt down and prayed earnestly, asking God's mercy on him. Then God gave him the power of faith to make a decision to save Mary at any cost, breaking the Moses' law and divorcing Mary. We learn from Joseph the quality of being a Christian at a crucial moment. He thought of God first, second of Mary, and lastly of himself. He did not care about himself, if only he could save Mary. We see in him the image of Jesus, who took up our infirmities and transgressions. What happened next? Verse 20 says, "But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.'" When he woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. This shows that Joseph was pure in his heart. Joseph also gave the baby the name Jesus. God was pleased with Joseph and used him to make an environment for the birth of Jesus. II. Jesus saves his people from their sins (21) Let's read verse 21. "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." The name Jesus means "the Lord saves." In this verse, "his people" refers to the people of Israel. At that time, the people of Israel were under the oppression of the Roman Empire. They lived in constant fear. All of them thought they were miserable because of the Roman occupation. But their won sins were more serious to them. Jesus came to this world to save us from our sins. We thank God that he saves us through Jesus to overcome our sinful desire and press on the upward way. Sin problem is more serious than any other problems we have. Whether we are rich or poor, able or disable, if we are under the oppression of sinful desire, we are miserable. But we are free and happy when Jesus frees us from the power of sin. Happiness is not based on our physical condition but on spiritual freedom from sin. Praise Jesus who saves us from our sins. III. Jesus, the Immanuel God (22,23) Verses 22 and 23 tell us how Jesus, the Immanuel God, saves his people from their sins. Let's read verse 23. "'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'--which means, 'God with us.'" God saves us by being with us. The Holy God Almighty being with sin-sick people is mystery and full of grace. God with us is like a mother being with her sick child, staying up all night to take care of him or her, shedding many tears. Even today, "God be with you" might be the best greeting to all helpless people. What does "God with us" mean, and how was God with his people? Let's think about why our God is the God of Immanuel. First, God was with the Israelites. God chose Israel as his people to raise them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. When God brought them out of Egypt to the promised land flowing with milk and honey, he wanted them to proclaim the knowledge of God to all the Gentiles. God wanted to overflow the world with the knowledge of God through his people. But living in the promised land, his people only liked milk and honey. As a result, they abandoned God and his holy mission for them. God was sorry, so he sent them into exile to Babylon for divine discipline. But God did not abandon them but be with them. God suffered together with them in the Babylonian captivity identifying himself as a captive together with them. God was with them until the 70 years of captivity was over. According to Matthew chapter 1, God was with his people for 42 generations. God never gave up to save them, but with them until Christ the Savior was born. Second, Jesus was with Matthew. In the time of Jesus there was a man named Levi. He was a tax collector, the enemy of the suffering people of Israel. The more the people of Israel were oppressed, the more they hated the tax collectors. As a young man, Matthew must have had a dream to be the greatest man. But like all other young men, he had to figure out how to survive in this world. So he hardened his heart and chose to be selfish and realistic about his future. He became a tax collector, thinking that money could make him happy. He did not care about his suffering people, if only he could make money. One day Matthew was sitting in his tax collector's booth all by himself. He was lonely because nobody came close to him. But Jesus came to him and said, "Follow me." Matthew could not believe his ears. At the moment, Matthew could see God in Jesus. Matthew was a very difficult person to help because of his selfishness. But Jesus was always with him, until he was healed of his blind selfishness, and until his greatness in God was fully restored. Matthew also found his life direction in Jesus. When Jesus said "Follow me," he meant, "You must live a new life. And you must grow slowly and steadily to be one of my disciples." In the past, Matthew loved money. Yet money only gave him a huge potbelly until he could not wear socks. But since Jesus was with him, he began to open his spiritual eyes. He found his life mission and tasted the joy of God's kingdom. When Jesus was with him, Matthew was changed from a selfish and lonely person into St. Matthew. Third, the Immanuel God came to this world as a child. It was prophesied in Isaiah 9:6, "For to us a child is born, unto us a son is given...." This verse is a vivid expression that God is love. It means that God would send his one and only Son to this world as a child. Almighty God came down to this world as a helpless child. Why did God do so? This is because he wanted to be with all sorrowful people and save them from their sins. While on earth, Jesus was always with sorrowful, helpless and fatalistic people. The baby Jesus who is God be with us saves us from our fatalism and lift up us highly. All men are fatalistic because of the sting of sin and death. But in Jesus there is no sin and death because he expelled them entirely. Jesus is Almighty God of Immanuel. It is amazing that we are standing at the end of this year. Time goes so fast that little things seem to be done in our life during last year. Life seems empty. But when we think of Immanuel God Jesus, our life in this year is found to be meaningful. God has been with each one of us through Jesus. He has been with us in our happy times as well as troubled times. God is with the marriage couples as well as the singles, giving them the hope of marriage. God has been with my house, especially with Esther Lee. God has been with us to overcome all the difficult situations with his sufficient grace. So we thank God for the faithfulness of his love. We can stand firm against any challenges of our life in Jesus Immanuel God. May the grace of Immanuel God be with all of you especially in this Christmas season! |