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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Did you know that Mary, her life was saved by Joseph? Because the cultural norm for not just the Jews, but the Romans and the Greeks, were that any woman who was caught having committed adultery, and in this case she is pregnant without marriage, she should be stoned and or ostracized. So Joseph had the good intention or good reason to do what he did, but what he was going to do was the wrong thing to do because God desired Joseph to marry this woman who is a paradox. The virgin conceives; that is a paradoxical statement.
And show the world that human intentions and human reason are far below God’s ways of doing things. And God’s ways of doing things overwhelm human reason. Joseph now prays that hymn prayer, “What pleases God, that pleases me.” But it won’t always please Joseph’s life. For now Joseph and Mary are no longer filling into society. They stand out. And if you’re the kind of person who does not like attention brought to you, you have a lot of attention brought to you now. You who would not like to have society pointing their fingers at you, now society is pointing their fingers at you.
And you can explain it to them all you want, that this was a miracle, that this was God’s design, that God is the father of this child by the Holy Spirit. And people will still shake their heads at you. Not only would they have to put up with this societal degradation upon them, but they would also be telling people, “We’re going to name him Jesus.” Why? Because that’s what the angel told me. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
And it’s no small thing that he was named Jesus. Because just like Zechariah and Elizabeth, if you remember the rest of the story, they would say, “No one in your family is named John. Why would you want to name him John?” There was nobody in Mary or Joseph’s family named Yeshua or Jesus. And not only was he named Jesus, but he was named Jesus because of what he would do with that name.
One of the other things that Joseph did… To honor God, “What pleases God pleases me.” He did not consummate his marriage with Mary until after she had given birth to Jesus. He was truly a godly man, the guardian of our Lord Jesus, and daily and regularly had to deny himself and what he thought and felt for the honor of the Lord God whom he raised, taught, fathered, and everyone’s life connected with this infant.
In the town, in the region, at every turn. Everyone’s life that this family came into contact had to explain again. “Oh, this is your son.” Well, yes and no. He’s not really my son. He’s my savior. You just think about how difficult it was to live the life of a guardian of God. Not to mention Paul. The mother of God. Both are amazing.
And everyone’s life would be changed. They would either see this couple and their message as completely out and beyond comprehension, or they would, like some, believe and trust in it. Notice in the text, “Behold” occurs twice. “Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph.” Joseph. Very important. Matthew is trying to say this moment is critical. The next critical moment, “Behold, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed.”
So the two things, the name of him as Jesus, who will save his people from their sins, is preceded by the word “behold,” and you shall call his name Emmanuel is preceded. That section also by the same word “behold.” Those two aspects, those two identities of this infant are really what is your and my salvation.
And God’s portrayal of his power and purpose in Joseph’s life and in Mary’s life. This Messiah, the Messiah, would be totally different and counter to what everyone else would have thought. Because he comes as an infant, nursing at his mother’s breast and having his diapers cleaned like any other normal human being. And yet Joseph was not his father. God was his father.
And this infant who would bring his work, born for no other reason than to be the perfect sacrifice. Talk about a purpose. The only reason he was born was to be slaughtered. And the 33 years up until his slaughter was merely to fulfill all things for you and for Joseph and for Mary.
Notice what this infant is said to save. It doesn’t say, “and he will save the people.” Notice the possessive pronoun. He will save his people. This infant is God in the flesh. These people for whom he was born literally are the same people for whom he will be sacrificed and slaughtered. And he saves them not just spiritually in that he forgives sins spiritually. He saves them physically because sin doesn’t just affect you spiritually.
It affects you physically as well. It is what causes cancer. It is what causes accidents and injuries. It is what causes those things within your health that shows it to be not like Adam and Eve before sin came into the world. And this baby who is physical and spiritual, God and man united into one being would solve your spiritual problems and your physical problems.
A very interesting aspect of how Matthew builds his gospel. This is at the very beginning, chapter 1, the very beginning of Matthew. The first Old Testament citation, and Matthew quotes the Old Testament more than Mark or Luke or John. The first Old Testament citation is, “You shall call him Immanuel,” which means God with us. And the very last verses of Matthew say, “And lo, I will be with you always to the very end of the age.”
So he begins being called Emmanuel, and he calls himself Emmanuel at the end. “I will be with you always to the very end.” Not in a spiritual way, not only in a physical way, but in one united way, for you are one united person, both physical and spiritual. Amen.
And he is here physically and spiritually for you. And you eat him physically and spiritually with your mouth and receive physically and spiritually forgiveness, life, and salvation.
God’s plans and God’s purposes are amazing. And they change lives. They’ve changed yours and they will change anyone else’s who hears this message. They will either change them and their heart becomes harder or—God willing, we pray that it changes them because their heart will be opened by the Holy Spirit and they will believe in this infant born for them.
In the name of Jesus, amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding. Keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting, amen.
