December 17 God with us Matthew 1:18-25
What does that mean, that God is with us?
1. God is faithful
Isaiah 41:10
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Isaiah 26:3
2. God is powerful
3. God is love
“Let Him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let Him in can He pull us out.” - Max Lucado
4. God is present
There’s a true story about a grade school class that was putting on a Christmas which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. In that class was one little boy who wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, his biggest rival was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn keeper instead. He was really bitter about this. So during all the rehearsals he kept plotting in his mind what he might do the night of performance to get even with his rival who was Joseph.
Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted. Joseph answered, “We’d like to have a room for the night.” Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house."
Joseph and Mary were stunned. This wasn’t the line they’d been expecting and suddenly the rest of the play was in jeopardy. For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. There was a long silence but then, Joseph looked in the door past the inn-keeper and dramatically looked to the left and right, and then stepped back and said "No wife of mine is going to stay in dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn."
Matthew 1:18-25
When you think of it, Joseph is the silent character in this whole story. None of his words are recorded in Scripture. He’s no longer written into the script once Jesus reaches 12 yrs of age. And yet, Joseph had a front row seat to this great drama we call the Incarnation…explain
v.18 Matthew the tax collector, one of the12 disciples, undertakes the job of telling the story of the life and teaching and good news of Jesus. We call it a gospel because Jesus came telling of good news...in fact He was the good news. Mark, Luke and John also wrote gospels, but only Matthew and Luke tell the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.
v.19 ‘righteous’ means upright, just; sensitive to the Law of Moses. Which explains his actions: when he discovers Mary is pregnant, he wants to follow the law so he has two choices: have her stoned, or divorce her. He could divorce her publically or privately. Because he was good man, he chose not to humiliate her and do it privately.
v.20 Now Joseph finds out the back story: no human had gotten her pregnant, but it was the result of some mysterious union between Mary and the Holy Spirit. This is critical of course because the seed of sin passes through the father to the child. This child would be without sin. Why? Next verse
v.21 You’re not going to name the boy after yourself; you’re not going to name the boy afte your favorite uncle, you’re not going to name Him after Justin Timberlake. He’ll have a unique name: Jesus. Because He’s going to save people from their sin. The name Jesus is the the conjunction of two words: Yahweh and salvation; Yeshua (Heb) Jesus: Yahweh saves
v.22 Matthew now steps into the narrative to quote the Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah. Matthew’s gospel was aimed at the Jews, so you’ll find Matthew, more than any other gospel writer, quoting OT scripture to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. So he inserts Isaiah 7:14
v.23 In case they were to miss the point, Matthew says to his readers, “Hey guys, this Jesus was the one that Isaiah mentioned that people will call Immanuel, God with us!” God with us! Not out there, but in our midst.
v.24 True to Joseph’s character, He did exactly what God told him to do.
The central point of the passage is v.23. So let’s re-read it together. Stand with me and read it out loud: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
So many wonderful truths that come out of the realization God became one of us; God in the flesh; Immanuel, God with us.
What does that mean, that God is with us?
1. God is faithful
Isaiah’s prophecy was made in the 7th century B.C. Isaiah’s book contains over 20 messianic prophecies and in all the Old Testament has as many as 325 prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus.
The bedrock of our faith is the word of God. It tells the story of God’s faithfulness from generation to generation. It’s filled with the promises of God. And if God promises something, you can bank on it!
God says in Isaiah 55:8-11 (on screen)
Do you know the promises of God? Are you holding on to the promises and faithfulness of God? What need do you have this am? There is not a need in this room that is not met in the word of God. Has a circumstance filled you with fear and you need strength to get through? Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.”
Do you need comfort? 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God” Do you need peace? Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace.”
What does Christmas mean? It means God is faithful.
2. God is powerful ‘the virgin will become pregnant’
Some people have a difficult time believing in the virgin birth. Found this card (PIC)
Think about the notion of a virgin birth. A virgin, a young woman who had never had sexual
relations with another man…pregnant? That doesn’t happen every day; how about any day? How about never before and never again?
The virgin birth of course is critical to the gospel. If Jesus was born out of a sexual union with Joseph and Mary, then he would have been tainted with the seed of sin and could not have paid the penalty for our sinfulness. So God exercised His power in a unique way, a once in eternity way be bringing about the virgin birth.
Think about the rest of God’s miracles. Generally speaking, they happen again and again. God created the stars and galaxies, but Astronomers tell us there is a new star born every second (pic). Humanity began with Adam and Eve, who had two sons, certainly a miracle. But babies are born (pic) at a rate of about 4.5 a second. Even the resurrection of Jesus, when you think about it, was not totally unique in that Jesus brought back to life a number of people in his ministry, including his good friend, Lazarus. All miraculous displays of God’s power, to be sure.
But the virgin birth, the incarnation, the Spirit of God bringing about the Son of God in fleshly form—now that’s a miracle that displays the power of God like no other miracle. And yet it was nothing for our all-powerful God.
Now I ask you: if this all-powerful God could speak the stars into existence and continue to do so, if He could breathe life into humanity beginning with Adam and continues to do so, if God could bring Lazarus and others back to life and promises to do so on that great resurrection day for all who believe, and if He could bring about the birth of a being who was and is 100% God and 100% human so that He could live a perfect life so that He could die a perfect death…then do ya think He can handle whatever problem or circumstance that comes against you? Christmas means God is faithful and God is powerful!
3. God is love
Why would God do this? Why would He condescend from His realm in heaven, perfect and pristine, to live in this cesspool called earth? Some of you younger ones might not understand what a cesspool is. It’s a hole dug in the ground to be a collection area for feces. If you don’t know what feces are…ask someone else. I read that recently 2 people died diving into a cesspool to retrieve a very expensive phone. I can’t imagine a worse death. Why would they do this? Because something very valuable to them was in the muck and mire.
Compared to heaven, this earth is a cesspool and the only reason God would jump in this mess is because there was something very valuable to Him—You! Me! He dove in so that He could rescue us from penalty and bondage of sin.
I like how Max Lucado put it: “Let Him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let Him in can He pull us out.” - Max Lucado
Christmas means that God is faithful, that God is powerful, and that God is love.
4. God is present
Last month, 50-60 people were singing and worshipping God and an evil man shot his way into the church and killed nearly half of them. One of the victims was the daughter of the pastor and his wife. I had this urge to just go down and be with them; to just sit beside them and hold on to them in their grief.
I’ve learned through years of ministry, that when someone is going through great trial or great tragedy, it’s ok to give them words of encouragement, it’s ok to bring them food or send cards, but what they cherish most is just someone to be with them. There is something unique and comforting about having someone you know and love just to sit beside you, be with you in your struggle or grief or discouragement.
And it’s my observation that the most basic and true promise in all of Scripture is straight from the heart of God: “I will be with you.”
I’m not absent; I’m not withdrawn; I’m not disinterested. I’m with you.
It’s not a Christmas song, but it is a song that brings home the meaning of Christmas. If you’re here this morning and you need to be reminded that God is faithful and powerful and loving—let me remind you most of all that He is Immanuel: He is with you. We’re going to play this song by Laura Story, and if you want someone to pray for you or just hug you and stand with you this morning, make your way to someone standing around the room. (leaders move as song begins)
(words on screen; play track)
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Did you get the lyric: “Love is way too much to give us lesser things” He is not the lesser thing; He is the greater thing; the greatest. And…He is with us. He is with us. He is with us.
