Finding Christ… in the “Christ-Mess”
Brad Bailey – December 22, 2019
Summary: Christmas message using Matthew 1:18-25… depicting the process of finding Christmas involves a mess… and what i…and unique aspects of Joseph.
Intro
It’s always a joy to gather each week …but especially today.
Because I know that we are here …three days before Christmas…and for most… we not feel ready for Christmas. I think many people find it hard to connect to the warmth and wonder that we associate with Christmas.
there is a paradox of sorts…
We may want to find Christ…the one who has brought peace on earth …and goodwill to men…but we often face and feel so much that seems at odds with that.
We tried to go choose a Christmas tree…and had our usual frustrations.
The lines get longer…the patience shorter.
The lists get longer and the time feels shorter.
You may be coming to this season finding life a bit chaotic…messy.
And sometimes the holidays seems to accentuate the sense of mess… the limits and losses we find in life.
The finances are limited.
The family we long for may be messed up…or missing.
For those who have lost a loved one… it’s a time in which one is reminded that the family circle is not complete, that you can’t make any more Christmas memories with the one who is gone.
You may be one who sees the hallmark Christmas card …or look at the snow globe… images of the perfect Christmas… glee-filled smiles with gentle snow falling outside….and wonder how to experience that perfect Christmas.
God wants us to know something. The truth is that there’s never been the “perfect Christmas” by sentimental standards. There’s never been a peaceful Christmas as defined by the circumstances that people were in.
That is actually the way that the true nature of Christmas comes.
Christmas is about God is in the midst of chaos.
This is what the Scriptures describe…as we hear from the Gospel of Matthew earlier…
Matthew 1:18
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
“This is how it came about….”
A women who was already given in the commitment to marriage… was now bearing a child.
This child had not been conceived with her husband to be. In other words,…a moral scandal… a social crisis… a mess. [1]
In that one sentence…we are introduced to the way in which God works.
This is the testimony of the Scriptures. It is not some fairy tale rooted in some other world.
The writers describe every ruler…and date…and the conflict with customs and laws. It’s all there.
The gospels are written as eyewitness' accounts…they do not have the sense of myth.
When Albert Einstein was asked if he accepted the historical existence of Jesus, Einstein said:
“Unquestionably. No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” [2]
Two of the twentieth century’s greatest myth makers – C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien knew the nature of myth and fiction…and knew that the Gospels accounts have nothing of the nature of ancient myth and fiction. [3]
Lewis declared…"I have been reading poems, romances, vision-literature, legends, myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this [the Gospels]."
And unlike any ancient myth…it is not only full of the historical details …but the unpleasant circumstances in how it unfolded.
It’s not about bringing tranquil circumstances …but about God entering the conflict and chaos and confusion that we all know.
In that one sentence… Christmas is about God entering what we might call the real world… with real people.
Real people like Joseph. Joseph who would serve as the earthly father of Christ.
Many note that Joseph is not mentioned in much detail later on.
But his initial position is shared with us…because it relates to us. [4]
He has a mess.
There is every reason to believe that Mary was likely only around 16 years old…and he likely only a year or two older. In such times… they would have been considered adults… but still young… just at the point in life in which one is excited by launching into the stage in which they will be forming their own households… but also intimidated …as it’s the start of proving oneself.
Years of planning for this life with Mary… the foundation to prove his own identity amidst the social world that defined him…. crumbled in shame.
Whenever Jesus comes into somebody’s life… he brings challenges… conflict. That’s just inevitable.
Matthew 1:19
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.
The law mandated that Joseph divorce her. However, because Joseph is a righteous man, he also understands another part of his Jewish heritage: he understands that the law is to be tempered with mercy. And so instead of exposing Mary to a public divorce, as the reading says, he decides to dismiss her quietly, in a way that would reduce public inquiry into what has happened.
He doesn’t believe what Mary has told him.
He is the first person not to believe in the virgin birth.
He is considered the patron saint of doubters.
He has come to what seems be to a dead end. All he can do is find the best way out.
“Are you ready for Christmas? ...Good news… Joseph wasn’t.
His understanding is confused.
Into that confusion… the divine speaks.
Matthew 1:20-23
20 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. 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." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 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."
Joseph is bound within his understanding… and bound in fear. [5]
And God speaks into this.
Joseph understands the law… as well as the need for mercy.
So he is forming his way to best solve this problem.
But he assumes that this is simply a problem he needs to resolve.
He may be a “god-fearing” man…but he seems to carry the same illusion of control that so many of us do.
God reorients Joseph about the reality of what is at hand.
He should take Mary as his wife… “…because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
1. The Reality of Christmas is that God is in control and we are not.
Joseph was likely a practical hard working man… who believes in only what he sees.
He may not have studied modern biology, but he knows what’s involved with creating life.
But here God declares that his Spirit created this life.
This shouldn’t be surprising… for long before the Scriptures had described how the Spirit of God was the force behind creation itself.
This may be the underlying confrontation we must face.
We live in a created order to which we have begun to assume that we are the ultimate end of all things.
We have fallen in love with the shadow…thinking it was real… that the material world as primary and any other reality is only secondary.
The Bible not only reflects a different reality… it forewarns that man would become enamored with himself… lose our basic sense of humility.
“…because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
In those words…God reclaims life is his to create… to control.
The nature of spirit and material are not opposites….not in competition.
God is Spirit…. He is not bound by the limitations of material form. [6]
• Realize that the work of the spiritual transcends the physical
Realize that the God’s eternal Spirit is not limited by the physical
That is… The work of the spiritual will go beyond the physical.
He is also told…
Matthew 1:22-23
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 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."
Listen to those words….
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet…”
Those are powerful words.
Joseph was confused. He assumed this couldn’t be the work of God. It didn’t fit.
Many of us can wonder the same.
But then someone says LOOK… Look at what God said he was going to do.
Matthew…who himself had faced the confusion that so many in Israel had… had been sobered to realize that they had let their personal desires shape their expectations.
They just wanted a new king like David.
The Messiah God had spoken of… was a of another nature. Not coming to defeat a nation….but all the powers that rule over this world. [7]
• Realize that God had spoken this promise into real human history.
Joseph is a picture of seeing one’s whole life dreams and plans being fulfilled…and then interrupted.
But as the Scriptures tell us… we can have many plans…but God’s purposes will be fulfilled.
Our control is an illusion…and that is hard to come to terms with.
We confuse having choices with having control. We are so proud at our freedom to make our own choices… that we think we have ultimate control…when in fact our choices merely reflect free will in a world of consequences.
But God speaks what will happen…and it comes to pass.
So into the mess that Joseph is in the midst of…God says my Spirit is at work…and my plans will prevail. And with this, Joseph is realizing that…
The reality of Christmas is that God is in control and we are not.
…Joseph is also brought before another reality…
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… bears the Hebrew meaning: God saves…delivers…. Rescues…as was — eventually through his servant Messiah, who bears God's name.
Joseph must understand as we do…that…
2. The reality of Christmas is we need to be saved.
We cannot find Christ if we are looking for someone else… if we think our real need is someone other than a savior…or a savior of lesser things. [8]
In the day in which Joseph lived… the people of Israel had lost their most basic sense of reality. They were a people God had chosen to meet by His mercy. They were blessed by God’s goodness.
But they had begun to feel special.
They wanted a king to defeat Rome and make them a powerful nation again.
Joseph is told… he will save the people…from their sin.
That is the reality of what we need.
To be sinners is not to simply mean we are bad people… it means we are lost…we have chosen to live separated from our true source and identity.
We have gone astray. That is what we need to be saved from.
He has come to lead us into life with God.
That may lead into making a nation great.
That may lead to a more successful life
That may lead into a more whole life.
That may lead to restoring our family.
But at the very root…lies our need to be saved from our state of defiant independence.
We may not like to face that. It implies being judged. But the truth is…we are judged already.
John 3:16-18 (NIV) ?"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already…”
We will either deny the problem… and avoid Jesus because he represents judgment.
Or we can realize that judgment is inevitable…and he has come to save us…to forgive and restore us.
Joseph had to realize that this child…was indeed… his savior.
And…
3. The reality of Christmas is that God chooses to be with us.
Verse 23… “they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."
Not that He was to have this for a proper name (like “Jesus”), but that He should come to be known in this character, as God manifested in the flesh, and the living bond of holy and most intimate fellowship between God and men forever.
Some may say this is a myth… that grew over time.
But here we are reminded…. It is quite the contrary… the belief that God had come in the flesh to be with us… didn’t develop after the birth of Christ…it is rooted in the indisputable history of the prophets that had already been well known. Seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the Lord promised, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
God keeps His promises.
Imagine Joseph… considering what Mary said…God infused into humanity… what he presumes is preposterous…is actually the very promise God gave. What seems far-fetched was actually foretold.
God with us. As the Gospel of John describes…
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” - John 1:14
The relationship that our existence is rooted in…has been lost…missing.
When she turned 21, Tammy Harris from Roanoke, Virginia, began searching for her biological mother. She wanted to know what her existence was rooted in. She searched for a year but did not find her. Tammy didn't know her mother, Joyce Schultz, was trying to locate her for twenty years. One day Tammy lamented to a coworker about the frustrating search to find her mother. Another coworker overheard the conversation and asked Tammy to tell her story. Then the unexpected happened. The other coworker was Joyce Shultz, Tammy’s long lost mother. She was right there with her, working alongside her, all that time. Tammy and Joyce embraced.
"We held on for the longest time," Tammy said. "It was the best day of my life." [9]
Today might be the best day of our lives.
We too want to know what our existence is rooted in…and we can know.
Tammy found out what her mother is like. In Jesus, we get to know what God is like. And the first thing we discover is that we are loved.
God wants a personal relationship with us.
Christmas reflects the divine love of God… willing to come suffer with us…for us… to reclaim us.
That will change you.
It changed Joseph.
Matthew 1:24-25
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
When he woke up… he made a choice.
I don’t know how long he took. But he embraced the choice that was at hand.
He took Mary home as his wife. And that means he took this child… the Christ…into his home.
Did he understand everything? No. But he understood that something bigger was at hand….that God was in control… to bring salvation.
He understood what was needed.
That is the way we relate and respond to God.
We trust what we can’t understand by what we can understand.
That choice changed everything.
That choice didn’t make the circumstances around him become easier.
Soon the local paranoid king Herod would come seeking the child to kill him.
Shortly after that there's another warning in a dream and he flees to Egypt where he has no network, no connections, no job, no place to stay.
What changed was not his life circumstances …but joining what God was doing.
He had the courage to make a choice.
4. The reality of Christmas is that we must choose.
This is a very personal choice.
A baby is placed in his arms. What will he do?
“The reality of Christmas is not a proposition…but a person. It is not a proposition you can simply agree with and then go on living your own independent life. The reality of Christmas is your relationship to the person of Christ… who brings a new eternal life and relationship with God.”
Closing
Today… the life that entered our world in the events of Christmas…is here.
We can know that life personally.
Like Joseph…we each come with our plans for life.
Today is an opportunity to embrace that God’s plans are bigger.
We each come with a sense that we must prove ourselves as valuable.
Today is an opportunity to accept that we are not loves because we have proved our value…rather we are valued because God loves us.
Closing Prayer
Resources: “Christmas Is a Four-Letter Word” Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-14 Series: In the Name of Love – Emmanuel The Rev. Douglas C. Hoglund The Woodside Church December 24, 2013; Pastor Dave Turner, Study notes“ (Hillsdale Free Methodist Church) - Emmanuel’s Incarnation” – Matthew 1:18-25
Notes:
1. The fact that Jesus was born “of Mary” only, as indicated in the genealogical record (v. 16), demanded further explanation. Matthew’s explanation can best be understood in the light of Hebrew marriage customs. Marriages were arranged for individuals by parents, and contracts were negotiated. After this was accomplished, the individuals were considered married and were called husband and wife. They did not, however, begin to live together. Instead, the woman continued to live with her parents and the man with his for one year. The waiting period was to demonstrate the faithfulness of the pledge of purity given concerning the bride. If she was found to be with child in this period, she obviously was not pure, but had been involved in an unfaithful sexual relationship. Therefore the marriage could be annulled. If, however, the one-year waiting period demonstrated the purity of the bride, the husband would then go to the house of the bride’s parents and in a grand processional march lead his bride back to his home. There they would begin to live together as husband and wife and consummate their marriage physically. Matthew’s story should be read with this background in mind. - From Barbieri, L. A., Jr. (1985). Matthew. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 18–20). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
(v. 18) That Mary was “found” to be pregnant indicates that she may not have immediately told Joseph, but had waited until her condition could be seen. This probably occurred after her return from visiting her pregnant cousin Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist) with whom she had stayed for three months (see Lk 1:39-56). (Bruce Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew, 14)
(v. 19) Divorce for adultery was not optional but mandatory among many groups in ancient Judaism, because adultery produced a state of impurity that, as a matter of legal fact, dissolved the marriage. Yet, his concern for her long-term reputation compels him to avoid exposing Mary to public disgrace. (Michael J. Wilkins, The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew, 75)
(v. 19) Joseph thought he had only two options: divorce Mary publicly or dismiss her quietly, but God had another option for Joseph.
2. The more complete quotes is: “Unquestionably. No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. How different, for instance, is the impression which we receive from an account of legendary heroes of antiquity like Theseus. Theseus and other heroes of his type lack the authentic vitality of Jesus.”
It is from "What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck,"The Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1929, p. 17. The questions are posed by Viereck; the reply to each is by Einstein. Since the interview was conducted in Berlin and both Viereck and Einstein had German as their mother tongue, the interview was likely conducted in German and then translated into English by Viereck. Some portions of this interview might seem questionable, but this portion of the interview was explicitly confirmed by Einstein. When asked about a clipping from a magazine article (likely the Saturday Evening Post) reporting Einstein's comments on Christianity taken down by Viereck, Einstein carefully read the clipping and replied, "That is what I believe." See Brian pp. 277 - 278.
3. Another affirmation: This account of the supernatural birth of our Lord is given with inspired delicacy and reserve, yet with such definiteness and clearness as to leave no doubt as to the fact recorded. The statement of the perplexity of Joseph, the reference to Jewish law and custom, the divine guidance granted in the dream, the simple declaration of the miraculous event, are all so natural and circumstantial as to indicate that the writer was composing not a poetic idyll but sober history. (Charles R. Erdman, The Gospel of Matthew, 29-30)
4. A good little video with images that describes Joseph: Faithful Father: Lessons from Joseph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53HX1SKgBF8
As one notes, “… while some Bible scholars try to say Joseph was very old, the Bible strongly suggests he was a fairly young man.
After Jesus was born Mary and Joseph had at least 6 more children.*
In an effort to support their belief that Mary remained a virgin after Jesus’ birth because Joseph was too old to have relations with her. However, there are indications in the Bible’s account involving Joseph that he was not an old man as some claim, consider the following:
1.After Jesus was born Mary and Joseph had at least 6 more children.*
2. After Jesus was born Herod tried to have him killed so an angel warned Joseph to take the child and his mother down into Egypt, a long journey on foot and later back again, a trip requiring considerable strength for a man to make.
3. Joseph taught Jesus the skill of carpentry which was done by hand requiring considerable strength.
4. Israelite males were required to travel to Jerusalem three time a year and the scriptures show Joseph was strong enough to make that trip when Jesus was 12 years old. The trip would have required walking for perhaps 4 days up from Nazareth to Jerusalem, 91 miles climbing around 1400 ft. in elevation.
——————
*The scriptures say that Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters.Two of his brothers wrote two Bible books which bear their names, the book of James and the book of Jude.
Matthew 13:55-56 - Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?...
Mark 6:3 - This is the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon, is it not? And his sisters are here with us, are they not?”...
As another notes: Intentionally or otherwise, John’s Gospel implies that Joseph was dead at the time of the crucifixion, by having Jesus instruct the beloved disciple to look after Mary like his own mother. Nevertheless, this gospel gives no indication of Joseph’s fate.
5. (v. 20) To reinforce the encouraging words, as well as to verify Jesus’ royal lineage, the angel addressed Joseph as son of David. Even though He was not the real son of Joseph, Jesus was his legal son. His Father, in actuality, was God, who conceived Him by the Holy Spirit. But His royal right in the Davidic line came by Joseph. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur NT Commentary: Matthew 1-7, 18)
(v. 20) When he heard the name of David, from whom he was descended, Joseph ought to have remembered that remarkable promise of God which related to the establishment of the kingdom, so as to acknowledge that there was nothing new in what was now told him. The predictions of the prophets were, in effect, brought forward by the angel, to prepare the mind of Joseph for receiving the present favor. (John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 97)
6. As Jesus made clear… “God is spirit,” - John 4:24.
God is Spirit but personal in nature. The very nature of existing as person… eternal and self-determining… “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). He speaks to Moses… and gives directions… bears—intellect, emotions, and will. He thinks, He feels, and He acts. He can be known… we can know Him personally and communicate with Him freely.
7. More on Matthew’s use of prophect:
Matthew 2:6 quotes from Micah’s prophecy that the coming Ruler will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). In context that Old Testament prophecy speaks of the Messiah, whose origins lie hidden in eternity. He is to rule in Israel in the name of Yahweh, and to be great to the ends of the earth. It is through this Person that Israel is to find peace.
Matthew 2:2 alludes to Jeremiah 23:5. The promised Messiah of the Jews was to be God and man. He is called in this context “The Lord Our Righteousness” (v. 6), and was to be born of David’s line. The prophet said that He will reign over a regathered people, who had been scattered over the world. This person is to reign as King, and in His days Judah and Israel will dwell safely.
Matthew 2:23 looks back to Hosea 11:1, and its prophecy that the Messiah will be called a Nazarene. The context emphasized Messiah’s descent from David’s line. It said that He will judge and rule with divine wisdom. His rule will bring destruction to the wicked. Gentiles as well as Jews will rally to Him, and in His day the earth will be filled with a knowledge of the Lord. Even the realm of nature is to know unheard of peace.
There are no less than 16 references to the Old Testament in these first two chapters of Matthew. It is clear that Matthew drew from prophecies which affirmed that the Jesus he described was indeed the Messiah Israel had been expecting. Jesus, the Man who lived so quietly, who raised no army, who taught and healed, and who was dragged unprotestingly to an agonizing death, truly is the expected King of glory.
From Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (p. 527). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
8. (vss. 22-23) This birth and this inspiring name were interpreted by Matthew as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy. In the days of Ahaz, Isaiah had predicted that God was to grant deliverance to Judah from the kings of Israel and Syria, and that as a symbol of this divine intervention a virgin should bring forth a son who should be called “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” The ancient prophet may not have had in mind either a miracle or an event of the distant future, but the writer of the Gospel saw that the true meaning of his prediction was realized in the birth of Jesus, for he was no mere pledge of divine deliverance but himself a divine Savior, not only was his name a token of the presence of God, but he himself was manifest deity. The real significance of the birth of Jesus, as here related, lies therefore in the fact that the Son of Mary is also the incarnate God who is able to save those who put their trust in him, for he is all that his blessed name implies, our divine Savior, “JESUS.” (Charles R. Erdman, The Gospel of Matthew, 30-31)
9. B. Paul Greene, San Pedro, California. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 4 (I personally had read this in the papers)
