Faith and Timing
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Good morning, everyone. Please take your Bibles and open them up to the Gospel of Matthew. Chapter one. This is the second Sunday of Advent and while you’re turning to Matthew, let me just remind you of what we looked at last Sunday. We looked at the genealogy of Jesus and I explained how Matthew was showing a direct line from Jesus to King David. Matthew was showing his readers that Jesus had a legitimate line to the throne of Israel. That He was in-fact; the rightful king. Well… if you want to get technical… at the time of Jesus’ birth – Joseph would have been the rightful king. You ever think about that? Had not the people of Israel engaged in rebellion and been given over to captivity – Joseph would have been ruling over the region of Israel… not the puppet king Herod. Sin and rebellion have consequences down through the generations.
So we looked at Matthew’s genealogy, and we compared that with Luke, because Luke was showing that Jesus not only has a direct line to David, and Abraham, but to Adam… Luke was showing that Jesus is the promised “Seed of the Woman” – the promised Son who would crush the head of the serpent.
There’s the re-cap… let’s look at our text together… Matthew 1:18-25 (READ).
Now if you would, please hold your place there in Matthew and turn with me to Galatians 4:4-5 (READ).
I’m going to use a couple of music terms here if I can. The Christmas story brings all of history into this amazing crescendo and to the bridge. Everything since the fall of Adam and Eve have been building to this one singular moment in history. All of Jewish history has been leading up to this one moment in time. All of God’s people down through the ages have been looking for the promise to be fulfilled. Hebrews 11 picks up on that very theme. They were looking – with faith… waiting with faithful expectation.
Now that doesn’t mean that every single person was – most people were just trying to live their lives and get whatever they could as they did… but those with faith. Those devout believers, down through history have been holding on to the promises of God… watching and waiting.
But it was only going to happen in God’s time.
But until then – God is going to masterfully orchestrate every event. He’s going to play every note and stitch every verse together exactly as it should be. He’s going to call Abram out of Ur. He’s going to tell Abram His plan to make him the father of many nations and change his name to Abraham. He’s going to raise up Isaac and break non-conformist Jacob so that he conforms to God’s plan. He’s going to ensure that what Joseph’s brothers intended for evil, He works for good. He’s going to use unlikely women like Tamar and Rahab for His purpose of redemption. He’s going to raise up a young shepherd boy and make him a giant slayer and ultimately a king. All the way down until the time that Mary, a young girl, a virgin with a pure heart and who is full of faith, is betrothed to Joseph, a man of integrity and faith.
He's going to bring it to pass just as He said He would.
Isaiah 55:11 – “So shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose - and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
That’s why Matthew lists this genealogy. To show us that “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.” (vs. 22). That comes from Isaiah 7:14 by the way.
What’s the point here? God keeps His promises! God’s Word doesn’t fail!
Now matter what it looks like to us. No matter what is going on around us… in our private lives, or on the world scene. No matter if it seems all is lost and there is no hope. God’s Word will come to pass. His promises will be fulfilled.
Now that’s the overarching theme here… but Matthew also breaks it down on a more personal level as well. He’s going to give us the perspective of Joseph in order to help us in our lives, and in our faith, and in our walk as we follow God. You say, “How does this passage do that pastor Ken?”
Well, let’s look at it again. Verse 18… “… When Mary had ben betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with Child…”. Now I stopped before reading the whole verse…. Because that was Joseph’s perspective initially…
He and Mary are betrothed. They’ve waited a long time to be married. He’s done all the right things. He has a job, he’s a man of integrity and faith. He’s valued her and her purity. The text even tells us that he is a “Just Man”. He’s loyal and he loves his bride to be… but BOOM! All of a sudden Mary is pregnant!
What a shock to the system right?
Now, what does the Old Testament Law say? Mary should be brought before the council, then hauled out into the street and stoned to death. To the world, she’s obviously been unfaithful.
And she could’ve pled her case, right? She could’ve told the Sanhedrin that this child is of the Holy Spirit, but do you honestly think they would’ve believed her?
And so, Joseph… he’s in a dilemma. He could have her stoned to death, but he loves her. He doesn’t want her dead, even though his heart is broken. So instead, he decides to privately put her away. He’s going to end the betrothal… call off the marriage.
AND MAKE SURE YOU CATCH THIS…
Joseph is a JUST MAN He’s not just going to sweep the apparent sin of unfaithfulness under the rug. He’s going to put Mary away (that’s what divorce means… to put away). But at the same time, he’s not going to have her killed. He wasn’t going to make it a public spectacle and drag her and her family’s name through the mud. He’s just in the sense that something has to be done about the wrong that has taken place… but I think it’s also pretty obvious that he loves Mary. 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient, and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing – but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
And there’s a good principle there for you who are unmarried. If the guy or gal you’re interested in is engaging in sin… and it’s obvious… Don’t be foolish and be like, “Oh but I love them, they’ll change after we get married…”. You don’t just pass it off and hope things change… repentance needs to occur. And it can by God’s grace… but you don’t ignore sin and move forward hoping it goes away…. That is not just and that is not love.
So this is what Joseph is going to do. He’s wise, he just, but he also doesn’t have the full story, does he?
Remember, all Joseph knew was that Mary and he were betrothed, and all of a sudden, she is with child. He didn’t know the last part of verse 18 – that the child was from the Holy Spirit.
That doesn’t happen until verse 20. Let’s read it, (READ MATTHEW 1:20).
So God sends an angel and the angel tells Joseph to go ahead with the marriage. Mary hasn’t sinned at all. Sure, everyone is going to think she did… The angel didn’t go and tell this to Mary’s family… or to the people of the town… or to anyone else… but now Joseph knows the truth of the matter.
Mary didn’t sin… Joseph knows she didn’t sin… but no one else does. And again, I think this is why it was Mary and Joseph.
Mary has tremendous faith… she was pure, she was faithful. Joseph was a just man… but he also had steadfast integrity. He has to know that this is going to be hard. I mean… being married is hard enough right? But he’s going to have to deal with constant rumors and gossip, and slander… but it doesn’t matter. He marries his bride. He does the right thing.
And we have trials and difficulty in our lives, but think of what these two would’ve gone through. And if the rumors and gossip wasn’t bad enough, in just a couple of years, Herod is going to try to kill Jesus. They’re going to have to flee to Egypt. And then in 33 years Mary is going to have to watch her firstborn Son die on a cross.
How did they do it?
BY FAITH! Mary and Joseph believed in the Word of the Lord… they believed in the promises of God. They trusted in God’s good plan and providence. But also… and this is probably more important… “THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL.”
Immanuel – God with us! If God is with you – you can endure. You can persevere. You can make it.
No matter what trial comes your way! If God is with you – you have the victory!
So… Mary and Joseph tie the knot, they get married… but you notice Joseph doesn’t consummate the marriage until after Jesus has been born… that’s what verse 25 tells us… Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin.
And they give Him the Name Jesus – Yeshuah – it literally means Yahweh Saves.
Yahweh saves by sending Immanuel to be born of a virgin on that first Christmas day.
More than 700 years had passed since Isaiah prophesied that a virgin would conceive and bear a Son. And right around 4000 years had passed since God told Adam and Eve that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent for His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
So church, let me wrap this up with this… and I know todays’ sermon was a lot shorter than normal… some of you are rejoicing… but we’ve finished the text… Here’s the wrap up.
God is not slack concerning His promises. If God has said it, He will do it. His Word does not return void. The earth may shake, the mountains may fall, heaven and earth may pass away… but God’s Word will never pass away.
His Word never fails.
It doesn’t come in our time… but in His. But we can rest assured that if He has said it, it will come to pass. And you can stand on that, and hold to that, no matter what.
AMEN!
Let’s pray.
