Psalm 45:1-7, Isaiah 62:10-12, Galatians 4:1-7, Matthew 1:18-25.
A). THE GLORIES OF THE MESSIAH.
Psalm 45:1-7.
The Psalmist wrote of things beyond his natural knowledge. As a prophet, he sought diligently and inquired after the grace that was to come (1 Peter 1:10). Then he spoke and wrote as the Spirit of God led him (2 Peter 1:21).
I). Psalm 45:1-2. Seeing Jesus as He is.
The believer’s heart, in grateful adoration, is ever contemplating the goodness of the Lord. When our hearts thus bubble over in love toward King Jesus, we cannot remain silent: our thoughts must needs give expression in words. The Psalmist found his tongue to be the pen of a ready writer (Psalm 45:1), all set to make this contribution to Scripture.
Psalm 45:2 begins, “You are fairer than the children of men” This is how we first discover Jesus to be. Of all men, He alone is the flawless One (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).
It continues, “grace is poured into your lips.” As the best of men, and our sacrifice, we receive grace from His grace (John 1:16). And grace pours forth from His lips (Luke 4:22).
In consequence, the verse concludes, “therefore God has blessed you for ever.” We receive our blessings only in Him (Ephesians 1:3). He redeemed us ‘that we might receive the blessing of Abraham’ (Galatians 3:14).
II). Psalm 45:3-5. The sword and arrows of Jesus.
Psalm 45:3. Part of the royal insignia of King Jesus is His sword. The Psalmist addresses Jesus here as “O most mighty,” and bids Him “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh” along with "thy glory and thy majesty.”
The preacher commissioned to preach the gospel hardly dare proceed without ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God’ (Ephesians 6:17; cf. Song of Solomon 3:8).
The Word of God, when the gospel is faithfully preached, ‘is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword… and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart’ (Hebrews 4:12). To the ‘saved’ it is the savour of ‘life unto life.’ But to ‘them that perish’ it is the savour of ‘death unto death’ (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).
Jesus holds His sword ready upon His thigh - and when He draws it, He does not draw it in vain. The Word of God will accomplish all for which He has sent it (Isaiah 55:11). Without Jesus, the preacher has nothing to say.
Psalm 45:4. When the Word of “truth” is preached, Jesus rides forth triumphantly, defeating His (and our) spiritual foes, and gathering a harvest of the souls for whom He died. Jesus’ “meekness” has already been seen in His humiliation, which took Him from heaven, through incarnation, to ‘the death of a cross’ (Philippians 2:8). Here, at the Cross, “righteousness” is established: ‘the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ’ (Romans 3:22).
The Psalmist predicts the inevitability of Jesus’ victory, and envisages the King looking back upon the results.
Psalm 45:5. In another vivid illustration, through the preaching of the gospel, the “arrows” of conviction shoot forth. They strike to the “heart.” People fall under their power.
Some will find relief by believing in the One who struck them. Others will prove themselves to be “enemies” indeed by refusing the offered salvation. They shall by and by fall under the “arrows” of condemnation (cf. John 3:18).
But there is ‘therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1).
III). Psalm 45:6-7. The excellency of His rule.
As part of his argument to establish the superiority of Jesus to the angels, the writer to the Hebrews says, ‘Unto the Son He says, “Your throne O God is for ever and ever”’ (Hebrews 1:8; quoting Psalm 45:6). The Holy Spirit, speaking first through the Psalmist and then through the writer to the Hebrews, addresses Jesus as God, yet distinguishes Jesus from God.
We saw in passing that God’s blessing upon Jesus is “for ever” (Psalm 45:2). Now we perceive that His throne is to be “for ever and ever” (Psalm 45:6; cf. Psalm 72:17). ‘Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end’ (Isaiah 9:7). Jesus’ sceptre is a “right” sceptre.
“You love righteousness and hate wickedness” (Psalm 45:7a; Hebrews 1:9a). It is He who ushers in ‘everlasting righteousness’ (Daniel 9:24) by the shedding of His blood upon the Cross.
It is through Jesus’ sacrifice that God is seen to be both ‘just’ and ‘the justifier’ of all that come to Him (Romans 3:26). God’s abhorrence of sin is seen in sharpest relief at the Cross: but it is there also that His justice in justifying the wicked is vindicated. Jesus became sin for us, ‘that we might become the righteousness of God in Him’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“Therefore God, even your God has anointed you” (Psalm 45:7b; quoted in Hebrews 1:9b). Jesus owns the Father as His God (John 20:17). He was equipped for the ministry to which He was called by the pouring forth of the Holy Spirit at His baptism (Acts 10:38).
The Spirit is called here, “the oil of gladness” (Psalm 45:7c) because Jesus was willing and ready above any of His fellows, whether priests or kings, to fulfil His commission (Psalm 40:8; cf. Hebrews 10:7). O that we might have the like commitment!
B). A STANDARD RAISED.
Isaiah 62:10-12.
This prophecy is fulfilled at more than one level.
There is a level of fulfilment for those Jews who lived in the days of Cyrus king of Persia (Ezra 1:1-4). At the raising of God’s standard (ISAIAH 62:10), they were able to leave behind the gates of Babylon (cf. Isaiah 52:11), cross the desert as if on a highway, and return to rebuild Jerusalem.
Yet this is not all: the proclamation which follows announces, in words not dissimilar to Isaiah 40:10, the coming of salvation - in the Person of our Saviour, no less (ISAIAH 62:11).
In the gospel, a standard has been raised to the nations (Isaiah 49:22-23). This was doubtless anticipated in the return from exile, but reaches its fullest fulfilment as the nations look to the LORD (Isaiah 60:6; Isaiah 60:9-10; Psalm 68:31). The ‘wise men from the east’ who came to worship the One ‘born King of the Jews’ (Matthew 2:1-2) were the first fruits of the on-going Gentile mission.
In the end, speech about Jerusalem and its walls gives way to a consideration of ‘Zion’ as consisting in: “The holy people” who are “The redeemed of the LORD” - who are named, “Sought out. A city not forsaken” (ISAIAH 62:12).
C). THE CONTEXT OF THE INCARNATION.
Galatians 4:1-7.
‘The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith’ (cf. Galatians 3:24).
The picture is as of an heir to a great estate, who in his infancy is under the control and tutelage of guardians and stewards. Until the time appointed by his father, he differs nothing from a slave, even though he is effectively lord of all (GALATIANS 4:1-2).
“Even so we,” argues Paul, were held in bondage under the “elements” of the world (GALATIANS 4:3). This describes man’s condition under the law. It was a situation from which we needed to be “redeemed” ((GALATIANS 4:5).
In GALATIANS 4:4, Paul speaks of a fullness of time. In what sense was it the fullness of the time?
There is a time for everything under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1). God has set limits to the times and boundaries of the nations from all eternity (Acts 17:26). Even in the days of Father Abraham, God was shaping the destiny of the wicked nations of the Holy Land (Genesis 15:16). Furthermore, if we are the people of God then our times are in the Lord's hands (Psalm 31:14-15).
If we are being called by God, then His Holy Spirit is already at work in our hearts to shape us into the image of Christ, to free us from the bondage which comes from a slavish keeping of legalistic rituals and ceremonies (cf. Galatians 4:10). “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). If we have been set free by Christ, then we are totally free, and have no need to wander back into the slavish fears of our pre-conversion days.
The “fullness of the time” also has a historical context. The hope and expectation of the coming of Messiah was at its zenith amongst the faithful remnant of Israel: people like Simeon and Anna, living in the Temple (Luke 2:25; Luke 2:36-38). Even amongst the Gentiles there was a sense of anticipation: people like the wise men from the East (Matthew 2:1-2).
The conquests of Alexander the Great had brought about a common culture, and a common language (koine Greek, in which the New Testament would be written). The armies of Caesar had secured the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome, whereby it was easier for the Gospel to cross the borders of the known world than it had ever been hitherto. There was a hunger after knowledge, and a sense of dissatisfaction with the old “gods” of Greece and Rome.
“In the fullness of the time God sent forth His Son” (GALATIANS 4:4). What a momentous sentence!
There was nothing accidental about the coming of Jesus. The fact had been announced in the Garden of Eden, on the very day of Man's fall from God's grace. All the events of the Old Testament anticipated Him. The sacrifices prefigured His sacrifice. The prophecies pointed towards Him. And even cautious typology points to “Christ in all the Scriptures, beginning at Moses and all the prophets” (Luke 24:27).
What a wonder that God should send forth His only begotten Son to redeem fallen mankind. It was not what we deserved. It was “while we were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1) that Christ died for us, the godly for the ungodly, the righteous for the unrighteous, the altogether lovely One for the unlovely and unlovable (see Romans 5:6-8).
Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was born of a woman. He was born into the family of rebellious mankind. He became what He was not in order that we might become what He is, for by a perfect transference our sins are laid upon Him whilst we are clothed with His righteousness. He becomes the Son of man so that we might become children of God (John 1:12).
Jesus was born under the law. As the son of a Jewish mother, He was circumcised on the eighth day in accordance with the law. He kept the law perfectly, as no man has ever been able to do. He took upon Himself the guilt of our sin, and willingly submitted to the penalty of the law on our behalf. He set us free from the law and its condemnation, so that we may legally enter into the privileges of sons (GALATIANS 4:5; GALATIANS 4:7).
It is a great privilege to be able to call God our Father. And we can, because God sent forth not only His Son, but His Spirit also, whereby we cry, "Abba, Father" (GALATIANS 4:6).
D). JOSEPH’S DREAM.
Matthew 1:18-25.
Joseph was a dreamer. This was true of the Old Testament Joseph, the son of Jacob, derogatively referred to as “this dreamer” (cf. Genesis 37:19). It was also true of the New Testament Joseph, recognised here as “the son of David” (Matthew 1:20).
Joseph Ben-Jacob’s dream got him into trouble through the young man’s seeming arrogance. But the fulfilment of his dream saved many lives internationally, and changed the history of Israel. Joseph Ben-David’s dream helped him find the path of duty, and his obedience helped change the salvation history of the world.
Joseph the betrothed of Mary found himself in a dilemma when his intended was found to be with child by the Holy Ghost (Matthew 1:18). To break off the engagement and put Mary to public shame was an intolerable idea. Yet, on the appearance of things, Joseph could not marry Mary (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:22).
So being a gentle and considerate man, endowed like all true believers with the righteousness which comes from God (Matthew 1:19), Joseph did nothing that he might regret afterwards (cf. Isaiah 28:16). Joseph no doubt acted as all believers should, praying things over until the path of duty became clear. The answer came through an angelic appearance in a dream (Matthew 1:20).
Sometimes when we are having a restless night whilst waiting for an answer from the Lord, we are like the night-watchmen who long for the morning shift to relieve them (cf. Psalm 130:6). We long to sing “Morning has broken”, but are uncertain what the day might hold. At such times we might turn over just one more time, and suddenly be awakened by a moment of lucidity which puts everything into its divine perspective.
It was while Joseph was turning things over in his troubled mind that he received the angelic visitation. Although this was a dream (Matthew 1:20), a vision of the night (cf. Job 20:8), it was no nebulous apparition. The angel was substantial, a tangible reality, with a message from God.
Joseph was instructed to put aside his fears and, as the son of David, to operate in faith (Matthew 1:20). What he was then told was remarkable, but confirmed what Mary had also been told by the angel (cf. Luke 1:35): the child was conceived by the Holy Ghost. Mary would bring forth a son and call His name Jesus (the same name as Joshua, which means Saviour) because He was sent to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
Matthew then adds one of his trademark quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures (Matthew 1:22-23). As we will often find throughout Matthew’s Gospel, the applications which he makes are somewhat surprising, adding a new dimension to the fulfilment of the prophecies. The young woman who would bear a son called Immanuel, God with us (cf. Isaiah 7:14), was not ultimately the queen bearing Hezekiah (cf. 2 Kings 18:7), nor yet Zion bearing the remnant, but Mary bearing Jesus the Saviour.
When Joseph was aroused from sleep (Matthew 1:24) he had a choice, as we have a choice today: believe it, or believe it not. Since Joseph was a believer, he put his faith into action (cf. James 2:18) and, oblivious now to the potential for gossip or stigma, obeyed the angel’s message and married Mary. If we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments (cf. John 14:15), no matter how painful to the flesh they may seem.
As a gentleman, too, Joseph did not have marital relations with his wife until she had brought forth her firstborn son (Matthew 1:25). In obedience to the angel’s instructions from God to both Mary (cf. Luke 1:31) and himself, Joseph named the child Jesus. Joseph was not afraid to take the lead in his family, and opened his heart and his home to the Son of God.
