Jesus Conception and Birth

Jesus Conception and Birth

Text: Matthew 1:18–2

God is sovereign over the laws of nature. He made them, and he overturns them at will. God does not serve the laws of nature. The laws of nature serve God. To accomplish his will God can and will communicate with us with supernatural means.

A professor of theology told me this true story. He received an offer to move from a seminary in Chicago area to SBTS in Louisville. He had been at the Chicago school for many years and had many friends on staff there. So, he sought God in prayer, but the heavens were like brass. After several months SBTS asked him to give them a decision by the following Monday. He and his wife prayed aggressively. “God show us what to do.”No one knew that he had applied to SBTS, or that he had an offer, but his wife.

In addition, hj attended a church that believed that miracles, prophecies, and supernatural dreams ended in the third century. Despite this, after Sunday service a friend approached him and said, “I had a dream about you last night. I saw you in a lectern teaching at SBTS in Lousiville. I don’t know what this means, but I felt a strong impression to share this with you.

He took the new job. That was fifteen years ago. Since that time the School he left has fallen on hard times. It turned out to be a very smart move.

In the same way, today’s text is about God using supernatural means to fulfill his promises to Israel.

BILLBOARD

A.Joseph’s Problem

"18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Mary and Joseph were betrothed/engaged. Today, engagement is not binding. It is a testing period during which the engagement can be broken by eitherbride or groom. But that was not the case in the ancient world. Divorce was the only way out of a betrothal. Sex with someone else while betrothed was considered adultery. It was punishable by death.

(Deuteronomy 22:23–24) "23 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones…So you shall purge the evil from your midst."

The normal age for betrothal was age 13 or 14 with the wedding a year later.

After conception Mary hurried away to stay with her relative, Elizabeth, for three months. Therefore, she is between three and five months pregnant. She is starting to show.

Joseph and Mary lived in a small village. Scholars estimate that Nazareth was between 300-500 people. Everyone knew everyone. Joseph probably grew up with Mary. They attended the same synagogue. They probably played together as infants. They have probably known each other’s families since childhood. Now she is pregnant, and he is not the Father. Everyone will soon know, and tongues will wag. Joseph and Mary will be the butt of ridicule in the village.

For Mary this pregnancywas a matter of great shame. It was a reputation wrecker. The men will consider her a “loose woman,” and the women will pity and despise her. If she tries to explain what really happened the laughter and mocking will just accelerate.

It also meant shame for her father and mother. They probably thought they were pretty good parents, and now Mary has profoundly disappointed them. She is pregnant out of wedlock. They will be humbled in the sight of all their friends. They are facing the prospect of raising one of their grandchildren.

What about Mary’sbrothers and sisters?

It also meant profound disappointmentfor Joseph. He thought he knew Mary. He thought he could trust her. Now he faces major let down. She is not the girl he thought she was.

Her pregnancy meant the dashing of his dreams. He has been looking forward to marriage and family, and now it won’t be.

For Joseph it also meant rejection. Mary has another lover. He is not the man of her dreams. She has pledged to be faithful to him, but she has broken her promise. He will never be able to trust her again.

The text also tells us something that Joseph does not yet know. Mary is pregnant by the HS. How it happened we don’t know. It was probably silent and undetected. Luke’s gospel tells us that the “power of the Most High overshadowed her” (Lk 1:35).

Application: God is sovereign. All of this the HS knew when he announced to Mary her future role as the mother of the Messiah. However, the HS communicated the real circumstances behind Mary’s conception to no one but Mary.

Like Jesus, through these circumstances, the HS led Mary into the wilderness to be tempted. Sometimes God’s intervention in our lives makes our circumstances worse not better.

B.Joseph’s Sincere Solution

19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

The Bible wants us to know that Joseph is a“just man.”He is a good man. The parents that God has chosen for his Son are model citizens. Joseph has a strong reputation for upright, moral behavior. That includes kindness.

Mary has probably shared the origin of her pregnancy with her, but Joseph obviously does not believe her.

However, he is not going to demand his right to put her to death. Instead, in pain and disappointment he is going to quietly divorce her. The divorce will shame Mary for the rest of her life, but under the circumstances, divorce is the kindestoption.

All of this points to Joseph’s willingness to forgive Mary. He is not vindictive. Despite the pain and rejection that he feels from her, he is not going to take vengeance into his own hands.

Application: Is this you? Joseph doesn’t yet understand the gospel, and yet he is willing to forgive. He didn’t demand justice. How about you and me? To whom much is given much will be asked. We understand the gospel. God has forgiven us of an infinite debt. Therefore, we have a greater responsibility to forgive and let go of our rights.

C.God’sMiraculous Intervention

20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Just as Joseph is getting ready to make the biggest mistake of his life, the Holy Spirit intervenes. It is a supernatural intervention. God uses a dream to communicate with Joseph. In fact, this will happen two more times before chapter one is finished. God uses supernatural means to fulfill his promises

The mediator that brings the dream is an angel. Angels are real. About the same time an angel of the Lord came to Zechariah and told him that he would be the father of John the Baptist. The angel, Gabriel, came to Mary and told her that she was going to be the mother of the Christ Child.

Divine dreams still happen. Although rare, angels still communicate with people. Nothing has changed. Despite the fact that he is a cessationist, another pastor friend recently told me that has God warned him through dreams. A few months ago he dreamed that he was being stalked by a Lion. The same dream had occurred two time previously, and in both cases the dream was followed by an intense time of spiritual warfare.So, he woke up and told his wife, “I had the Lion dream again.” Immediately they entered into prayer. God sent the dream to warn and prepare him, to let him know that God is in control. Within two weeks it came to light that a member of his staff was involved in an immoral relationship. A month of great stress followed.

Although spiritual dreams can be real, they require great discernment. Most of them are just dreams. Therefore, if you have a dream that you think is from God, it should be tested by a pastoral leader. Here are the questions you might want to ask—

• Was it consistent with scripture? (1 Pet. 5:8).
• Did it humble you, or did it amplify your sense of self-importance? AngeWlic dreams that are from God tend to humble us. For example, the Roman soldiers at Jesus’ tomb trembled and became like dead men when they saw the angel of the Lord. When the prophet Daniel saw an angel, here was his reaction. (Daniel 10:8–9) "8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. 9 Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground."
• Who got the glory? You or God?
• Is it a dream you can forget?

Imagine Joseph’s shock and awe when the angel confirmedMary’s story. She is pregnant by the HS. God isthe infant’s father, and God has asked him to be the adoptive father of an epoch changing child—the Child that Israel has pinned all of her hopes on. He is the one who in the angel’s words,“will save his people from their sins.”

That means that Joseph must humble himself. This little baby that he will raise will also save Joseph from his sins.

What is the effect? Immediately, all of his trust in Mary was restored. In fact, his profound disappointment in her moral failure hasnowbecome profound admiration for her moral courage.

He is faced with a decision. If he accepts the angel’s challenge he, like Mary, will be misunderstood. He will be ridiculed. He will be mocked. In addition, his willingness to marry her, in the eyes of family and friends, will be an admission of guilt. “So, after all his denials, Joseph is really the one who got her pregnant.”Consumation of the marriage with Mary will be an admission of guilt, butto obey God he must be willing to bear the shame willingly.

Is he willing to be misunderstood by everyone?That is the question”?

Application: this is what it means to follow Christ. Let’s bring this down to the 21st century. Are you willing to be thought of as a “homophobe?” Are you willing to be labeled a misogynist, (a hater of women)? Are you willing to have people call you a narrow-minded, bigoted, fundamentalist, one who doesn’t believe in science? That is what it means to follow Christ, and no amount of sophisticated reasoning will change it.

Those who hated Jesus will also hate his followers.

D.God’s Faithfulness

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Next, Matthew lifts our eyes from the particular problems of Joseph and Mary to the overarching Bible story. This conception and birth is no accident. It is according to plan. God is sovereign. In the words of Galatians 4—"4 When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.”

Matthew quotes Isaiah’s 700 year old prophecy in Isaiah 7. It predicts this event. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Immanuel, which means God is with us. He wants the reader to know that God predicted and planned this event. There are no accidents. God can predict the future because God controls the future.

The conception of this baby is a miracle. A virgin shall conceive. This is physical impossible. In this case, the One who created the laws of nature overturns them.

The child conceived will be God himself. His name, Immanuel, makes that clear. God himself will come to his people in human form. But his people, the ones chosen by him, will hate him. They will mock him. They will reject him. They will crucify him. All of this God knows. So why is he coming to a people who hate him?

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (Jn 3:16).

God loves his enemies.

Application: Do you trust God for your circumstances? Would God overturn the laws of nature to fulfill his promise to you?

Are you willing to love your enemies?

E.Joseph’s Response of Faith

24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus."

Despite a future of rejection, fear, misunderstanding, and risk, Joseph wakes from sleep and does “as the angel commanded him.”He does three things:

1stHe takes Mary to be his wife. In ancient Israel, that meant that she moved from her parent’s home into Joseph’s home.

2ndHe does not know her until the baby is born. He slept with her under the same roof for months, and he did not “know her” until after Jesus was born. On Joseph’s part this took major self-control.

3rd He named him Jesus. He didn’t give him a family name. He obeyed the angelic command.

This might be one of the most remarkable verses in the Bible. We have already discussed the cost to Joseph. What would motivate such heroic obedience?

Faith. He believedthe angelic message. Not stated explicitly, but implied in this passage, is Joseph’s new confidence that God is good. Yes, obedience will be difficult, but he can trust God. God will take care of him. God will encourage him. God will provide for him, and ultimately God willreward him. His only duty is to obey, but because God is good obedience is ultimately safe.

Thesis: God uses supernatural means to fulfill his promise to his people.

F.Application

1.Believe That Christ is God.

Our first study in Matthew, Jesus’ genealogy, emphasized his humanity. He was the Son of Abraham. He was the Son of David. This week’s passage takes the reader further. It emphasizes his divinity. Jesus Christ is not just a human with a Jewish genealogy, but he is also the Son of God. His Father is divine. That means he shares the divine nature without limit.

If Christ was not born of a virgin, then God is not his Father. It follows that Jesus is not divine, and it follows that our sins are not forgiven. This is why we argue that belief in Christ’s divinity is necessary for salvation. Liberal Christian (really unbelievers)—Mormons, Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Moslems, etc. all reject the Virgin Birth.

Jesus is both God and man. He had a human mother and a divine Father.This matters greatly.

Christ had to be human. Only a man could atone for man’s sin. Only a man could represent humanity on the cross. It was a man that sinned. Therefore, it was only just that a man atone for man’s sins. It was necessary that the Sacrifice be a Son of Adam.

Christ had to be divine. Only a sacrifice of infinite value could atone for sins of infinite severity.

The resurrection certifies Christ’s claim to divinity.

2.Pray for Supernatural Power

This text describes a supernatural event. It is a pattern. Throughout salvation history God has come to his people through intense times of supernatural activity. He does this to encourage the saints.

For example, in the 14th century BC God worked supernaturally to free Israel from Egyptian slavery. Then 600 years later, in the 8th century BC, God revealed his supernatural power through Elijah and Elisha. He did this to call Israel back to himself in single minded repentance. Then 800 years later, in the 1st century AD, God poured out signs and wonders through his Son, the apostles, and prophets. Since 1904 the church has been in a renewed time of supernatural activity.

Pray for supernatural power. It is the biblical norm. Don’t ever be satisfied without it. We need power to heal. We need supernatural knowledge. What is normal Christianity? Is it our experience, or is it what is in the Bible? Do I measure the Bible by my experience, or do I measure my experience by the Bible?

3.Rest in God’s Sovereignty

When the HS intervened in Mary’s life problems came with it, but the problems were no accident.

So it is in our lives.

God means it all for good. (Rm. 8:28).

4.Obey God

Joseph responded with obedience.

It was costly obedience.

It was the fruit of faith.

5.Celebrate the Female Sex

Christians are often accused of misogyny.

When we studied Jesus’ genealogy we noticed the unusual inclusion of women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Matthew did this to elevate the prominence of women.