Christmas Sermon Blog: God is with us

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 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. 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.’ All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1:18-25‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
https://www.bible.com/113/mat.1.18-25.nivuk

The gospels present us with 4 different accounts of Jesus’ earthly life.

As you would hope, they are not identical.

When it comes to Christmas, the gospel of Mark is a disappointment if we are looking for the nativity. He starts the story 30 years later.

And John starts in the beginning, before this world was made.

Luke and Matthew give us much of our material for our nativities, but they come at it from different angles, using different parts of the story which do not contradict, but complement each other.

Unlike Luke for example, as we have just read, Matthew doesn’t concentrate on the angel Gabriel visiting Mary in Nazareth.

His focus is Joseph.

Indeed in the opening part of the first chapter of Matthew, Matthew brings us the family tree of Jesus and puts Joseph fully in the picture.

But there is a subtle side step as he reaches the end.

The genealogy follows a pattern.

Abraham was the father of Isaac.

Isaac was the father of Jacob.

All the way through until:

“Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1:16‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
https://www.bible.com/113/mat.1.16.nivuk

Not “and Joseph was the father of Jesus”.

Luke puts it that Jesus “was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph”.
‭‭Luke‬ ‭3:23‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
https://www.bible.com/113/luk.3.23.nivuk

The point is clear from both gospel writers that, whilst Joseph is a central character in the Christmas narrative, all is not what it might appear.

Something that would surely haunt Joseph in different ways throughout his life.

Matthew now unpacks this for us as he tells us the “how” of the birth of Jesus.

Jesus the Messiah. From the start Matthew sets out Jesus’ credentials.

From the beginning the nativity is not just a story of the birth of a baby. If it were why would we still be talking about it 2000 years later?

The importance is in the person of the baby.

Who he was. There is no focus on his weight, hair colour or family likeness.

This is Jesus the Messiah. That is why you need to take notice of this most humble of births.

Χριστου. Christ, Is the Greek translation of the Hebrew “Messiah”.

This was God’s anointed one. God has a hand on this baby, this man, this life. He has God’s full endorsement.

You need to take notice.

This birth, like any birth, is just the start of the story, but even more so here.

Although as we will see it is not a start in the normal sense.

Mary is pledged to be married to Joseph. Betrothal. We perhaps would say engaged.

But betrothal has a much greater significance to it than engagement.

In Jewish life betrothal is the first legal stage of marriage. In fact it is the legal bit, involving execution of a deed, and payment of money to secure the deal.

After usually around 12 months the couple would then set up home together.

So Joseph and Mary are in that in between state, but make no mistake they are legally bound together.

Which is what makes the next point so important to grasp.

Mary was pregnant before they came together.

This was something which would have rocked Joseph’s world. One thing was clear. He was NOT the father.

And everyone would be able to work that one out for themselves.

They could all do the maths.

Disaster for the couple and their respective families. In that culture a total embarrassment.

But Matthew has another extraordinary detail, which he introduces in such a matter of fact way.

Mary is pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Both Luke and Matthew are in agreement on this. Mary tells the Angel Gabriel that she has “never known a man”.

This perhaps is Matthew’s secret, but initially at least, the world, and Joseph, carry on oblivious to this fact.

Joseph’s reaction is clear. Mary has been unfaithful.

We are told that Joseph was faithful to the law. This is not just saying that he was a law abiding citizen who paid his taxes and didn’t drive his cart the wrong way up a one way street.

Matthew is referring to the law of Moses.

God’s law.

He is a God fearing Jew who lives out his faith.

Δικαιος. The Greek means Just, acting in accordance with what God requires.

He was righteous and just.

“yet did not want to expose Mary to public disgrace”.

It seems that whilst the law did not require Mary to be publicly shamed, that was an option Joseph did not want to take up, even if he even considered it.

He wanted to be kind. He would not treat her as she deserved for her infidelity.

We are told that he had it in mind to divorce Mary quietly. This underlines the binding nature of betrothal. Even though you could argue that they were not fully married in every sense. That is why he is described as “husband”.

The only way out was divorce.

Joseph had considered his options and that’s where his thoughts had taken him.

But then he sleeps and in the night his mind is changed.

And it is something unusual in the Bible which brings this change of heart about.

In the Bible God often speaks to people through dreams.

At other times he speaks to people through angels.

But he rarely speaks to people through an angel in a dream.

It seems to be the way that God chooses to speak to Joseph. God will speak to Joseph in this way again when the family are later due to return from Egypt.

Interestingly there is only one other person who is spoken to by an angel in a dream in the whole Bible.

In the Old Testament.

To a distant ancestor called Jacob.

The father of another Joseph.

Matthew has toId us in his genealogy that Joseph is the son of Jacob.

But the angel describes him differently, but significantly.

Joseph, son of David.

Joseph is reminded, humble carpenter or not, that he is from the royal line of King David.

Isaiah had prophesied that a child would be born who would sit on David’s throne. This would be echoed in the words of the angels to the shepherds later on.

This is prophecy being fulfilled in the life of Joseph of Nazareth.

The prophecy in Isaiah 7 is set around 732 BC.

Syria and Israel are in military alliance against Assyria. They in turn wanted Judah to join them.

Ahaz king of Judah is terrified. Isaiah went to reassure him that God was on his side.

Ahaz is told to stand firm and trust in God. He is told to test God for a sign.

He is unwilling to ask but he is given one.

A virgin conceiving and bearing a son.

The land of the kings Ahaz feared would be deserted.

But he ignored God’s instruction.

No one knows who the woman and child were.

In the history of salvation, God dramatically intervenes time and again.

Was this prophecy speaking to Ahaz’s situation or something else centuries later?

Or both?

“In its original context the prophecy was to a man gripped by fear about what the future would hold. The same is true of Joseph. In both contexts reassurance was needed of God’s intervention in the world to save his people. In many ways the prophecy is even more fully fulfilled with the birth of Jesus than with the birth of the child to an unnamed young woman of Ahaz’s day”. Paula Gooder – Journey to the Manger.

As so often the angel begins his announcement by telling Joseph not to be afraid.

Fear was nearly always the reaction to an angelic appearance.

And yet Joseph’s fear is not so much at the angel. It is the fear of the situation he finds himself in.

Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife.

That was his fear.

A divorce and he distanced himself from the problem.

Set up home with Mary, complete the marriage and he would have to live with this forever.

Joseph knows he is not the father and this most unusual birth announcement will make this clear to him.

This baby is conceived from the Holy Spirit.

From God.

Joseph knew this child was not his, but now will he accept that Mary has not been unfaithful to him? This is God at work in a miraculous way.

We talk about the virgin birth, but actually what we are given here and elsewhere by Luke, is the virgin conception.

Mary would later give birth to other children. She would not remain a virgin, as some traditions teach.

This conception is miraculous, supernatural, of God.

But of course like so many things in this child’s life, this would be hard to accept.

• That God could become a man
• That a virgin could conceive
• That a dead man could rise again

When God enters the story is anything impossible?

But the neighbours would always remember.

“They said Mary was a virgin.

Ha! She was unfaithful to Joseph.

Or maybe he couldn’t control himself.

Their child born from God. Pull the other one. Can’t they come up with a more credible explanation than that!”

People have long memories.

Would they whisper as the family went by?

Later when some wondered if the young teacher was God’s chosen one, some protested.

“Come on, this is Joseph and Mary’s son!”

In legal terms Joseph was the father of Jesus.

Anyway, the announcement of an impending birth is always exciting, but there is still some mystery.

What will it be? Boy or girl?

What ideas have we got for names?

And in moments of allowing our minds to wander, what will this child become?

No opportunity for Joseph to be left wondering. The angel brings a handful of spoilers.

• “It’s a boy!” “OK…”
• “His name is Jesus!” “Great, don’t we get to make any of our own decisions?!”
• “He will save his people from their sins”. “Right, not a carpenter then?…”

It is all pre-decided!

Well yes actually it is.

The angel continues to explain that this is “Fulfilling what the Lord said through the prophet”.

This was prophesied hundreds of years ago.

And now it is a reality.

And Joseph is right in the middle of it.

“The virgin will give birth to a son and call him Immanuel”.

Well that’s confusing!

Is this child going to be called Jesus or Immanuel?

Well of course as we read on we know that he was named Jesus. He is never called Immanuel.

And yet Jesus and Immanuel are one and the same.

It is if Jesus is his name but Immanuel is his job description.

Jesus though is also a descriptive name. Saviour. Deliverer.

The angel echoes the words of Psalm 130 and the promise that God in his unfailing love will redeem Israel from all their sins.

This is vital work Jesus has come to do!

“Christianity is not good advice about morals. It is good news about God and what he has done for us” Michael Green – The Message of Matthew (BST).

And Jesus is not introduced as the one longed for who would overthrow the Roman occupation.

He has come to save people from sin. That’s a deep mission.

Forgiveness was for God alone, tied with temple worship and sacrifice. So this is a big claim for a little baby!

Matthew adds a footnote to Isaiah’s prophecy.

Immanuel means “God with us”.

A child is born.

A son is given.

God is with us!

What a dream!

The apostle John backs this up in his Jesus biography:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:1, 14‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
https://www.bible.com/113/jhn.1.1,14.nivuk

And the apostle Paul would declare to Colossian christians:

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2:9‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
https://www.bible.com/113/col.2.9.nivuk

“God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child…The babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the incarnation” JI Packer – Knowing God.

And yet the response is seemingly now very straightforward after all the doubts Joseph must have had.

“Joseph woke up and did what the angel of the Lord commanded.”

He took Mary home as his wife.

He finished what he had started. Divorce now out of his mind.

The marriage was completed.

Matthew wants us still to be in no doubt about the miraculous nature of this birth. Brought to life by God himself.
Joseph and Mary did not consummate the marriage until the child was born.

“And she gave him the name Jesus”.

Matthew has concentrated so much on the virgin conception of Mary that he spends no time describing the circumstances of the birth itself. That is left to Doctor Luke in his account.

So as Joseph had to grapple with what some 700 year old words meant to him, what are we to make of words and events from 2 millennia away.

What does it all mean for us now?

The announcement to Joseph was big news.

Not just for him and his betrothed.

But for all Israel.

But Jesus himself would make it clear that he had not only come to save Israel.

His was a world mission!

In the well known words of John’s gospel:

“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3:16-17‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
https://www.bible.com/113/jhn.3.16-17.nivuk

Some 33 years after this birth Jesus would die a criminal’s death. Nailed to a cross.

And one of his prayers to his father was

“Father forgive them…”

Who?

The Roman soldiers who hammered the nails through his wrists?

The crowd that mocked him?

Those who betrayed or abandoned him?

Those who had called for his execution?

Surely the good news of Jesus is that his words echo down through the generations.

To you and me.

To a world that he loved so much that he paid the ultimate price.

Jesus paid more than enough for every sin.

None of us can claim not to have failed in some way, to have got it wrong, to have messed up.

But Jesus comes to save his people, ALL PEOPLE, from their sins.

Forgiveness.

And for those of us who say we are followers of Jesus, what an example Joseph is to us.

Do you think that life is all about you?

And what God is going to do to make you comfortable?

Or are you prepared to follow Jesus whatever that might mean?

Even if it means, like Joseph, that doing the right thing might result in pain, rejection, sneering, humiliation.

Is God saying to you this Advent:

“Don’t be afraid to take the road that I am calling you to follow”.

Has God got a role for you to fulfil for him?

God is with you as you serve him.

Jesus.

Immanuel.

Time to follow your saviour.

You see the Christmas message is not God WAS with us.

It is God IS with us.

In the here and now.

In the realities of life.

In the highs and the lows.

In tiers 1, 2 and 3.

Taking it easy or taking risks.

In life and death.

In joy and pain.

In loneliness and in company.

In riches or poverty.

When people applaud you or reject you.

In everything.

Immanuel.

God is with us.