Unto You is Born a Savior

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message.

From Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke the first chapter. 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.

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

She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. 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 Emmanuel which means God with us.

When Joseph woke from sleep he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took his wife but knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name Jesus. In the name of Jesus, ah interesting how things work out over time.

A Personal Story About Apple, Computers, and Looking Back

I remember when I was in high school I really was a fan of Apple computer. I knew something about computers because when I was in high school I taught myself how to program computers in two different languages.

And my parents always thought it was really kind of interesting that I had taken a liking to computing and I always found ways of making my own applications when I was a kid in order to enjoy my type of humor which we won't get into because usually it involves flatulence.

But all of that being said when the Macintosh came out I realized that it was groundbreaking and that it was going to change computing completely because my mom had one of those old compacts. Alright, you remember compact computers with the amber screen with the DOS prompts and learning how to actually use a compact computer with an amber screen for the purpose of typing a paper was just an arduous thing.

You had to know all of these different keywords that you had to type in at just the right time in order to do it certain things. It was not simple, it was not straightforward and when I saw the Macintosh come out I decided it was time to save up money in order to get myself one.

So between high school and my first year of college I worked two jobs and I really like burnt myself out doing it. During the day I worked at a restaurant called Island's Restaurant in Pasadena California as a bus boy and a host and then at night you know in the middle of the wee hours of the night I threw the Los Angeles Times.

You know didn't do it on a bicycle, did it in my car and so I would basically you know it was just one of these crazy things. I would throw the paper, go home, go to sleep, wake up, go to work and then crash again so that I can go and at the end of the summer I saved up enough money to get my first Macintosh 512K-E which means that it could read double-sided floppy disks right and it was and it was just amazing.

Now here's the issue. My dad took a look at my Macintosh computer and said why are you buying a toy? Why are you buying? Apple isn't going to be around as a company you know for more than two or three more years.

I mean this isn't a real computer, this is a game, this is this is something that has like if you're really going to get a computer you need to get a computer that can be used in business, that can be used for writing term papers and stuff like this and he was surprised that I actually made it through the university rather well using my Macintosh 512K-E right and and well you'll note that at the time he really thought that Apple wasn't going to make it and I kept telling him Apple's gonna do just fine, they're gonna be a great computer company, they're gonna be here for a long time.

Not possible, not possible, not possible. Somewhere after the iPhone came out and Apple stocks went through the roof my dad actually said to me I wish I had listened to you and bought Apple stocks back then.

Had I done that I'd have millions of dollars in the bank you know and so you sit there and go right now what does this have to do with our text? In our gospel text tonight we have Joseph for all intents and purposes thinking exactly rationally the way you should because we understand a thing or two about human conception.

We generally know that when it takes when it comes to human conception it takes two to tango and Joseph is absolutely thinking correctly here okay. Mary has a lover, this is a fellow that she probably cares deeply about, they've obviously gone beyond what they're supposed to do biblically, that'll be between her and him and God and he's decided that he's not going to make a spectacle of it, he's going to bow out and so that she can be with the man who got her pregnant.

It makes perfect sense except for in this particular case what Mary told Joseph was not a lie. We know from the gospel of Luke that the angel Gabriel had appeared to Mary and the angel Gabriel, we'll hear his message in a couple weeks, the angel Gabriel made it very clear that Mary was going to conceive and bear a son and this despite the fact that she had not been with a man and so when she first got pregnant in the very early months she spent that time with her with Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist but by the time she comes back to to Nazareth she's already got a baby bump, it's already obvious that she's pregnant and in a small town like this people are asking questions and the number one person asking questions is Joseph.

It doesn't give us the details, we don't know how the conversation exactly went, we don't know the exact words but it is not too far off the mark to basically note that she was confronted and she said the truth that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit and you can hear all the way across 2 ,000 years of human history, you can hear the eyes rolling to this day, right, she's saying that she's pregnant but that she's still a virgin, she hasn't touched any man and this is all the doing of God, right, uh-huh, mm-hmm, and the thing is is that who of us could fault anyone especially Joseph for doubting her?

We've all heard people give tall tales, we've all heard the wingnut wackerdoodles tell the strange stories, you know that one moment they were in a car in Australia and then God teleported them to Nova Scotia, they led a revival, five people came and to the Lord and then whoosh they were vanished off back to Australia, we've all heard stories like this, right, this is the kind of stuff that bounds within the charismatic movement, no evidence for it whatsoever and the reality is this, Mary had no evidence, all she had was the word given to her from God by the angel Gabriel, it doesn't seem like much, Moses at least had a staff and the ability to turn water into blood, Mary had no signs, none, it was God who was going to have to vindicate her and it was God who's going to have to do something here because according to the Torah what should be taking place at this point is Mary taking, being taken outside the village and stoned to death, they got to ascertain who the father is so that he can join her in the afterlife, that's what's supposed to happen here, but God despite the fact that Mary had no defense, she had no proof, no evidence, God comes to her aid because what is going on here is so huge, it seems like such a small beginning, it seems like such a false start if you think of it, this is not the way the story of the birth of the Savior is to begin, not in triumph but in doubt, do you believe this or not?

Joseph Son of David and the Fulfillment of Isaiah

And so our gospel text tells us Joseph considered these things and God stepped in, we don't know the name of the angel who came, was it Jesus, the angel the Lord himself, the Son of God, or was it Gabriel, the text doesn't say, but Joseph was given a very direct, very direct set of instructions, Joseph son of David, man, those words in and of themselves almost preach a whole sermon, God knew exactly who Joseph was, he knew exactly who he was, and now the Old Testament is starting to crackle again because here yet again another Joseph is having dreams, oh something's going on, something's big, this is a lot more than meets the eye, right?

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, she will bear a son and you shall call his name, and I believe that Joseph would have heard this angel speaking to him in Hebrew, you shall call his name Yeshua, Yahweh saves, for he will save his people from their sins, and Matthew notes then that as outrageous, as it's just like unbelievable, unthinkable as this whole story is, this is exactly what was foretold by the Prophet Isaiah, all this took place to fulfill the Word of God that he had spoken by the Prophet Isaiah, behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name Immanuel, God with us.

And in the midst of all of this it seems like, again like I said, such a false start, like a humble beginning, who could see the potential of what is going on here? And the reality is is that the only person who really knew what was really going on and what was going to be achieved was God himself, and the very fact that he was going to send us a Savior and Jesus' name itself, Yeshua, Yahweh saves, is a huge aspect of who Christ is.

It is practically his identity because this is exactly what he's come to do. It's at this point that I think it would be a good idea to fast forward because like I pointed out, you know, me talking about Apple Computer in 2022 as being a successful corporation, you know, back in the eighties that was not a foregone conclusion, right?

Peter and John Heal the Lame Man in Jesus’ Name

But we can look back now in the history of the church and see the fulfillment of these words spoken by this angel of the Lord. In Acts chapter 3 we have the account of Peter and John going into the temple.

Jesus has been crucified for our sins so that we can be saved. He's bodily risen from the grave. These men touched Jesus' hands and his feet. That child, that zygote that grew into a fetus and grew into an infant and was born and then became a toddler and then a grade school-aged child and then into his teenage years and then to a man, he went all the way, obedient to God, to death on a cross so that we can be saved.

And these men, Peter and John, they were witnesses of it. They touched his hands after he was risen from the dead and they watched him ascend up into heaven and be told that he was going to come back in the same way.

And now, filled with the Holy Spirit, they are going to go and let the world know that they have a Savior in Jesus Christ. And so Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, the three in the afternoon hour.

Christ, this is when he died on the cross. A man who was lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which also proves that Jesus didn't heal everybody that he saw, right?

How many times did Jesus walk by this fellow? If he was laid daily at the gate of the temple, that means Jesus walked in, walked out, walked in, walked out, never healed this guy. But he had no intention of leaving him like that.

So there he was, and they laid him daily at the gate of the temple, that is called the beautiful gate, to ask for alms of those entering the temple. And then seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.

Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Ah, his birth city is named in his name to distinguish him from all other Yeshua's. Rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles remained strong.

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple, asking for alms.

And they were all filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. And while he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.

And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? Now I would note here, that's a pretty big deal, seeing an actual lame person that everybody knows is incapable of mobility, who is a genuine cripple who has to spend his years asking people, begging for alms in order to put bread on his own table.

Now he's walking and leaping and praising God, and the people are astounded. And Peter is actually kind of saying, what is going on here? Chill, would you? This is, it's not like I did this, no. And then he says this, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, he has glorified his servant Yeshua, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him, but you denied the Holy and the Righteous One.

You asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life. I would note this is not a very seeker-friendly message, this is a little bit on the negative side. You're accusing us of murder, and he's right, and you'll note we justly deserve to be in that crowd as well.

It was our sin, your sin, my sin, that put Christ on the cross. And so Peter, getting straight to the point, you killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead, and to this we are witnesses.

And his name, Yeshua, by faith in his name, Yahweh saves. He has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given this man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Repentance, the Stone Rejected, and Salvation in No One Else

And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets and his Christ, that he would suffer, and thus he fulfilled. So repent, repent, therefore, turn back from your sins, so that they may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of God, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Yeshua, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things, about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

Moses said, the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers, and you shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.

And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel to to those who came after him, also proclaimed these days, you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness. Now, as you know, in the book of Acts, when Peter does things like this, you know, has the audacity to use and invoke Jesus's name, and then somebody is healed, and then he preaches a big sermon and causes a little bit of a ruckus, you'll note that the chief priests and the captain of the guard and the people of the temple, the Sadducees, they get really upset.

They they're not keen on this. They're trying to figure out how to get Twitter to cancel him, you know, to delete his tweets and to get this guy silenced altogether. So they were speaking then to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them.

They were greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming, and here it is again, in Jesus the resurrection of the dead, in his name these things. Well, that name is kind of a big deal, right?

So they arrested them, put them in custody until the next day. It was already evening, but many of those who had heard the word they believed, and the number of the men came to about 5 ,000. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family.

And when they had set them in the midst, right in the middle of them all, they inquired, by what power, by what name did you do this? Well, you know, the name that the angel gave to Jesus, right? Yeshua.

So Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people, elders, if we're being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, man, there's a lot in a name here, right?

By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. And when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they perceived that they were uneducated, common men.

They were astonished. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But they commanded them to leave the council.

They conferred with one another, saying, what shall we do with these men? That it's a notable sign that has been performed through them. It's evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We cannot deny it, but in order that it may spread no further, we've got to put this down.

We can't go any farther than this. Let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. Have you ever considered how prominent that name is? It's not a throwaway line in our gospel text. We fast forward past the birth of Christ, past his death, past his resurrection, and we can see here now that what started off so rough, so bumpy, God knew exactly what he was doing.

And he reiterated the fact that he will be the one who saves his people from their sins. Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and she did. You shall call his name Yeshua, and he did. For he will save his people from their sins. And you know what? It's exactly what he's doing today. We are here today because at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

To the glory of God the Father. We are gathered here tonight. We are reading the scriptures together and meditating on his word tonight because it's by this man's name that we have been declared righteous.

We who were born and conceived in sin, we who have got everything backwards, upside down and inside out, we are so steeped in evil that we call evil good. And worse, we call good evil. We consider true men of God to be dangerous while we consider wolves to be harmless.

We are inherently idolatrous. We are sinfully rebellious. We are steeped in sin and under the bonds and the dominion of darkness, and we cannot free ourselves. But unto us is born a Savior. His name is Yeshua, and his is the name by which you and I and all who desire to be saved will be saved.

He has come to save us, and all of this was to fulfill the Word of God because God's Word cannot be broken. So let us heed the words of the Apostle Peter, that we repent of our wickedness, cut off our sins, so that times of refreshing may come because Jesus has died for us.

He's risen from the grave and ascended. He's coming again, and the Virgin did bear a son, and he truly is Emmanuel, and we have been saved. And by him saving us, we are now his people. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Support, Distribution, and Closing Remarks

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