WWUTT 1903 The Birth of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:18-25)

The virgin birth of Jesus is more than something miraculous, although it was miraculous, but there's deep theological significance to it.

If Jesus wasn't virgin born, we would still be in our sins when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. Now, this is fun. It's Easter week, and we're reading the story of the birth of Jesus.

That's where we are in our study of the Gospel of Matthew. This is chapter 1, verses 18 to 25, which

I'll be reading from the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the

Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the one who has been conceived in her is of the

Holy Spirit. And she will bear a son, and you shall call his name

Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Now all this took place in order that what was spoken by the

Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name

Immanuel, which translated means God with us. And Joseph got up from his sleep, and did as the angel of the

Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name

Jesus. And that concludes the first chapter of the

Gospel of Matthew. Let's go back to the very beginning of the chapter. How did we start this gospel?

Matthew 1 .1, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Now, I believe I said this when we started the genealogy, but you could read that the same as saying the beginning of Jesus Christ.

So it has somewhat of a similarity with John 1 .1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was

God. So you have both of these gospels that begin with a beginning.

Now genealogy, as far as that word goes to Hebrews, it's also synonymous with saying generation.

So it's right to say that it means beginning, because that's certainly what we're reading about concerning the

Christ at the start of Matthew's gospel, since he goes through this lineage of genealogy. But in the ears of the

Hebrews, they also understand it as being a generation. So Matthew opens this in a very

Hebrew way, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

And when he says the book, he's talking about the whole thing. He's not just talking about Matthew 1 .1 -17, where we have the list of genealogy.

He's talking about this whole thing that he is writing. So it's the title of the writing, that this is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

That we may know that Jesus is the Christ, the King, the one who was prophesied, the one who was promised, has come, descended in the line of David, and is rightful heir to the throne, therefore is the fulfillment of the covenant that God made with David, that on his throne he would establish his kingdom forever.

That's what Matthew wants us to understand, and makes that connection in the very genealogy that he gives us that opens up the gospel.

Now right after that genealogy, we have this account of the birth of Jesus. Now Christ's birth is recalled in only two of the four gospels, in Matthew and of course in Luke.

And Luke gives us way more of the story than what Matthew gives. In Luke, we also read about the promise of the birth of John the

Baptist, who is promised to Elizabeth, one of Mary's relatives.

The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she is going to be with child, and he will save his people from their sins.

She goes to visit her relative Elizabeth, and you have John the Baptist leaping in her womb when

Mary draws near. You have Mary's song that she sings, giving praise to God.

There's more backstory going on there in Luke than what we have in Matthew. This thing in Matthew is actually very brief.

In Luke, we read about shepherds that came to observe the Christ and rejoice in the birth of the

Savior on the night that he was born. In Matthew's gospel, we don't read about the shepherds, but we read about magi, kings, kingsmen from the

East who came to worship him. That's a section that we're going to get to next week when we get to chapter two.

In both of these accounts, there are some differences, but there are also similarities. Both of them tell us that Jesus was virgin -born.

Both of them show us that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy that was made from Isaiah in Isaiah 7, and with Matthew even quoting from Isaiah 7.

This is theologically significant that Jesus is born of a virgin. In fact, we call it an essential doctrine.

I'll examine that further as we continue on. Let me come to verse 18 here. The birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.

There's some similarity there with the way that we started the book. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.

Then Matthew goes through that list of names, and then in verse 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.

We're recalling his beginning once again. That heads this section that goes from verses 18 to 25 to the end of the chapter.

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child by the

Holy Spirit. Now this word betrothed in our

Western English speaking mindset, we tend to think of this as being engaged.

We take our modern notion of engagement and we impose that on the text. That's not really what that meant to a

Hebrew. For all intents and purposes here, Mary and Joseph are married.

They are husband and wife, because notice a little bit later on, Joseph intended to divorce her, and that's the language that's used.

But the way that Hebrew unions were brought together in this way, it wasn't just simply they go through an engagement period and then there's the wedding day and it's on the wedding day that they become husband and wife.

The promise of marriage has been given before that. What hasn't happened yet is the consummation, because the two of them are preparing for this life that they are going to live together.

By the way, we're in that place right now with Christ. The church is betrothed to Christ.

There is a union. There is a marriage that already exists there between Christ and the church.

But what hasn't happened yet is the consummation, and that doesn't happen until Christ returns.

So the church is the betrothed of Jesus Christ. We are now, we who are part of the church, we are even now the bride of Christ, but we are being prepared for the wedding.

When Jesus talks to his disciples in the upper room in John chapter 14, and he says to them, do not let your heart be troubled.

Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many dwelling places, or in some of your translations are many rooms or many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

This is wedding language that Jesus is using when he talks to his disciples in this way.

I'm going to go prepare a place for you. That's what Joseph is doing at this portion of the story, at this portion of their relationship.

He is preparing a place where he is going to receive his bride and they are going to be a family and have children and start a family together.

That's what he's doing. And in the meantime, Mary is preparing herself. And what she's probably doing at this time, in this day, is she is living with Joseph's family and learning how to be his wife.

But the two of them are not together. They're not sharing the same bed together. They certainly see each other, you know, thinking it's not like they're kept separate from one another.

But there is no physical union between them until that wedding night.

And then their union is consummated and then the two become one flesh. But again, what we're reading about here at this portion of the story to call them betrothed is to call them married.

They're just at a very early stage of the marriage, one that has not yet been consummated.

So Mary is definitely a virgin. She has never slept with Joseph. She's never been with any other man.

But notice the way that the language is used here, the way that Matthew words this, when his mother,

Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together. So they're husband and wife, but the marriage, the union has not been consummated.

And that's well known. Mary and Joseph's family know that. The whole village knows that.

They know that Mary and Joseph have not come together yet. They have not consummated their union.

So Mary is a virgin. When she becomes pregnant, therefore, and it is known that it is not

Joseph's, well, that's going to cause a lot of whispers. And that was also known.

It was known that Mary became pregnant and that the baby that she was pregnant with did not belong to Joseph.

Though the birth of Jesus is only recalled in Matthew and Luke, it doesn't mean that it isn't mentioned in the other two

Gospels, Mark and John. As a matter of fact, there is a comment that's made toward Jesus in John 8 that indicates that the people know

Jesus was not the son of Joseph. And the assumption by the people is that Jesus was born of sexual immorality.

This is in John 8, 41, where Jesus says to the people, you are doing the deeds of your father.

And the people respond to him by saying, we were not born of sexual immorality. We have one father,

God. That was a dig at Christ. That comment is a dig at Jesus because they think that his father was sexually immoral, that Mary was sexually immoral with whoever

Jesus' biological father was, hence why they say we were not born of sexual immorality.

So you want to say that we're doing the deeds of our father? What about you?

Who was your father? That's the comment that they're making in John 8. So it was known even in Jesus' lifetime, even during his earthly ministry, that he was born or he was conceived under some suspicious circumstances.

Now, the testimony was that he was virgin born. But of course, there were people that didn't believe that.

Who could believe that a person could be virgin born? How can a woman who has never slept with a man possibly be with child?

But the testimony, of course, is that in the angel appearing to Mary and saying that she would be with child and the one conceived in her would be of the

Holy Spirit, as the account that we have in the Gospel of Luke chapter one, we have it said in the narrative in Matthew chapter one, she was found to be with child by the

Holy Spirit. And that is theologically significant, as I mentioned, that Jesus is conceived of the

Holy Spirit. If he had been conceived of Joseph or by any other man, Jesus would not be sinless.

You and I are all conceived in sin, as David said in Psalm 51, in sin did my mother conceive me and in iniquity did she bring me forth.

So we who are descendants of Adam, we are all conceived in sin and born with his sin nature.

We are inclined to do as our father had done. Adam sinned against God and part of the curse was that everyone who was born in the line of Adam would have a nature like Adam's and that our desire would be to go against God to rebel against God and go after our sin instead of Christ and his righteousness.

That's who we are by our nature. That's who Jesus would have been by his nature, his nature, too, if he had been conceived by the seed of man.

But Adam is not his federal head. He's conceived of the Holy Spirit.

He was not conceived of natural generation, but by supernatural generation of the

Holy Spirit. So even in his conception, he is without sin.

Yes, of course, the virgin birth is absolutely miraculous, but it goes even deeper than that in recognizing that it's because he's virgin born that we can say that Jesus is without the stain of sin.

Romans 5 12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Through one man, sin entered into the world and so death spread to all because all sinned.

We have all received that same sin nature that Adam had, but Jesus did not.

Because he was conceived of the Holy Spirit. So we continue on from there.

We've only gotten through one verse here and just a few minutes left in the devotional today. So in verse 19,

Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her plan to send her away secretly.

Joseph, her husband. Notice the language that's used there. Joseph is her husband and he's a righteous man.

He does not want to disgrace her. Joseph already knows that he's in the right.

He does not need to make some public case out of the fact that she has become pregnant out of wedlock in order to make himself feel good or signal his virtue or anything like that.

He is he is not wanting to disgrace her more than what's already come upon her by what he thinks to be an immoral act.

He doesn't know that she's conceived of the Holy Spirit. Surely she probably told him that.

But how can he believe that? So being a just man, he doesn't want to disgrace her, but he plans to send her away secretly.

And because he does not do this, by the way, because he doesn't divorce her, he doesn't send her away secretly.

It is therefore known that she is pregnant and the child does not belong to Joseph.

He had tried to for her safety, for her sake, he had tried to keep it quiet. But since the angel appears to him and says, don't be afraid to take

Mary as your wife. In other words, it's not going to be sinful. She's not done anything sinful. You will not be sinning by taking her to be your wife.

So in verse 20, when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying,

Joseph, son of David, again, establishing that Joseph is born in the line of David and Christ is the rightful heir to that throne.

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the one who has been conceived in her is of the

Holy Spirit. So it is explained to Joseph supernaturally that the fact that Mary is with child is itself a supernatural thing.

So don't be afraid to take her as your bride. She has not done anything against you.

And so Joseph delights to obey the Lord. Verse 21, the angel continues in saying, she will bear a son and you shall call his name

Jesus, which is also Yeshua, for he will save his people from their sins. By the way, the name

Yeshua is also the name Joshua. So Joshua in the Old Testament is

Jesus of the New Testament. They are the same name, Joshua, the successor to Moses, who led the people of God into the promised land.

He had the name of the Christ who would be born. There was the the high priest,

Joshua, in the temple whom Zechariah had a vision about and this priest who was covered in soiled garments.

And there was the accuser that was next to him, accusing him. And this priest's name was Jesus. Yeshua, Joshua was his name.

And then the father says to take those robes off of him and to clothe him in white. And this even was prophetic, pointing to Christ who would come, who would take our sin upon himself with his death on the cross and we would be clothed in his righteousness.

So Jesus will save his people from their sins. That's Matthew 121.

We go on in verse 22 to read. Now, all this took place in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and shall call his name

Immanuel, which translated means God with us. And of course, that's who

Jesus is. He is God with us. He is God tabernacling with us. He who put on flesh and dwelt among us.

He is Immanuel. Now, the one about whom that prophecy was given immediately, according to what we read in Isaiah 7, that child that Isaiah spoke about was named

Immanuel. But that was pointing to a prophetic fulfillment that would come later on, 700 years into the future when

Christ would be born. And though his name would not literally be Immanuel, he would be in himself,

God with us. Verse 24. And Joseph got up from his sleep and did as the angel of the

Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son and he called his name

Jesus. Now, kept her a virgin until that means she was not perpetually a virgin.

The perpetual virginity of Mary is a false doctrine. And of course, we read about and will read about in the

Gospel of Matthew, Jesus having half siblings. He did have other brothers and sisters because Mary was not always a virgin.

She did come to know Joseph and the two of them had other children between the two of them,

Jesus being her first born. And he, of course, would have been the oldest, but Mary and Joseph had other younger children as well.

So there is the account of the story of the birth of Christ. And again, him being virgin born is why we can know that he is the spotless lamb, the perfect sacrifice who came to take away our sins.

We who believe in Jesus Christ, he died on the cross as an atoning sacrifice.

He rose again from the dead. All that who believe in him will never perish, but we have eternal life.

He has forgiven our sins. He has clothed us in his righteousness. And as we read previously in John chapter 14, he has promised us an eternal place with him in glory.

Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for what we've read here, the story of Christ's birth during Easter week.

But we are reminded that he is that perfect lamb who would be sacrificed for us.

And so we celebrate at this Easter as we should celebrate all the time, the giving of the

Son for us, his incarnation, his life, his death, his resurrection, his being glorified, ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of God.

And we know that he's coming back again to judge the living and the dead. So may we be bold to preach the gospel in these days that many others may come to faith in Jesus and live.

Thank you for your grace toward us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thanks again, Becky. I just wanted to give everybody a heads up on the

G3 Conference coming up in Atlanta, Georgia, September 21st through the 23rd.

The theme of the conference this year is the sovereignty of God. We are already registered. When We Understand the

Text is going to have a booth and we hope to see you there. You can register by going online to g3min .org.

We'll talk about this a little bit more on Friday during our Q &A. Be back with you again tomorrow,