God with us (Matthew 1:22-25)
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Matthew’s purpose: To establish Jesus Christ as the God-Man who came to Save (His people from their sins), Fulfill (OT prophecy), and Reveal (God to men).
Virgin Conception - how he could be both deity and sinless humanity. Fully God, fully Man - in one Person. Jesus Christ (introduced it last week, will address a bit more this week).
Next we looked at the first of three purposes of the incarnation: the first (and primary) was to be an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of His people. This was and is the first issue facing all men in their relationship to God. There needs to be reconciliation by means of a satisfaction for God’s wrath and His righteousness. Jesus Christ was that substitute, thus He came to “save His people from their sins.”
This morning we will at the last two purposes of the incarnation found in Matthew 1:22-25. These are: 2) Fulfill OT prophecy, and 3) Reveal God.
Read: Matthew 1:18-25.
To Fulfll OT Prophecies:
(a) Authentication (Identification)
You might me asking, “Why are these things important?” Or, “Why did these events have to happen this way?” The answer is: “Because that is the way the prophets said it had to happen!”
(22) “Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled”
The term “that” comes from a Greek term “ i[na” which could literally be translated “in order that - points us to the purpose.
Remember, Matthew is writing his gospel to a primarily Jewish audience and his purpose is to prove that Jesus Christ is the one and only fulfillment of all that the OT prophets looked forward to - all that the Jews should have been looking for. So, as you would expect, he has the most prophecy fulfillment records.
The Jews as a general rule would have been familiar with many of these prophecies, or at the very least have a basic commitment to the authority of the OT.
The prophetic portrait of the Messiah is of the utmost importance in identifying and authenticating Him. It is what protects the supernatural origin of the Christ, and His people from being deceived.
God had painted a clear picture of the Person, Nature, and work and character of the coming Messiah. It was not something just anyone could fulfill, but only for the One for whom it had been ordained.
Illust: It is not like filing out a job application for Messiah! Or, auditioning for a role in a play. There were very specific qualification that demand a supernatural work of God.
Could you imagine the first question: “Are you a descendent of King David, but not through Solomon so as to avoid the curse on Jeconiah through Jeremiah?” Or, “Were you born of a virgin, placed in the womb by the Holy Spirit, so as to be preserved from the a sin nature and be the acceptable sacrifice for your people?”
You would simply have to leave and say, “I’m sorry. I do not have the credentials. I am not qualified for the position.” You know what, there has only ever been One Person who could take this role.
It is Matthew’s purpose to prove to his Jewish audience that Jesus Christ, alone is the fulfillment of all they looked forward to. Therefore, it is imperative that the Messiah be and do all that the prophets pointed to. His life and His ministry must validate His claims. Many could claim to be the Messiah, but only One could fulfill all that was written of Him.
For Him who could say, “Sacrifice and offering you have not desired but a body you have prepared for Me … Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God” (Heb. 10:5-7 [Ps. 40:6-8]).
This is the problem that a modern Jewish person would have. They are not even able to know absolutely who is descended from the tribe of David - all the records were destroyed in 70AD.
There was and is no excuse for missing Him. He towers above above every so-called religious figure the world has ever, in all its self proclaimed wisdom has ever put forth. He is utterly unique. No other religious figure even comes close to comparing with the reality of Jesus Christ.
None even closely compares the reality of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy in a real historical figure - attested to by a period expanding over 1400 years of written revelation, by a variety of people in various cultures, times, locations, and social classes.
To try and compare Jesus to be just one among many good teachers of morality and religious ideas displays the height of ignorance, foolishness, and willful rebellion.
There can be no reasonable defense for rejecting Him. The only way to get around the overwhelming clarity and evidence in regard to the Person of Jesus Christ is to lie about the evidence, willfully seek to disprove the evidence in spite of the plain truth. And this is exactly what we see happening (Matt. 28:11-15 - they knew they couldn’t do it, so they lied).
The very thing that God Himself places as the distinguishing mark between Him and the false deities of the nations was that He alone could declare events before they came to pass (Is. 46:8-10).
There are over 100 direct and specific OT prophecies concerning the birth, life, death, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - even down to the very town He where He would be born. This is simply the first direct quotation in Matthew’s gospel.
Many others would follow:
2:15, 17, 23 (events surrounding His birth);
4:14 (ministry);
8:17 (healing aspect of His ministry);
“never has anyone
12:17 (His reaction to the rejection of the Pharisees);
13:35, 48 (His speaking in parables);
21:4 (the manner in which He would enter Jerusalem);
26:54, 56 (His betrayal and arrest);
27:9 (the price of His betrayal and the subsequent actions of the Pharisess)
John fills in even more details (19:24, 36, 37).
John 16:4 captures the prophetic purpose well, (speaking of the persecution that is to come upon the disciples for their testimony to Christ), “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.” (Deut. 18).
Notice the next phrase, in Matthew 1, very interesting and a very clear and direct statement concerning the Deity of the Lord and the process of inspiration: “by the Lord, through the prophet” - that is He, “the Lord,” was the origin, or source of the prophetic word. Here is further witness to the pre-existence and Deity of Jesus Christ and the Trinitarian nature of His appearing and mission. It is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that is involved in the foretelling, appearing, fulfilling of promise of the Messiah.
1 Peter 1:10-12 (compare 2 Pet. 3:1-2) - The “Spirit of Christ” foretold the sufferings of Christ.
1 Cor. 10:1fftells us that it was Christ who was the rock following - in the OT YHWH.
Christ was speaking through the prophets telling of the events of His own birth.
“by the prophet” - note the prophet is not identified, but clearly referring to Isaiah. And the One speaking is clearly identified as YHWH, and yet here Matthew says it is “the Lord” that said, a title consistently applied to Jesus Christ in the NT.
Turn to Isaiah 7:14.
Now, this is a very hotly debated passage. However, to anyone who takes seriously the authority and inspiration of the NT, there is no debate as to what the passage meant and to what it means by virtue of its fulfillment in the conception and birth of Jesus Christ.
Let’s briefly set the context:
We’re in n the 8th century B.C. (around 735) and Ahaz, a wicked king of Judah, is ruling in Jerusalem and is under attack by two kings: 1) “Rezin the king of Aram” and 2) “Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel.” Remember that this is during the time of the divided kingdom - the northern tribes of Israel & the Southern tribe of Judah.
Ahaz and the people of Jerusalem are fearful (2), and from a human standpoint it seems as though both Jerusalem and the promise of God to David are in danger of being destroyed.
Therefore, God send His prophet Isaiah with a message to king Ahaz, namely that he is not to fear these two kings for God will protect the “house of David” (2) and these two kings will come to nothing (7), only Ahaz and the people are to turn God and trust Him to deliver (9).
As a further extension of mercy, God, through Isaiah offers Ahaz the chance to ask for a sign, “deep as Sheol or high as heaven” (11).
2 Kings 16:8 informs us, however, that Ahaz has already made a pact with the ruler of Assyria and instead of turning to God intends to to rely on a human king to deliver them.
Therefore, under a false pretense of spirituality, Ahaz refuses, the prophet sees through his hypocrisy (13), and the Lord declares, through Isaiah, that He Himself will give a sign - now not to Ahaz alone but to the “house of David” (* “you” [14] 2nd pers, plural).
The “sign” that “a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” (14). (note vv. 15-16).
A large amount of debate attaches to this promise and it centers on the Hebrew term almah translated “virgin;” the term is consistently translated as “young maiden” in other context, however, consistently with the clear indication of virginity (cf. Gen. 24:43 - Rebekah [Isaac]).
The other available Hebrew term betulah, which has the technical definition of “virgin” is nonetheless used in other passages in reference to one who is not a virgin. So, actually, is not as precise a term and as guarded from misinterpretation.
Yet another display of the genius of the Holy Spirit as He looked forward over 700 years to the actual fulfillment in the birth of Jesus Christ.
Also, the LXX (Greek translation of OT, 3rd century B.C.), from which Matthew is quoting, understood it this way and translated it with the clear and unmistakable Greek term (parqe,noj) for “virgin.”
Either way, however, the doctrine of the virgin conception does not depend on the meaning of the term almah but on the clear testimony of the NT writers, who did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That Mary was a virgin when she both conceived and delivered the Christ Child is without question among anyone who takes seriously the NT texts!
8:1-3 records the birth of Isaiah’s 2nd son, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (MAY-hehr-SHAL al-HASH-baz).
Likely Isaiah’s first wife has died and the “the prophetess” (8:3), is his 2nd wife and was a virgin at the time of the prophecy of 7:14. Or, it is also possible that this is Isaiah’s 1st wife and that the birth of Maher is a sign specifically to Ahaz and meant to replace "Immanuel as the time element," in order to confirm God’s statement in 7:15-16 regarding the time of His judgment (cf. 8:18).
Either way, the prophet clearly has a child in mind and fulfillment of the prophecy that extends beyond the birth of Isaiah’s 2nd son.
In 8:8 the prophecy continues with the a reference to “your land, O Immanuel,” and in 9:1-7 when the “child” is ascribed attributes of Deity, and then continued on in 11:1-5 “shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse” the One from the house of David is expanded, 42:1 this “root of Jesse” is expanded even more, to finally culminate in Is. 53 - as the Servant who suffers in place of His people to redeem them from their sin.
So, the fulfillment of the “sign” is still yet future - having now gained the added significance of the titles of Deity, as one coming from the line of David, and who will suffer as a sacrifice for sin the place of His people.
This is ultimately and now finally fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ, as announced in Matthew 1:21-23.
God has supplied abundant proof of His fulfilling His promise of a Messiah, born of a virgin; and in so doing He has supplied abundance of evidence to produce full confidence in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. No one need be in doubt about the reality of Jesus Christ - His Person - or the acceptance of the Father of His sacrifice (1 Cor. 15:3-4; cf. Luke 16:29-31).
When the angel told Joseph “He will save His people from their sins,” that is exactly what He came for and exactly what He accomplished. You can rest your eternal soul on it. From the promise to the fulfillment His sovereign faithfulness is made manifest for all to see.
He is sovereign over all the events preparing His coming (Gal. 4:4), so He is sovereign over all the events while here, so He is sovereign over all accomplishment of His will through those events (16:19), so He is sovereignly bringing about His will for His people, God sovereignly bringing “His people” to faith in Christ (11:25-27), so He is sovereign over all the events in your life shaping you into the image of Jesus Christ, calling those who don’t know Him to come and repent and believe in His So, assuring those who are His that He preparing a place for them that He will come again to receive them (John 14:1-3; Matt. 5:18; 24:35). And He will come again to judge those who do not receive Him.
Point: every detail of the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, the gospel, the Jews, His return, judgment of the nations is on an exact timetable of God, who is completely and utterly sovereign over the accomplishment of His purpose.
There were no random events in the life of Christ, from God’s perspective. And He lived with complete yieldedness, trust, and obedience to God’s will for His life (John 12:27-28; 5:30). Therefore, He becomes the author of our faith, the perfect example of living in complete trust and submission to a sovereign God.
Nothing, no matter how chaotic it seemed in the working out of the events, was outside of the sovereign plan of God.
This teaches many things: (1) The divine origin of Scripture, (2) the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture, (3) the undeniable reality of Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God and promised substitute for man’s sin, (4) the importance that God places on His written Word, and (5) the certainty of the yet to be fulfilled prophecies that are contained in Scripture.
III. Reveal God.
Jesus Christ is “Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us’” - Some of the most wondrous, amazing, awe inspiring words in all of Scripture.
Joseph would, most likely, have initially thought of “God with us” in terms of God’s faithfulness to His promises. However, at the same time would have seen something beyond this in the context of knowing the Child was from the Holy Spirit. And knowing that mysterious reference to a child who is God would certainly have flooded his mind with wonder and questions. .
There really is no indication that the Jews understood God to be physically present among them in a Person. God was present with them through the tabernacle and temple, through His deliverances on their behalf, and through the future temple (Ezek. 48); but never did they imagine in the Person - in the fullness of Deity - of the Messiah!
There were OT references to God’s presence among His people:
Ex. 33:14-15 - God’s promise to Moses that He would go with them
Ex. 35:13 - “Bread of the Presence” in the tabernacle
Lev. 16:1 - reference to the death of Aaron’s sons when they irreverently approached God’s presence.
Ps. 16:11 - the place of “fullness of joy”
Ps. 97:5 - caused the people to faint
Ps. 139:7 - David could not flee from.
But these were in the sense of the manifestation of His power to deliver, and some physical representations in the temple. And there was the “Angel of the Lord” but never in the sense of the incarnation.
And they experienced the presence of God by unique appearance of His glory.
Such as: God’s glory lead the people out of Egypt (pillar of fire and cloud); then appeared at Mt. Sinai and the people shook from fear (Ex. 19:18-20; 20:18); His glory filled the tabernacle (*Exodus 40:34-35; Lev. 9:22-24), then the temple (1 Kings 8:11). However, the glory of the Lord departed from within the Holy of holies, just before the people of Judah were to go into exile, because of the sin and religious apostasy of the nation (Ezek. 10:18), and it never returned. They rebuilt the temple but God’s glory never returned there (Ezra 3:10-13; Haggai 2:1-9). For over 400 years the people did not see the glory of the Lord, nor hear a word from the prophets, until now when they heard the words, “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten full of grace and truth.”
Now, no longer separated by the veil and the priesthood; now, God’s glory was no longer located within the walls of the Holy of Holies, God was here - in Person, in flesh. No longer isolated to the inner walls of the sanctuary, now He tabernacled among men. No longer speaking through the prophets, now He would speak with His own lips.
So, “God with us” means that God is with His people, here to save them from their sin; here in faithfulness to all His promises. And “God is with us” in presence, before only foreshadowed from a distance and unapproachable, but now here in human flesh.
Now the implications and realities of the incarnation are stupendous; they defy the capacity of the human mind to grasp and master. They leave the believer with only a sense of reverence and awe.
Therefore, it is no surprise that men have always had a hard time coming to grips with this truth.
Early church councils, up to and beyond the 5th century, were convened in order to confront erroneous doctrines concerning the Person of Christ and to set forth a clear statement of the Scriptures presentation of Him.
Araianism - denied the Deity of Christ.
Appollinarianism - denied full humanity of Christ.
Eutychians - denied the distinction of the natures of Christ.
Docetism - denied humanity - Christ only appeared human.
This last one is found as early as the 1st century in a form of teaching that would become known as Gnosticism. These believed that the flesh was evil and the spirit was good and so Jesus could not have really been God in the flesh, but was just some manifestation of God that came upon the man Jesus.
The apostle John confronted this head on in his epistle 1 John, which he begins with the words - “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life”
Though difficult the seriousness of getting it right is a a matter of believing the truth of God or the lie of Satan. This is why John later in the same epistle would write, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out in to the world. By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God: and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not form God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now is already in the world” (4:1-3).
The fullness of Deity in Christ, is also to see in a sense the fullness of the Trinity. Thus Jesus Christ could say to Philip, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father,” or Christ to the Pharisees, “I and the Father are one.” We limit our view of Christ if we divorce His Person and existence from His participation in the eternal Triunity of God. One God existing in Three distinct Persons, of whom Christ is one of the Persons. And each Person of the Trinity was involved in the appearing of Jesus Christ: Father sent, the Son came, and the Spirit created the body.
That Jesus Christ is God, the 2nd Member of the Trinity in human flesh is undeniable claim of Scripture.
This is, in theology, known as the “hypostatic union,” which simply states that Jesus Christ is One Person with two distinct natures, One fully God, one fully human residing together in the one Person of Jesus Christ unmixed, unconfused, and undivided. 100% God & 100% Man, in the one Person of Jesus Christ, who from the point of the virgin conception and birth exist eternally as the God-Man. This is a mystery that exceeds the capacity of our minds to fully grasp.
Fully Human:
Birth (Gal. 4:4 “born of a woman” [cf. Gen. 3:15 “seed” of a woman]); Growth (Lk. 2:40); weaknesses; soul/emotions (John 12:27 “now My soul is troubled”; He fully experienced life as a human being and therefore could become both the acceptable sacrifice for men and a merciful High Priest (**Heb. 2:16-18).
Fully God:
Called God (Titus 2:13; John 1:18; Acts 20:28); titles of God (Lk. 2:11; Acts 10:36 “Lord”; Rev. 1:17 “I am the first and the last”); Eternality (John 8:58); Attributes (John 14:23/Matt. 28:20 [omnipresence] - no mere man, or angel could say that; John 2:24-25 [omniscient]; Phil. 3:20-21 [omnipotent].
The eternal Son of God became a man. Note: He did not give up Deity, He took on humanity.
At the same time that Jesus was an embryo in the womb of Mary, to a baby lying in a feeding trough, to the Savior crucified and bearing the judgment of God for sin as a substitute for His people, He was also upholding the universe by the “Word of His power,” eternally present and possesses all the omnipotent power of the Godhead. He never at any point from eternity past, to the incarnation, the crucifixion, in the grave, the resurrection, ascension cease to be fully and 100% God.
He then becomes the ultimate mediator and becomes the means of our being reconciled to God bringing us into eternal fellowship and in some sense union with Him through the God-Man Jesus Christ. The image of God in man is now, in Christ, perfectly realized; and the union of and relationship between God and man is now perfectly and eternally realized “in Christ”.
Now, in some mysterious way, by virtue of our union with Jesus Christ, are engulfed into the fellowship that has eternally existed within the Trinity, between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This could only be by virtue of the incarnation. (consider Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2).
“What is God like?” - ever wondered that? Christ is the answer to the question, “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.”
(24) Now having received the message through the angel, Joseph responded with characteristic obedience, took Mary as his wife, and abstained from sexual relations until the birth of the Lord - the incarnate Son of God.
The obedience of Joseph is pointed out as significant in many commentators.
(25) “he did not know her until which [time] she have birth to a son”
Joseph and Mary did not consummate the marriage, or have normal marital sexual relations until after the birth of Christ.
e[wj “until” - a clear statement that after the birth of the Lord Joseph and Mary began normal sexual relations in marriage. This is further attested to by the fact that Jesus had brothers (Matthew 12:46; 13:54-56; John 7:5).
The RCC teaching of the perpetual virginity of Mary is utterly incompatible with the clear teaching of Scripture. As well as her immaculate conception, denied by both the clear statement in Luke 1:47 - “God my Savior.”
Mary while a righteous Jew (like Joseph), in the sense of faithful to the OC, she was a sinner in need of redemption like everyone else. And she was a wife and mother like anyone else. The significance of the virgin conception is not the person of Mary, but the Person of Jesus Christ. He Himself distanced His relationship from the merely human to the spiritual (Matt. 12:46).
To the unbeliever this certainly means that God cannot be sought or found in other person than the Lord Jesus Christ. John 14:9 “if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.”
To think that any religion has anything to offer in knowing God outside, other than, or in addition to the revelation of Jesus Christ on the pages of Scripture is lie straight for the pit of hell and is nothing less than the devil “blinding the minds of the unbelieving that they may not see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4). If a person wants to know God then there is no other way other than believing the revelation of Jesus Christ, and through faith and repentance and the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
To the believer it is just another encouragement to the faithfulness of God to keep His promises, and the power of God to fulfill His Word, and the goodness of God to so humble Himself to be born a man to suffer in the place of men.
It should also be noted that the context of the promise through Isaiah, was made at a time when the children of Israel were engulfed in the worship of Molech, who required their offering their children to him by putting them in the fire. The Israelites were worshipping a god that demanded the torturous death of their children to be appeased. Pagan religions reveal how opposite sinful man’s impressions of their own gods are, in relation to the true God.
The children of Israel, though having the promises and presence of God in the temple, none the less forsook Him and sacrificed their children to appease the lustful appetite of Molech. (Lev. 20:1ff).
How unlike the true and living God, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He too required death for His anger to be appeased, but unlike the false gods of the nations, He Himself would be the sacrifice; He Himself would bear the pain and searing loss; He Himself would be subject to the mocking of men, the scourging, the rejection, the nails, the wrath of the Father. This is, in substance, what separates Jesus Christ and the gospel from every false religion.
The true God of Israel (whom they rejected) was offering His own Son as a sacrifice to be tortured and mistreated by their hands. The very guilty ones He came to save.
Conclusion:
Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the One and only Savior from sins, the only hope of sinful humanity to be reconciled with our holy Creator.
He was stamped with Divine authentication through His miraculous conception and birth by a virgin, His being the fulfillment of all OT prophecies, and His revealing of the Father - and ultimately through His resurrection from the dead, and finally when He returns in all His glory.
Jesus Christ is the Name above all names.
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