Good morning, everyone. Let me invite you to have that passage in Matthew open in front of you.
And it might be worth having Isaiah 7 as well open as we turn to God's words this morning.
But as we start our Christmas, our run up to Christmas today, let me tell you about this man called Matthew,
the man Matthew who wrote this gospel. Little known fact about him is that he wasn't always known as Matthew.
In fact, in a previous life, he was known as Levi. Now, Levi was a Jew and Levi was a tax collector.
So his job was to collect money from his fellow Jews and give it to the Romans who were the despised occupying force of the day.
And you can imagine, given the nature of that job, what he does for a living,
because there was corruption and bribery going on absolutely everywhere, it was a very lucrative profession.
And so if you add all that up, the two defining features about Levi's life,
the two defining features, if they are number one, that you have sold out to the enemy.
You are the definition of a turncoat.
And defining feature number two is that you are most likely very rich.
You can imagine like one of those good old Western films that we all love,
that if Matthew, Levi were around today, he'd be the kind of guy that would walk into a bar
and the music would suddenly stop and everyone would clench their fists, glare at them and say,
son, you've got some neck showing your face in here.
So Levi is that kind of guy.
In fact, it was so despised that apparently the Jews didn't just view tax collectors as traitors.
They viewed them as murderers.
So you can imagine the utter horror when Jesus crops up in the scene
and he doesn't just take an interest in Levi and his tax collector friends.
He wants to know them.
Actually, he calls Levi to be his disciple, to be his follower.
And it's likely Jesus then that gives Levi his new name, Matthew, signifying his new start in life.
Matthew, his name means, one of you knew this, that name means gift of God.
Works in two ways.
It's what Jesus is to Matthew, that the one who stepped into this man's life out of the blue,
out of nowhere, and the one who brought forgiveness and newness of life,
despite Matthew's, Levi's, horrendous life choices.
Let me just say, if that's you here today, maybe you're feeling
you've made some horrendous life choices.
Maybe you're here today and you're thinking, why would anyone want to know me?
Matthew would invite you into his gospel and say, think again.
Think again, because that was me.
It's who I was.
It's why I've written this gospel, because people, outsiders like me,
who thought we had no chance before this God,
he came in the person of Jesus and showed us grace.
And it's what Matthew and his gospel are to the church.
They are a gift from God.
As Matthew reflects on Jesus' life, as he looks back on it,
he writes this gospel so that his fellow Jews will know who this man Jesus is.
And so here is the key word in Matthew's gospel that comes up time and time and time again.
If you're going to read it in your own times, look out for this word.
As Matthew reflects on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,
it's the word fulfillment.
Fulfillment.
It's as almost as if Matthew looks back on Jesus' life and everything that happened,
and there's a light bulb that goes on in his head and in his heart,
because he understands that the things that happened in Jesus' life were not random events
that took place in a strange place in a far-off distant land.
They're the very fulfillment of everything that God said was going to happen.
And here's what I was thinking this week.
You know, you've got authors today who revel in the element of surprise.
You know, you heard that line?
The author revels in the element of surprise.
Matthew is the opposite.
He's an author who revels in the element of unsurprise.
This happened exactly like God said it would.
And so the question that I want us to explore over these next four weeks
is what is it that Matthew sees as being fulfilled?
What is it in the birth of Jesus in particular that Matthew sees God was good to his words?
Come with me to Matthew chapter 1 and to verse 18.
We'll jump into the first of these today.
And let me harness the momentum that Pete built up with the kids talk
and tell you what underwhelmed me massively this week.
Do you get any idea what your name means?
I wonder if you were playing that game when Pete was up doing the thing.
Do you know what your name means?
Right?
I wonder if we went around the room, we'd have some cracking backstories
as to what people's names mean.
But I'll tell you what underwhelmed me massively this week.
I'll pick it up with my parents in three weeks' time.
Graham apparently means grey outbuilding.
That's what it means.
Boring.
Functional.
And the irony is that six months ago I painted an outbuilding in our home.
Grey.
But my name means grey outbuilding.
No doubt some cheeky monkey out there will say how fitting.
But in our day, a name may well have some significance.
We do this all the time, don't we, with children.
Sometimes we name other things in our lives.
Names perhaps carry a significant meaning.
But in the Bible, names always carry significance and meaning.
Always.
And you'll see if you've got the text there that Matthew gives us two names in this passage.
Two names that I think, as I've kind of wrestled with it this week,
two names that are the key to understanding what Matthew sees as being fulfilled
in the life and birth of Jesus.
And the first thing to see about these two names is that they are two names with some serious background.
So come with me to verse 22.
This is what Matthew writes.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.
Now, the question is, who is the prophet?
Because Matthew is thinking about the prophet Isaiah, the verses that we had read earlier.
This man called Isaiah, this man who God sent to his people as his messenger,
who is on the scene in Judah, circa 700 BC, call it that.
And what's crucial about that time is it's a time when the kingdom of Israel,
those 12 tribes, are divided into the north and the south.
Ten in the north, two in the south.
Judah's in the south.
His people are rebellious.
His borders are threatened.
And his king in Jerusalem is sitting there all the while unconcerned.
And yet the one thing that God's people do have,
because they've got a ton of stuff that is not in their favor,
yet the one thing that they do have is the promises of the covenant Lord.
His word.
Of how he will defeat the enemies of his people.
Of how he will bring his people to a place of rest.
Of how he will raise up a king who will come from David's line,
who will usher it in, and who will be his king, and whose reign will be forever.
And so King Ahaz, with all those promises in his back locker,
with all the history of Israel,
he looks at the enemies who are on the horizon.
And make no mistake, they are big, bad, and scary.
He looks at those enemies, and he's got a choice.
And it's key that we see this choice,
because we're going to come back to it at the end.
The choice is, will he live by faith and God's promises,
or will he live by sight?
Will he live by faith, or will he live by sight?
And so Isaiah goes to him and says,
don't be afraid of your enemies.
Don't be afraid of them.
They might look big, bad, and scary to you.
But understand that the Lord is no domesticated God.
The Lord is the one who is all-powerful.
The Lord is the one who is all-knowing.
And because he is the one who knows the end from the beginning,
we need to understand, remember who the Lord is.
He's telling you that these two nations on the horizon,
who are threats to you,
and who are making insults at you,
they will soon be in the course of history,
two smoldering stubs.
And to prove the point, let me ask you here today,
I guarantee you that you've never heard of King Rezin of Aram.
Have you?
But I can guarantee you that you're sitting here today,
all these years later,
and you've heard of the baby who is to be born of this virgin.
It's exactly what God's point is.
But Ahaz said,
I will not ask,
I will not put the Lord to the test.
Now that sounds pious,
and you think,
well,
sounds plausible enough that he wouldn't want to test God.
But actually,
you look underneath it,
and what he's saying
is a way with your sign.
A way with your sign.
And Isaiah says,
have it your way.
Therefore,
the Lord himself will give you a sign.
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and will call him Emmanuel.
Now,
what are we supposed to make of this sign?
That God himself is going to arrive on earth
to dwell with his people,
having been birthed through an untouched female womb.
Now,
it's so above our capacity to fathom.
It's so above our comprehension.
It's so above our understanding.
This is something that only God can do.
And I think that's exactly the point.
This isn't about Israel getting their act
together,
although they are called to repent
and put their faith in the Lord.
This is about God being the Lord.
This is only something that God can do.
And I think that because of that,
this is the reason that it divides its hearers
in this day and in our day.
Because Ahaz probably thought
this was a load of nonsense.
But to the faithful believers
in Israel,
in Isaiah's day,
down the ages,
through the horrors,
despite their failures as a people,
those who are faithfully clinging to the promise
that God will do this,
this is a wonderful source of hope.
that God will come,
that God sees,
that God knows,
that God will make good in his promises.
And he will come.
He will come to dwell with us.
And this child who's going to be born,
if you flick on a few chapters in Isaiah,
Isaiah chapter 9,
he will be wonderful counselor.
He will be mighty God.
He will be everlasting father.
He will be prince of peace.
And he will enlarge the nation.
I take it that just means
others from all over the world
are going to come to know this child
and everything that he is.
This child king will defeat his enemies
and he will save their people
from their sin.
So do you see how these two names
come with some serious background?
Those random things
that come with some serious background
and some serious history.
And so what Matthew observes
is happening in the birth in Bethlehem
is that these two names
with some serious background
become two names
that have come to the foreground.
So in our story,
here are Mary and Joseph
flicking it onto Matthew 1.
Here are Mary and Joseph.
Here are this young,
poor, engaged couple
from this little backwater town
of Nazareth.
Now, you read the Gospels
and Nazareth is a town
that people joke about.
You hear Nathaniel,
what good could come from Nazareth?
It's a town that carries with it
a stigma of thinking
there's nothing that goes on there.
And yet this couple are from Nazareth.
Now, you've got to understand
that OK Magazine
and their engagement
aren't phoning them up
and saying,
can we do a full piece spread
from your wedding?
Okay, Mary's not climbing
the corporate ladder.
Joseph's not just completed
his 15th Iron Man.
The world are not standing up
to attention
when this couple
come on the scene.
Matthew's not bringing them
to the surface
saying, let's toast the success
of Mary and Joseph
in who they are.
What is it Matthew
draws our attention to?
And I love seeing this this week
and really, really seeing it
in all these years
of reading this passage.
What is it that Matthew
draws our attention to
about them?
It's not their success.
It's their faithfulness.
It's a wonderful lesson
for us today.
What is it that the Lord's
interested in?
What does God want
from his people?
It's not that we would
up the game.
It's that we would be faithful.
We'd be faithful to him.
That we would follow his word.
We would cling to his promises
and stake it all on him.
It's their faithfulness
that Matthew draws
our attention to.
Luke records Mary's
Magnificat,
her song of praise.
It's clear that she knows
God's promises.
And Matthew,
he focuses on Joseph.
From David's line,
he's a faithful to the law
kind of man.
Did you see that description there?
He's a,
I want to do the right thing
by Mary kind of guy.
These are faithful people.
And I wonder whether
they're the kind of
representing,
as it were,
exactly the faithful
kind of people
that God's promise
in Isaiah all those years
before was for.
Nothing going for them.
Nothing going on
in their lives.
And yet they're walking
day by day
in faith that God
would deliver on
this promise.
And yet we need to
appreciate,
and here's what I want
you to know as well,
they were faithful people,
but they ain't gullible
people.
You see that in their
reactions,
it takes an angelic
appearance to both of them
individually to convince
them that this is true.
Joseph is about to end it
with Mary when he finds out.
Now what's the point?
The point is that
what C.S. Lewis called
chronological snobbery,
that just because we
exist in 2021,
we look back on this
and think that somehow
we're a lot more
sophisticated,
that we wouldn't have
fallen for anything
like this.
People in this day
aren't gullible.
Mary and Joseph know
how,
this audience,
her first reading
this gospel,
know how the birds
and the bees work.
Right?
They know that
this isn't how it
goes down.
They know that
there's only one way
for a woman to get
pregnant,
and that ain't
happened.
They're not gullible
people.
Matthew emphasizes
that this pregnancy,
do you see it?
What's the Holy Spirit
doing?
This is the virgin birth.
And maybe at that point,
I don't know,
maybe I've lost you.
You know,
the virgin birth,
is that up there
with Bigfoot,
the Loch Ness Monster,
and that guy in the red suit
comes this time of year?
Is it nonsense
in your eyes,
I wonder?
And it's really right,
and you've got to hear me
right in this.
It's good
that we think long
and hard about the
plausibility of the Bible.
And what you find,
and I find this in my own life,
when you really begin
to research this,
and there's some cracking
resources I can recommend
to you if you want to
think more about this,
this stuff historically
really stands.
It really stands.
And it's important
that we understand
that our faith
is not blind.
Our faith
is trust based on
evidence.
But Leonard put me to you,
if you're struggling
with this one,
lovingly,
that if there is
an all-powerful God
who created the world
out of nothing,
is this really all that hard
for him to do?
Well, you see,
that's exactly it.
I mean, I don't believe
there's a God
who created the world.
I don't believe in miracles.
Well, let me ask you again
to think about it.
And maybe think about
the fact that you
probably live your life
in the light of
more miraculous stuff
than you think you do.
For instance,
take the creation
of the world.
You know, Stephen Hawking
said,
because there's a law
like gravity,
the universe can
and will create itself
out of nothing.
You know,
whilst there are elements
of that that are true,
it still doesn't explain
why there's something
and not nothing.
I remember sitting
in biology classes
at school
and listening to the teacher
explain the theory
of evolution to me
and finding her argument
intellectually unsatisfying.
And that wasn't even
beginning to scratch
the surface of the why,
let alone the how.
Can I suggest
that there's a truth
in the slightly mischievous
words of Glenn Scrivener
who said,
Christians believe
in the virgin birth
of Jesus.
Atheists believe
in the virgin birth
of the universe,
choose your miracle.
And let me just recommend
we're going to give this away,
this book called
Is Christmas Unbelievable?
by a wonderful lady
called Rebecca McLaughlin
who's researched these things
and written it down
for sceptics.
Is Christmas Unbelievable?
We're going to be giving them away
from next Sunday,
the couple of Sundays after
on our callers service as well.
It's a wonderful book
that you can take away
but also just to give
to people who perhaps
struggle with this stuff.
Is Christmas
Unbelievable?
But that the virgin birth
happened is one thing.
Why it happened
is quite another
and it's probably the thing
that Matthew wants us
to focus on.
Because the answer
to mankind's sin problem
and history is a long
testimony to this,
is never going to come
from the human gene pool.
The saviour that we need
needs to come from out with us
so as to not be stained
with our sin.
And yet they need to be
one of us
if they are to stand
in our place.
And so the virgin birth,
far from being a take it
or leave it part
of Christianity,
it is one of the key
building blocks
of the Christian faith.
Here is Jesus
fully God
and fully man.
Here is Emmanuel.
Here is God
with us.
God with us.
Get your head around
that one.
I remember a friend of mine
when he was young
went to hospital
for a major operation
and he looks back
on that time
as the time
when he found out
that his parents
really loved him.
He heard them say it.
Sure, the years come by
but it was at the operation.
Looking back,
he remembered that
they were there
when he went to sleep.
They were there
when he woke up
and they never left his side
the whole time
during the operation.
What was it that convinced him
that they loved him?
It was their presence.
Do you see how
in the ultimate sense
here is God
showing a world
and his people
intent on sinful rebellion
turned away from God
running a hell-bound race.
Here is God
reaching down
and saying
this is not about you
coming to find me
because that would never happen
because you love the darkness.
This is about me
because who I am
coming to find you.
And despite us
giving this God
all the reasons
to cast us off,
despite us giving him
all the reasons
to cut ties
because we love the darkness
rather than him,
God came seeking us.
that's what this screams
that this God loves us
and he's come after us.
Jesus come
to show us the Father.
Here is Emmanuel
and it's unfolding
right in this
little manger in Bethlehem.
But here's another question
I asked myself this week
back in Matthew 1.
Why does the angel
not say to Joseph,
you shall call him
Emmanuel?
You ever thought about that?
It's a wee bit confusing
to introduce another name
at this point in the story.
Why not just say
you shall call him Emmanuel?
Because then it would have been
a lot more sense in a way.
We would have known
exactly what's going on.
Where does this Jesus name
come from?
The more I've thought
about it this week
and I could be wrong,
could be wrong,
but here's a shot
at an answer.
Because when you consider
who this God is,
holy,
three times holy,
majestic,
radiantly perfect,
the eternal one,
the one all-knowing,
the one all-seeing,
the fact that he is with us
as sinful people
could potentially be
terrifying news,
could it not?
I know some of you
have got WhatsApp groups
for the street.
Can you imagine a message
that came in that WhatsApp group
and said,
big news,
lying with us.
How would that strike you?
It would strike you
as cool news,
it would strike you
as big news,
but it would strike you
potentially
as terrifying news,
would it not?
Imagine that in the street,
lying with us.
Nobody's running out
into the street
grabbing a selfie
with Simba, are they?
They are locking the doors
thinking we're not
going out of there
because we know
the potential
of the one
who is on the street.
I think that's why
Matthew's quick
to let us know here,
but the angel
said to Joseph
that his name
will be Jesus
because God with us
is wonderful news,
it is potentially
terrifying news,
but God with us
come to save us?
That is incredible news.
Let me quote Max Lucado,
if our greatest need
had been information,
God would have sent us
an educator,
if our greatest need
had been technology,
God would have sent us
a scientist,
if our greatest need
had been money,
God would have sent us
an economist,
but since our greatest need
is forgiveness,
God sent us a saviour.
And that's exactly
what Jesus did
all those years later
as he goes to the cross
to fulfil everything
about his name.
He saves us.
And at the end
of Matthew's gospel,
the risen and soon
to ascend Jesus says,
Behold, I am with you
to the end of the age.
You see, this gospel
is bookended
by God's presence.
Words true
in a new and greater way
by God's indwelling spirit
living in the lives
of his people.
And we've got to understand
that in him,
in Jesus,
we can also say,
having been reconciled
to our heavenly father
through our faith
in who this Jesus is
and what he's done for us.
We can know
God with us, yes,
but God for us.
God for us.
And this is the wonderful news
of the gospel
that's unfolding
in Bethlehem.
Here is Jesus.
Here is Emmanuel.
And both of those
wonderful truths,
those wonderful names,
so wonderfully converge
in the baby
in Mary's womb.
But back to Bethlehem
as we begin
to wrap this up.
You know,
after the angel
appears to him
in a dream
and tells him
about the name,
Joseph's got a choice.
It's the same one
that Ahaz had
all those years before
as he too
is presented
with this child.
Will he live by faith
or will he live
by sight?
Now, make no mistake,
we romanticize this often.
For Joseph
to associate himself
with Mary
and this child
is to sign up
for a life of ridicule.
Right?
Remember,
this is an honor
and shame culture.
Remember,
Nazareth is not a big place.
Remember that people
are people are people.
Down the generations,
people love to talk.
So for him
to associate with Mary
is to sign up
for a life of ridicule.
And there's a wonderful
little parallel there,
give you this for free,
between the life
of the father
and the life
of the son.
Life of ridicule.
But the easy thing
to do here for Joseph
would be do what?
Run.
Bolt.
Save your skin.
Save your face.
You take the sympathy.
Let Mary take the hit.
Let her take the shame.
She can be on her own.
You might have
a fighting chance,
another career,
another job.
I don't know.
But Joseph says,
verse 25,
he will have the name Jesus.
And it's more than Joseph
just doing the decent thing here.
It's him staking
his whole life
and his and his people's future
on the identity
of the one
who is this child.
He's leaning it all
on the name Jesus.
You know,
just as we close,
I remember when I first
moved to Edinburgh
trying to get my head
around the local lingo.
Found out that the locals here
used this word,
Ken.
Okay,
do you Ken?
Why I Ken?
And I soon find out
that Ken means
to know.
Right?
But to say that you
Ken a person here
doesn't mean that you
know them.
It just means that you
kind of know who they are.
And we know,
don't we,
that there's a world
of difference between
knowing somebody's name
and knowing who they are
and really knowing them.
And the challenge
I think this passage
presents us with
as we finish
is do you know
him as Jesus?
Not do you Ken him,
do you know him
as your
saviour?
You know what I love
about this passage?
I love the fact,
again,
I thought about it this week.
Mary and Joseph
say nothing.
They act,
but they say nothing.
In other words,
this isn't about us
upping our game.
This isn't about us
being the most
spectacular people
that God wants us to be.
This is about us
stepping out in faith
and living our lives
in light of everything
that God will do
to save us.
And I wonder whether
some of us here today
have walked in here
in the spirit of law
thinking that we need
to perform for our
Heavenly Father.
And this would say,
no,
this is not about us
up in the game.
This is about Jesus.
This is about who he is.
And if you're here today
and you're struggling
with your guilt,
come to him
as the one who saves us.
Come to him
and know him
as Jesus.
I'll praise the name
of this God
that he would do this for us.
Let's pray.
And so,
our loving Heavenly Father,
we just praise you
for this time of year.
And just remembering
the birth of Jesus.
And I pray, Father,
for some of us here today
who are perhaps
struggling in life,
who are perhaps
feeling guilty
of their sin,
who are feeling
maybe like Matthew
did at the beginning
that we thought about,
who are struggling
with who they are.
Father,
I pray through your Spirit
that you would give us
a fresh understanding
of the one
whose name is Jesus.
Oh, Father,
help us to live our lives
in the light
of who he is
and what he's done
for us.
The wonderful Counselor,
mighty God,
Prince of Peace,
everlasting Father.
and it's in his
wonderful name
that we pray.
Amen.