Matthew 1, verses 18-25.
I'm going to be walking through the passage in the sermon,
and so I'm going to hold off on reading it.
We'll go through it together as I preach through it.
But you can see the title on the back of your bulletin.
The title is The Birth of Our King.
And the more I've thought about it,
the title probably would be more accurate if it was The Naming of Our King.
And so what we see in Matthew 1, verses 18-25,
it culminates in the naming of this little baby, born of a virgin,
naming Him Jesus.
Now, as soon as you hear the word birth, though,
you might go kind of in a genetic direction.
We have great genetic variety among us.
I mean, just look at each other's earlobes.
Can you roll your R?
Can you do the little squishy thing with your tongue?
You know, the clove thing?
Some of us can, some of us can't.
Skin, color, ethnicity, there is great genetic variation among us, is there not?
There is. It's glorious.
God wants to call to Himself
from every tribe and nation and ethnicity of people for Himself.
Well, let me ask you this.
What was the genetic code of Jesus?
What were His genes?
Well, according to Matthew 1,
actually 16,
we know whose genes He didn't have.
He had none of Joseph's genes.
Look at 1.16, would you?
And Jacob, the father of Joseph,
the husband of Mary,
Matthew's very clear in saying
He was not the genetic father of this Jesus.
If Joseph,
if His genes
weren't in Jesus,
and it was through Joseph
that would come
the great title of a son of David,
how is it that Jesus
can claim that title?
If He has no genetics to David,
at least on Joseph's side,
some will make an argument
that He did from Mary's side,
but that's not Matthew's point.
How can we be confident
that Jesus is actually a son of David
and therefore claim a right to the throne?
That's what Matthew is getting at
in this passage.
If Jesus didn't have any Joseph's genes,
He didn't have any David's genes.
Think about it as gene number 14,
the number of David.
How can He be a descendant of David?
So in 1.16,
we're kind of left with that question.
Okay, how does that work?
If Jesus isn't physically related to Joseph,
how can He be a son of David?
And that's what Matthew answers here
in this wonderful passage.
We're going to see how that works out.
Who is this baby?
Who is this baby born of a virgin?
And how is He related to Joseph?
And how can He make a claim
to be David's greater son?
Well, this morning what I want to do
is walk through the passage,
give you some color on it,
help you see some things,
and then we're going to land
by making a point,
and then we're going to apply it
in four ways.
Four B's.
B-E.
Four B's.
We'll get there in a little bit.
But first,
let's just jump right in.
The birth of Jesus Christ.
Verse 18.
Now, the birth of Jesus Christ
took place this way.
And so what Matthew is doing
is going,
okay, here's how it worked out.
Now, if you are a fan
of Luke's gospel,
you may be a little disappointed.
Because Matthew doesn't get
into the details.
He doesn't talk to us
about shepherds.
He doesn't talk to us
about mangers.
He doesn't talk to us
about swaddling clothes.
He doesn't go that direction.
That's Luke,
the good doctor
who loves details.
No.
Matthew's going after
something else.
And we learn very quickly
that this birth of Jesus Christ
was surrounded by controversy.
The thing about us
and who are very familiar
with this story
is we can be too familiar to it.
There's something going on here
that is very controversial.
And we see it showing up
in that start of the second sentence
in verse 18.
When his mother Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together,
she was found to be with child
from the Holy Spirit.
Controversy!
Let me give you a little
kind of background.
When we think about engagement
here in our culture,
we think about it a certain way.
You don't have to go to
get an attorney
and go down to a judge
in order to get engaged.
It doesn't work that way.
It's rather informal.
And so if you get engaged
to someone,
you can break the engagement
without having to go
any kind of legal
kind of direction.
Not so in the first century.
Not so for the Jew.
What would happen?
Betrothal was actually
a legal event.
And so getting married
involved getting betrothed,
which was the committing
of one man to one woman.
And after they were betrothed,
they could talk about each other
as husband and wife,
believe it or not.
But they didn't come together
until another year later.
And that's why we see here
in verse 18
when his mother Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph
before they came together,
before they consummated
their marriage,
which would take a year
after the betrothal.
And so that whole year,
the daughter, the wife,
would be living with her father
in her father's house.
And so it's very different
from our situation today,
isn't it?
And so we've got to remember
there's something else
kind of going on here.
And so what's shaken out
is this.
Mary was found to be pregnant
after they were betrothed
and before they came together.
Do you get what's going on?
Very controversial.
So here's this legally binding situation.
And by the way,
if you read Deuteronomy 22,
13 through 24,
there are some real consequences
for one who's betrothed
and is shown to be unfaithful.
Really serious.
And so in verse 18,
the controversy starts to swirl.
She was found to be with a child, Mary.
And we're not told
how this conception takes place,
only it's by the Holy Spirit.
That's very significant.
The third person of the Trinity
has already shown up.
One other thing to note
before we move on.
Joseph must not have known
about the angel Gabriel
going to Mary.
I don't know how it works out.
I don't know why he didn't know.
But it's clear that Joseph
is finding out about this
after she is showing,
after she is obviously pregnant.
And so there's a kind of like
news to Joseph going on here.
And so if you look at now,
verse 19,
we've seen the controversy.
Now it moves to a quiet divorce.
Look at verse 19.
And her husband Joseph,
being a just man
and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly.
Again, the divorce language
is being used.
It's kind of foreign to our ears
when we talk about engagement.
But back in the day,
it was the legal way
of undoing a betrothal.
And so it had legal force to it.
And so that's the divorce language
going on here.
But what you need to see
is that word just.
And her husband Joseph,
being a just man,
a just man,
we can move very quickly
to thinking about
how merciful Joseph was,
how compassionate he was,
how he dealt with
this very controversial situation.
We can move too quick.
Do you know what
that word just is getting at?
Joseph was looking
to be faithful to God's word.
Joseph was looking
to be faithful
to Deuteronomy 22.
Joseph was looking
to walk according
to God's word.
And then deal mercifully
and compassionately
with the implications of that.
Here his betrothed
was shown to be pregnant.
And so now he has
biblical precedent
in order to divorce her.
He's just,
he's seeking to do
the right thing.
And you know what?
Don't you just kind of wish
like there was a little bit
more detail here?
We're not told
about Joseph's wrestling
with this.
Did he have sleepless nights?
Was he feeling betrayed?
How confused was he?
Who did he talk to?
How did he wrestle through it?
We're not told any of that.
How much did he lose?
Did he lose any?
How did he reach the decision?
Well, we know at least
he was wrestling
with God's word.
What we see here in Joseph
is a man who is seeking
to do the right thing
the right way.
And so when he eventually
read there that he looked,
he didn't want to shame her.
And so he wanted
to divorce her quietly.
Here we have a man
who's wanting to have
a clear conscience
in God's word
and yet being compassionate.
He's looking to do
the right thing.
And in that,
we learn something
about this man.
He's committed
to obeying God's word
and yet he's also
going to do it
with a heart of compassion.
Can you begin to see
why God would choose
this man
to be the earthly father
of Jesus?
This is a godly man.
So there's controversy.
There's a quiet divorce.
And then we start
to see in verse 20
an angelic caller.
But as he considered
these things
is what the ESV reads.
The NIV is probably
more accurate.
It says,
but after he had
considered these things,
it's past tense,
which means
he had already decided.
So in verse 20,
but he already decided
to divorce her.
He had already
made the decision.
And so Joseph
has already drawn
the conclusion.
Alright, okay, okay.
This is wrong.
I've got to take this step.
And now it's just
a matter of
kind of arranging
the details.
And God does something.
God intervenes.
The decision's been made,
but God steps in.
God says,
uh, nope!
It's like God said,
Joseph, you know,
I really appreciate
your commitment
to obey my revealed word.
I really appreciate it,
but this situation
with Mary
is not what it looks like.
So he sends Joseph
an angel of the Lord.
And again,
we're not giving the name,
of the angel.
Again, detail left out.
So it was Gabriel
who talked to Mary
and the folks in Luke,
but we're not giving
the name of the angel here.
You're left to kind of speculate.
But he sends this angel
of the Lord
to intervene,
to change Joseph's mind.
To move him
from divorcing Mary
and abandoning the baby
to marrying Mary
and taking the baby
as his own.
And notice that
in verse 20,
but as he considered
these things,
behold,
an angel of the Lord
appeared to him
in a dream.
This happened in a dream.
Again,
this might be
a little,
little new
for several of us,
but you know what?
When it boils down to it,
God can do
what he wants to do.
He can intervene
the way he wants
to intervene.
He's God.
He can do that.
He's more than able.
In fact,
we're going to see
God showing up
to people in dreams
later in Matthew.
Next week,
he warns the Magi
in a dream
not to go back
to Herod.
Pilate's wife
in chapter 27,
she has a dream
about this righteous man,
Jesus.
I mean,
I'm not sure
if you're familiar
with what's going on
among the Middle East,
but Jesus is showing up
to people in dreams.
Story after story
of this person
coming to Muslims
in dreams.
resulting in their
conversion to Christ.
God uses dreams.
Of course,
dreams must be
carefully weighed
in light of Scripture.
Subjective experience
is submitted
to the objective reality
of God's Word.
And we're going to see
Matthew do that for us
in just a second.
But let's look at this
dream.
Let's look at what
this angel says.
And again,
we're not given details.
I mean,
if you were in the room
with Joseph
as he was sleeping,
what would he be doing?
Was he like in the
in-between dream state?
Kind of aware
but not aware?
Was he rolling over
a lot?
Was he mumbling?
Was he just silent?
We don't know.
But what we do know
is this.
The angel,
God,
through the angel,
addresses Joseph
by name.
Joseph,
son of David.
God knows this man
as he knows your name.
And he says,
Joseph,
son of David.
That rings a bell
in us,
doesn't it?
It shoots right back
to the genealogy
in chapter 1
verses 1 through 17.
Son of David
from the line of David.
The one carrying
the number 14 gene.
The number of David.
You.
Joseph,
son of David.
Do not fear
to take Mary
as your wife.
God's saying,
Joseph,
you don't need
to be fearful here,
buddy.
You're not disobeying
my word.
There's something else
going on.
Do not fear
to take Mary
as your wife.
Do not fear
to come together
with her.
And then he gives
a reason.
See that word
for
in 20?
For that
which is conceived
in her
is from the Holy Spirit.
You're not disobeying
my word,
Joseph,
because
this is my son
conceived in this woman
by the Holy Spirit.
It's amazing.
There's a miracle
going on here.
Two times now,
Matthew has emphasized
that this child
in Mary's womb
is conceived
by the Holy Spirit.
This is not
what it seems like,
Joseph.
Despite what it may
look like,
Joseph,
this is actually
me at work
caring about
my purposes.
That's why
the angel of the Lord
is there.
There's something,
there's a bigger plan
going on here,
Joseph.
She will bear a son.
The child
is actually a son.
And then he says
to Joseph,
and this is in the
force of a command,
you shall name
him Jesus.
That's from
the angel
of the Lord
who is sent
by God.
Do you know
what that means?
The naming
of this boy
originated
in the mind
of God.
God wanted
this boy
named Jesus.
God wanted
Joseph
to name
this boy
Jesus.
And what
you must see
is that
the very fact
that Joseph
is going to
name this boy,
do you know
what that means?
He's legally
taking him
as his own.
He's saying
you're going
to be my son.
And by him
saying that,
do you know
what comes
with that?
All the legal
rights and
privileges
of his house.
It's going to be
a son of David
legally.
He's going to be
legally.
We'll talk
about what
the name
of Jesus
means a little
later on.
Oh, but
God wanted
this baby
boy
named Jesus.
This boy
conceived
by the Holy
Spirit,
this God
with us.
He wanted
his name
Jesus.
One more
thing I want
you to
note.
Behold,
the angel
of the Lord
appeared to
him in a
dream.
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.
Notice
verse 21.
She will
bear a
son,
and she
shall
call
his name
Jesus,
for he
will save
his people
from their
sins.
He's talking
about the
Messiah,
talking about
this baby
boy is going
to be the
Christ,
is the
Christ,
but he
gets at
the nature
of his
reign,
what this
king is
going to
deliver from.
And so a
good Jew at
this time would
be thinking
the Messiah
is going
to come
and he's
going to
deliver us
from the
political
oppression
of Rome.
And what
the angel
is saying
here,
no,
this king
is going
to deliver
sinners
from the
oppression
of sin,
the presence,
power,
and penalty
of sin.
This baby
boy is going
to be a
deliverer king
from that.
Just to
make you
aware,
Joseph,
of what
this baby
boy is going
to do.
Oh,
it's so
glorious.
So in
verses 20
and 21,
God
intervenes
Joseph's
plan.
Isn't that
so gracious
of God?
He's so
sovereign.
He does
what he
wants to
do.
He
interrupts
and says,
no,
you're not
going to
divorce Mary.
You're not
going to
abandon
this child.
That's
not my
plan.
And so
through this
angel of
the Lord,
he says,
no,
you're going
to take
this young
lady as
your wife.
And not
only that,
you're going
to name
this baby
that you
didn't
conceive,
Joseph.
You're going
to name
him Jesus
and therefore
give him
all the
rights and
privileges
of your
house as
your firstborn.
God has
a plan
for Joseph.
And this
is the
fulfillment
of his
glorious
plan for
the fullness
of time
to unite
all things
in Christ.
Oh,
it's so
beautiful.
As we
move on
in verses
22 and
23,
we have
Matthew
now,
the gospel
writer,
sharing some
of his
helpful thoughts
with us.
He gives
a prophetic
confirmation
of what
this angel
just said.
God.
We see
that in
verse 22.
All this
took place
to fulfill
what the
Lord had
spoken by
the prophet
Isaiah.
Behold,
the virgin
shall conceive
and bear
a son,
and they
shall call
his name
Emmanuel,
which means
God with
us.
That's
Matthew
helping us
understand
what just
happened
between this
angel of the
Lord and
Joseph.
What he's
saying is
there is
something
of tremendous
magnitude
going on
here.
This is
of such
significance
it's going
to blow
your mind.
Matthew
wants us
to see
that what
is happening
with Mary,
Joseph,
and this
baby is
the fulfillment
of God's
forever plan
to save
a people
for himself.
This quote
is from
Isaiah 7,
verse 14.
written 700
years earlier.
It speaks
of a virgin
and a virgin
conceiving
and a virgin
conceiving a
boy and
he's going
to be named
a certain
name.
So what
is Matthew
doing?
He's pointing
us to the
Bible to
help explain
this dream.
He's helping
us make sense,
interpret what's
going on
here.
He's linking
up this
dream
with Isaiah
7, 14
to say
this is
fulfillment
of what God
has said
700 years
ago.
This is all
part of God's
glorious plan.
Let me help
you see it.
Isaiah 7, 14
speaks of a
virgin.
Who's the
virgin?
Mary!
Fulfillment!
Isaiah 7, 14
points to a
virgin conceiving.
Matthew's
saying, yes,
conceived by
the Holy
Spirit.
Isaiah 7, 14
says this
virgin shall
conceive and
bear a son.
Matthew is
saying, yes!
She's going
to have a
son, all
right!
God with
us.
And that's
where these
accounts differ
a little bit.
Because in the
interaction between
the angel of the
Lord with
Joseph, he's to
name him
Jesus.
Do you know
what Matthew's
doing?
He's creating a
parallel and
help us make a
link.
Jesus is
Emmanuel.
Jesus, the
incarnate God
is salvation,
is God
with us.
Now, what you
need to
understand, too,
is that this
Isaiah 7, 14,
it's actually a
double fulfillment.
It was fulfilled
in the immediate
context, way back
in the 8th
century, but
its final and
complete fulfillment
was found in
Jesus Christ.
What starts in
Isaiah 7
builds and
builds through
Isaiah 9
into Isaiah
chapter 11.
Isaiah 9, 6,
and 7, do you
remember that
passage?
For unto us a
child is born.
Remember his
name?
He's a wonderful
counselor.
mighty God,
everlasting
father, speaking
of an everlasting
king, prince of
peace, the
government should
be on his
shoulders.
He's going to
establish the
throne of David
and his
kingdom forever.
Isaiah 11 points
to this shoot from
the stump of
Jesse.
Do you know
what Matthew's
doing?
through Isaiah 17,
he's like, do you
remember the wonder
child coming?
Do you remember?
This is him.
This baby in
Mary's womb is
that wonder child
of Isaiah.
This is the
Messiah.
The Christ.
Christ.
So by quoting
Isaiah 7, 14,
this prophetic
confirmation,
Matthew draws a
parallel and helps
us to realize what
he wants us to
realize.
Jesus is the
Emmanuel, the
Christ.
This baby named
Jesus is Christ
the King.
So in verses 24
and 25, we see
Joseph's quick
response.
Boy, is he quick
to obey.
When Joseph
woke from
sleep, he
did.
He did
as the
angel of the
Lord commanded
him.
His mind was
changed.
God had
intervened.
He gets up
right away and
obeys.
He does what the
angel of the
Lord commanded
him.
He obeys God.
And what I want
you to see is the
significance of the
last sentence in
verse 25.
This culminates in
that sentence.
And Joseph called
his name Jesus.
He's answering the
question of Matthew
1.16.
How can this boy,
who's not genetically
related to Joseph,
be a son of David
and therefore the
Christ?
How does that work
out?
Well, what Matthew
is saying is he
didn't need to be
genetically related.
By Joseph naming
him his son,
he was legally
an heir with all
the rights and
privileges thereof.
He was an heir to
the house of David.
He took on the
number 14, the
number of David.
He's the Messiah.
humanly speaking,
Joseph's obedience
resulted in the
legalizing of Jesus
as an heir to
David's throne.
One day in heaven,
I'm going to
approach Joseph if I
can, and I'll say,
man, thank you so
much.
Thank you so much.
All right, so the
point of this passage.
At the beginning of
the passage, Joseph was
going to divorce his
wife.
God intervenes.
And God intervenes in
such a way that
Joseph, instead of
divorcing and
abandoning, marries and
takes to himself.
He names this baby
Jesus.
And what it shows us is
that Jesus is a
descendant of David.
He is the Christ, the
King from the house of
promise.
In other words, he's
legit.
So let's ask this
question.
So what?
What difference does it
make?
This naming of a boy
2,000 years ago, what
difference does that make
for us today?
Well, it changes the way
we celebrate Christmas.
So four B's, and I'll be
really brief.
Maybe amazing.
Nah.
Four B's.
First one is this.
In light of this naming
of Christ and having
him, recognizing him as
the son of David, be
amazed.
Be amazed.
The conception of this
baby boy was a miracle.
It was a tri-supernatural
miracle.
The whole cast of the
Trinity is there.
God the Father planned
it.
Isaiah 7, from long
ago.
God the Spirit conceived
this baby in Mary's
womb.
And the one that was
conceived was Emmanuel,
the second person of the
Trinity taking on human
flesh.
The whole cast of the
Trinity is there.
Some may object, hey,
babies aren't born that
way.
They're not conceived that
way.
Yes!
That's the point.
This is a miracle.
A glorious, glorious
miracle.
So when we celebrate
Christmas, we're
celebrating a miracle
that God miraculously
conceived a baby in this
virgin's womb.
It was Emmanuel.
So be amazed.
But the amazingness
doesn't stop there.
This baby boy,
conceived by the
Holy Spirit,
is God's son.
It's not explicitly
stated, but it is
definitely implied.
Twice, Matthew says,
conceived by the
Holy Spirit.
This baby is conceived
of God.
He is God.
God in the flesh.
The second person of
the Trinity, the
eternally existent second
person of the Trinity
took on human flesh.
Fully God, fully man,
in one person.
Two distinct natures,
one person.
That's stinking amazing.
Without ceasing to be
God, he took on human
flesh without any sin.
Is that not amazing?
That's amazing.
So be amazed.
But also, be comforted.
Be comforted.
As a result of the
conception of this baby
boy, miraculously.
Fully God, fully man.
Do you know what that
means for us?
Our God is able to
identify with us in
every way.
He understands what it's
like to walk in this
tent.
We have a God who
gets it.
He gets what it's like
to be human living in a
fallen world.
He gets it.
He knows firsthand.
Again, Hebrews says it
this way.
He's a sympathetic high
priest who can identify
with all of our
weaknesses.
He's a sympathetic king.
Sympathetic.
He knows.
He became one of us.
And he's promised to be
with us.
The Emmanuel.
God with us.
Matthew 18, 20.
Jesus says, where two or
three are gathered in my
name, there I'm among
them.
Matthew 28, 20 says, and
behold, I'm with you
always, even to the end of
the age.
Do you know what's
interesting about the book
of Matthew?
It begins with Emmanuel,
God with us, and ends
with Emmanuel, God with us.
I'm with you always, even
to the end of the age.
He's with us.
It's a tremendous
discomfort.
He's with us now.
As a church.
Walking through what we've
been walking.
He's with us.
To comfort us.
He's still present.
He's still with us.
Be comforted.
Be saved.
Be saved by King Jesus.
Be saved.
Remember the name Jesus?
It means God is salvation.
salvation.
Jesus is our salvation.
King Jesus came to save.
That's his mission.
That's why he came.
He came to liberate those
oppressed by the power,
presence, and penalty of
sin.
That's why he came.
He didn't come for political
liberation.
Not yet, at least.
Second coming.
He came first time to
liberate people from the
oppression of sin.
And his people, of course,
for all who will, for all,
for he will save his people
from their sins.
His people, of course, are
all those who by faith have
bowed the knee to him.
And have experienced his
forgiveness and liberation
from sin.
And been welcomed into his
kingdom.
He did it by substituting
himself.
Emmanuel, the king, took the
place of sinners on the
cross.
Amazing.
So that we can be liberated
from sin.
Have you bowed your knee to
King Jesus?
Have you received this
forgiveness?
Have you received his
gracious liberation from the
power of sin?
If you haven't, today's the
day.
Bow your knee.
Cry out to him.
King Jesus saved me from my
sin.
He will.
And if you do, let someone
know.
Let someone know.
Because you now are part of
the kingdom of the redeemed.
Be amazed.
Be comforted.
Be saved.
Be on the king's mission.
King Jesus came to save
sinners.
It's in his name.
In our church, Christ the
King Church is made up of
the poor and powerless.
Sinners who have been saved
by King Jesus.
We bowed our knee to him.
By his grace, he has saved
us.
And now he's called us to his
mission.
Go make disciples of the
nations.
Go make disciples of King
Jesus.
Go tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born.
The king has come.
Our mission as a church is to
glorify God by making known the
life-transforming power of the
gospel, the good news of King
Jesus.
We call people to bow their knee,
to submit to him,
and experience his gracious reign in
their lives.
Jesus.
Let's be on mission together.
Let's do this together.
By Joseph naming this baby boy
Jesus, he legitimized that Jesus is
the king from the house of David.
Be amazed, be comforted, be saved.
Let's be on mission together.
Father, rejoice, your king has come.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus, our king, we bow our
knee.
We are poor and powerless.
We were lost and lonely, and you
came for us.
And you're coming back, and we
rejoice.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.