Matthew 1:22-23 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth
to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" -which means, "God with us."

It is such a wonderful history. It has all the elements that we like:
drama, hurdles that must be overcome and love. Now I know that you might
be thinking I'm talking about all those TV movies that can be found on
the Lifetime or Hallmark Channels. You know those Christmas miracle
movies where everything seems to be going wrong and then the Christmas
spirit wins out and life is once again rosy and fine. If you're
wondering, that particular kind of story for Christmas got it's start
with Charles Dickens book, A Christmas Carol. That book was first
published in December of 1843.
No, I'm not talking about modern books and movies that promote some sort
of vague "spirit" of Christmas. The story I'm talking about is the real
history of the birth of Jesus. It concerns a young couple betrothed to
be married and how the Lord changed their lives and ours forever. Let's
just jump in and talk about our text under the theme: THE BIRTH OF JESUS.
1st. Joseph. 2nd. Mary. 3rd. The Lord.
We start with Joseph because that's the focus of our text. Matthew,
when he was inspired to write his gospel felt it important to note the
fraternal side of this history of Jesus. It's good that he did, because
otherwise we might not have understood how it all came to be in just the
way it did.
Of course the difficulty that confronted Joseph is laid out right before
us. Joseph was engaged to be married, actually I will use the word
"betrothed" because it is much stronger than our word engaged. For
couples back then, betrothal was the promise of marriage, a promise so
strong that it would take a writ of divorce to end the relationship.
Here is Joseph, betrothed to Mary. It was normally about a year from the
time of betrothal to the time of the marriage itself. That year was used
as preparation time for the marriage. It was during this year that Mary
became pregnant.
Now you and I know the circumstances of Mary's pregnancy but Joseph
didn't. I can only imagine the fear that Mary had as she approached
Joseph with the news she had. No doubt she told him everything, the
angel, the promise of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, of her visit
with Elizabeth and what happened there. For the most part, most of that
didn't matter to Joseph. About all he heard his bride say was, "I'm with
child." He knew he wasn't the father and for the moment he wasn't buying
her plea: "God is the father." That's why our text mentions that
Joseph...was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public
disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
It must have been a pretty tense time. Joseph demanding to know who the
father was and Mary pleading with him to believe she was still a virgin
and that God was the father. As far as Joseph knew, Mary was an
adulteress, she had brought shame and disgrace to herself by her lack of
morality. But his love for her was great. That's seen in the fact that
Joseph was going to divorce her quietly. He didn't want her to face
public disgrace, the shame of whispers and pointing fingers. Like most
young ladies of her day, she would be sent off to relatives far away,
there to have the baby. The baby might then be raised by those relatives
or the mom could stay and raise the child too. It would become a hard
and lonely life for Mary. Can you blame him? Joseph didn't want a woman
who cheated on him after promising he would be the only one.
The difficulty was resolved by the Lord. We are told, "an angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit." The angel even discloses that it will be a boy
and tells Joseph what the child's name is to be. Most important the
angel says, "He will save his people from their sins." Because of what
the angel said, Joseph knew that Mary had told the truth. Because of the
circumstances involved Joseph, no doubt well versed in God's Word, also
knew that this child would be the Son of God and the savior of the world.
Please don't miss those wonderful and inspiring words of this text that
say, "When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had
commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." Joseph believed and
obeyed the Lord's commands. It seems that the very next day Mary was
brought home as his wife.
What a wonderful example of faith we find in Joseph. He did what the
Lord told him knowing that this would bring hardship and trouble in his
life. In those days, this couple would be branded as adulterers and
shunned by the people around them. It would be hard to make a living
among the Jews. It would be hard to be the "father" of the Lord. Joseph
in faith simply obeyed.
The history of Mary is just as much an example. We know how the angel
of the Lord appeared to her and informed her that she was going to be the
mother of the Savior of the world. What absolute awe must have filled
Mary as she heard the angel say, "You will be with child and give birth
to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the
throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever; his kingdom will never end."
Mary was told point blank that she would give birth to the Son of God.
You get a feel for the piety of this woman as she says, "How will this be
since I am a virgin?" Her statement has the clear message that she
intends to stay a virgin. That's when the angel explains, "The Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God...For
nothing is impossible with God."
Again the faith and piety of this young lady is to be admired and
imitated. Her reply is the simple, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be
to me as you have said." Mary wants to serve the Lord. Again she
understood the difficulties that would arise. She had to have faith that
God would be with her. She knew the struggle there would be with Joe.
She knew the struggle she would face as she would be branded wrongfully
as immoral and godless. Yet she wanted to serve the Lord. She wanted to
serve despite the struggle. A good lesson for us, a great example for us
to have the same attitude in faith.
Now as wonderful as this history is there is one aspect of all of this
that I don't think we can afford to overlook, but sometimes we don't
bring this truth out. It is the text I highlighted for today. That text
simply said, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said..."
I want to stop there and focus on these words. I want to stop there
because this text will mention just one of God's holy prophets. However,
please understand that the integrity of the whole of God's Word is
involved. It wasn't just one prophet, it was many prophets. Just a
quick glance at the remaining chapter and you will find that four more
times we are told that what was happening around and with this child was
exactly what God had promised through his prophets. Why is this
important?
Why is this important? Because it bears on the whole of our faith! We
are being shown the faithfulness of God and the faithfulness of God's
Holy Word. Think about it. If God can be shown to be wrong on just one
point how can you trust any point? What is at stake is the
trustworthiness of God, his Word and even the very faith we follow.
With patience and grace the Holy Spirit leads people to see the
faithfulness of God. What God promises he delivers. He promised Jacob's
descendants the land of Canaan as theirs! It didn't happen for 400 years
but it happened (and just so you know, God told them it would be 400
years!) He promised that Judah's descendants would be the ones from
which the Savior would come. So it was. Conservative pastors have
counted up to 350 clearly identifiable prophecies concerning Jesus and
his life and they have all come true. What God has promised is a fact.
God is faithful, trustworthy and true. Everything about Him is the same
way.
Just as God himself is faithful, trustworthy and true so is His Word.
The Bible is the very word of God. It is inspired and inerrant. It is
reliable in every way that can be measured. That's because the Bible is
the Word of God. It is the power and majesty of God himself behind the
Word. What the Word of God says is true. You can believe it, trust it,
put your entire life and hope upon it. It will not disappoint. It will,
as has been shown, prove itself right in what it says.
That means that this little child who was born is the Son of God. More
than that, he is our Savior from sin. That's what God says he came to
do. It doesn't say he came to show us the way to get rid of sin, it says
he came to win that forgiveness for us and to clothe us with his blessing
of eternal life and salvation. Yet at the same time Jesus makes it clear
that to reject Him or his Word is to reject the very victory he has won.
He is the Savior but if you keep swimming away insisting you'll make it
to shore on your own, you will drown.
God and his Word is faithful. That means that when your faith is based
on what God's Word says that faith is also a true and faithful thing.
Believe that heaven is your home because of Jesus. Believe that God is
with you, watching over you, even in all the ups and downs of life, ups
and downs that many times we bring upon ourselves. Believe that when you
close your eyes in this life, they will be opened in an instance to find
yourself forever in the marvel of heaven. All of this because God and
his word is faithful and true. It has shown itself to be that in the
past and will again show itself to be so in the future. Our faith is in
God and his Word. We can and never will be disappointed in this.
You know that is the real importance of the birth of Jesus. To show us
that God and his Word is faithful and true. To show us that God kept
every promise in Jesus, yes, that God will keep every promise in Jesus.
Rejoice then in the grace and mercy of God given in Jesus. Amen.