Matthew 1:18-25 | God With Us

This morning we are looking at an old, familiar story of an infant born of glory. He is the Son of God and the Son of Man. God come down to us. And what I want to do this morning is very, very simple. I want us to gather around and lean in to hear the story of who Jesus is and why he came. I want to behold Jesus together this morning, considering his might and glory, his humility and love, and his presence and peace.

So let’s read the passage together now.

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “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. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

  23        “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Introduction

Yesterday morning, we woke to the destruction of storms. Our house was fine, but my kids and I watched videos of Mayfield, Kentucky, leveled by a tornado. A few minutes later, my five-year-old came down and asked me if the earth could end. I told him that God keeps it going, so it doesn’t end. Then he asked a really good question, “Why didn’t God stop the tornado?”

I don’t have an answer for that, of course. No one does. I told him God could stop the tornado. The Bible says God is Lord over the storm. As powerful as the winds and rain are, God is infinitely greater. All the oceans are but a drop in his almighty hand. But he didn’t stop the storm that night. Bad things happen in this world because of sin. When Adam and Eve fell, the earth was cursed, and began to groan for our redemption. But while we can’t say why God let the tornado come, we can say it’s not because he doesn’t care. We know he cares because of our passage today. Christmas is proof that God will not let sin get the better hand. He will not forsake us. He comes to break the curse. We don’t know all the answers to our questions of suffering, but we do know, because of Christmas, that there is an end to them.

Christmas is the answer to our deepest pains. It is heaven’s cry that God has not abandoned us. Some things in life just don’t make sense from our viewpoint. It’s always been that way. Think of all that Joseph didn’t understand in our passage today. When life doesn’t make sense, when it is hard and confusing and even painful, it helps to know that there is a God above who hears our groans and sees our tears. And he has an answer. It’s a surprising one. When this world by its sin declared war on God, the Lord of Armies sent a baby.

It’s that baby to whom we look right now. He’s more than we imagined, and he’s all that we need. He’s God. He’s man. And he’s Immanuel—God with man.

Jesus is God

One of the difficulties of Christmas passages is that we’re so familiar with them, they lose their impact. But let us try to hear this with unjaded ears. The baby in Mary’s womb was not just another baby boy born long ago. The baby in Mary’s womb was divine. Matthew tells us plainly, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” We hear the same again when the angel told Joseph, “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.” The weight of these words is magnificent. From the Holy Spirit. Birth is always miraculous, but this was truly unique. The baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This was a divine child. God was coming.

Perhaps we think this was an easy thing for Joseph to hear. But we need to understand how difficult and mind-boggling this was for him. Joseph was a Jew. God coming like this wasn’t something that fit neatly into his theological construction. If he were a Greek or Roman and not a Jew, he may have accepted it easier. Those gods disguised themselves as humans and came into the world. But Jews did not have a category for this kind of thing. God was personal but infinite. He was the Creator of all, the Sustainer of all, above everything and over everything, transcendent. The glory and majesty of God was so fearful that Jews wouldn’t even say Yahweh or spell it because it was considered so holy. And here is an angel telling Joseph in a dream that this transcendent God is coming down to earth in the form of a human baby.

To get an idea of the magnitude, think of all that Scripture says about God. I love how Ray Ortlund put it in a sermon once.

Think of the names of God in the Bible: Yahweh, the one who is near; El Shaddai, the Almighty; El Elyon, the Most High; Adonai, Master; El Olam, the Everlasting God; El Qanna, the Jealous God; Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide; Jehovah Sebaoth, the Lord of Armies; Jehovah Ropheka (Rof-a-ka), the Lord who heals you; Jehovah Tsidkenu (Sid-ke-new), the Lord our righteousness.

Think of the images of God in the Bible: king, shepherd, warrior, rock, refuge, shield, father, maker, judge, lawgiver, comforter, savior, lion, lamb, and many more.

Think of the attributes of God in the Bible: living, powerful, shrewd, just, merciful, pure, honest, faithful, joyful, patient, rich, sovereign, kind, and above all, loving.

Christmas means that glorious God came down to us in Jesus. Perhaps it’s difficult to accept Jesus is God. It’s easier to think of him as semi-God, something like God but less than. I mean, could glory like that inhabit flesh like ours? Perhaps our Jesus is too small. But think of what the Bible says about him. Just for starters…

John equated and identified Jesus with God in John 1:1,14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Paul confessed Christ as God in Colossians 2:9, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”

The author of Hebrews exalted Jesus as God in Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Jesus himself spoke of the glory he shares with the Father in John 17:5, “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

Previously in John 10:30 Jesus identified himself with God, as God, “I and the Father are one.”

In John 14:1, Jesus called people to “Believe in God; believe also in me.” No wonder the Jewish leaders charged him with blasphemy (John 5:16-17). He proclaimed himself equal with God because he is God.

Jesus told Thomas that to know him is to know the Father (John 14:6-9). He said no one can come to the Father except through him (John 6:44). He claimed the same knowledge as God in Matthew 11:27 when he said, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Christmas is not about another baby boy born in humble beginnings who grew into merely a great teacher, or great healer, or great orator, or great leader. Christmas is about the God of glory coming down from heaven to save his people from their sins. It is the one who is the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8).

In Jesus, God came into the world. And Joseph was to be his father. Of course, not in the traditional sense. He was to be the adoptive father. There is a reversal of sorts here. Notice Joseph didn’t choose to be the father of the incarnate God. Joseph didn’t choose Jesus. Jesus chose him. The child adopted the father. This is the way of God. Starting way back in the Old Testament, Jesus chose a family for himself to whom he would one day come. As one ancient writer put it, “Among men, fathers adopt whomever they wish to be their sons. This son, however, adopted fathers whom he chose for himself. Among men, sons receive the honor of birth from their fathers. But in Christ’s case, the fathers received honor from the son.”

Why did God choose Joseph? Because way back in 2 Samuel 7, God promised King David one of his sons would rule forever. The angel calls Joseph, “Son of David.” In other words, Joseph had the lineage God promised to bless. More was at stake with Joseph accepting God’s call than another child born into the world. This was the everlasting king promised long ago, coming to rule as foretold. This was God coming to his people to fulfill his promises. This was God being God: coming, speaking, choosing, acting, loving, saving.

It turned Joseph’s world upside down. It turned the whole world upside down. The baby in a manger was the Lord of lords and King of kings. The one for whom there was no room in the inn makes room in heaven for sinners. The child who was born like us gave new birth that we may be like him. The boy in the barn was the glory of heaven. We have been visited not by a vision of God, not by an apparition of God, not even by a messenger of God, but by God himself.

This is the great hope in which we live. God has come. He stepped into our mess, into our lives, into our experience, into our hopelessness, and brought his light. He came to us to bring us to himself. And he did it not from heaven but from earth. It’s to that we now turn. 

Jesus is Man

In verse 21, the angel told Joseph that Mary would “Bear a son...”

Here’s how J.I. Packer put it.

God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child…The babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.

C.S. Lewis tried to help us grasp the humility of this.

The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a foetus inside a woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.

Jesus is God. He is also man. Just as Jesus is not something like but less than God, he is not something like but less than man. He is fully man even as he is fully God. He is one of us. He was born just like you were. He grew up just like you did. His body changed and developed and matured. He had to learn how to walk, how to talk, how to do things for himself. He lived a human life just like you live. He ate food. He drank water. He laughed. He cried. He felt the coolness of the breeze on a summer day and the chill of night after the sun went down. He knew how good it felt to sit down and take your shoes off at the end of a long day’s work. He felt the comfort of friendship. He experienced the joy of life at weddings and parties. He also experienced the pain of life. He got splinters in his hands. He lost friends to illness and death. He felt betrayal. He bled. He died. He went through it all. The only difference between your human life and his is that he never sinned. Of course, that doesn’t mean he didn’t feel the effects of sin. He certainly did. Nowhere more than on the cross where he took upon himself all the wrath of God our sin was due.

Jesus is God. Jesus is also man. Fully both. That means God understands your life. He understands you. He’s been in your shoes.

He even had a name like you do. In verse 21, God gave Joseph the responsibility of every father, naming his son. “And you shall call his name Jesus.” I love the dignity and responsibility God places on Joseph here. Yes, he revealed the name, but he gave Joseph the responsibility of giving him that name. No one else knew it. He wrote the name on the birth certificate. He shared it with everyone who asked. He named his son.

And the name meant something. “The Lord saves.” “And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” This boy had a mission. He had a purpose. His name bore witness to it. He was to save his people. What was he to save them from? From their enemies? God’s people had many throughout the ages. From their suffering? There is plenty of that in this world. Maybe he would save them from disease or accidents or storms or disasters? But it wasn’t any of those things. He was to save them from their sins. The greatest enemy to God’s people is not anything outside of themselves. It is who they are, the sin they are born with. The most tragic thing about us is not what happens to us but what happens in us: sin. That doesn’t mean terrible things don’t happen to us. They do. But it does mean that we too are guilty of our own sin. As much as we may need salvation from others, we need salvation from ourselves—from our sins.

Jesus came on a mission, with a purpose to save. But why did God have to become man to save us from our sins? He’s God, after all. Couldn’t he save us without leaving heaven? In Hebrews 9:22, the author tells us, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” In Old Testament times, God instituted the sacrificial system in Israel to give them a pathway to forgiveness from sins by sacrificing bulls and goats. But in Hebrews 10:4 the author says, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” So, what’s the deal? Did God give a sacrificial system that wasn’t good enough? Yes. Because it was only pointing to what was to come in Jesus. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death. Our sin deserves the death penalty. God in his mercy provided a way of forgiveness in the sacrificial system, but it was only temporary. The blood of animals could never satisfy the penalty of our sin. Man’s sin requires man’s blood. The only way our sins can be dealt with is if we shed our blood or if someone shed their blood for us. Jesus offered his blood for ours. After living a perfect life we could never live, he died a guilty death he never deserved. That’s how he saved us from our sins.

But that’s not the only reason he came. He came for so much more. He came not only to pay for our sins but to welcome us into his arms. He came not just to fix our problems but to give us peace. He came not just to save us but to redeem us. He came not just to deal with us but to be with us, and that’s our third point.

Jesus is Immanuel

Look at verses 22 and 23. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).” Jesus is his name, the Lord saves. Immanuel is his nature, God with us.

Here’s why this matters so much. At some point we all ask: has God abandoned me? Sometimes we suffer so profoundly that we wonder if God has forsaken us. Our Bedford Falls turns into Pottersville. Our childhood dreams of BB guns never arrive on Christmas morning. Our Cousin Eddies are the only ones who show up, lugging their junk along with them, making our embarrassment greater and our seasons harder. Our Christmas is stolen, and there is no song around the tree in the morning because the Grinch actually knew how to strike our hopes. There is no miracle on 34th street or any other street. We are left home alone, and no one is looking for us. Life sometimes feels that way, doesn’t it?

What does Christmas say to those feelings? It says God is with us!

That doesn’t mean life is easy. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to live through Pottersville. It doesn’t mean our hopes aren’t sometimes disappointed. It doesn’t mean others don’t cause us problems. It doesn’t mean what is precious to us isn’t stolen. But it does mean you aren’t alone. Your life is not limited to what this world can give. It is not limited to what you can achieve. It is not limited to what you can get through your hard work and sacrifice. Your life is defined by a miracle. God is with you. “They shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).”

It is so easy for us to believe God is against us. He has every reason to be, doesn’t he? Our sins are many. Our failures pile up before us. Our weaknesses shine brighter than our strengths. But Christmas says God is not against us but with us.

I just want that to settle on your heart today. Christmas means God is with you. Jesus makes this a reality. He entered this very real world you and I live in right now. He came into this darkness. He came into this situation. He came into this difficulty. He came into this life of suffering. He came into this judgey world with its constant demands and never-ending criticisms and unwavering conflict. God is with you.

God is so with you that there is not a single second when he turns from you. He never gets weary of you. He hears your cries. He knows your need. He sees your sin, and instead of turning away, he comes to save. He is your ally when you feel abandoned and alone. He is your defender when you are guilty. He is your justifier when you have no excuses. He is your surety when there is only uncertainty. He is the anchor of your soul when your life hangs in the balance. He is personally involved with you. Jesus is more than an action he accomplishes—salvation. He is also a presence—with you. Jesus came to be your savior and your friend. Isn’t that amazing?

This wasn’t our idea. It was his. We would never imagine such a thing—us friends with God? We think we need to earn him, but he gives himself to the undeserving. He didn’t wait for us to come around. He didn’t wait for our strength to compel him. He didn’t measure our success before stepping down from heaven. He came to our weaknesses and our failures and our unworthiness. He entered our darkness with his light. He made himself our friend when we were his enemy. He turned our life around, and he keeps doing it. In a way this Christmas we’re seeing in Matthew’s gospel is only the start of many Christmases. Christmas is a constant reality because Jesus is ever with us. We know this is true because of what Jesus says at the end of Matthew’s gospel, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Jesus didn’t come for a visit. He came for a lifetime—for your eternity.

Still, perhaps we think we need to be a certain way, act a certain manner, join a certain club for Jesus to save us. But look at the line Jesus comes from. They’re not impressive moral specimens. They are murderers, adulterers, liars, backstabbers, lawless, sinful, guilty. Sam Allberry says, “The family Jesus comes from anticipates the family he has come for.” Jesus himself said he came not for the righteous but the sinner, not for the well but the sick. All we need to have Jesus is need. Our sin and weakness that we believe disqualifies us actually qualifies us for his grace. Jesus came to the lowly for the lowly. He’s not just with the cool kids. He’s with all who are weary and need rest, all who mourn and long for comfort, all who feel worthless and wonder if God even cares, all who fail and desire strength, all who sin and need a Savior. He is Immanuel. God with us.

Still, we may wonder how this will all turn out. I mean, just give us enough time. Won’t we mess this all up? In a sense we can sabotage our lives with ongoing sin, but not ultimately. If we trust in Jesus’s work on our behalf and keep turning to him with the empty hands of faith, we will see that the good work God began, he will complete. His promises are sure. Christmas proves it. He will raise our dead body to new life at the end of this age. We will live and rule and reign with him forever, and not even our sin can make that untrue now. He died for our sin. He rose for our justification. He oversees our sanctification. And one day, with him, we will receive our glorification. Christmas means nothing can stop us now because nothing can stop Immanuel.

There is an expiration date on all this world’s brokenness, on all our brokenness. Christmas guarantees it. Pottersville will be no more. Bedford Falls will be restored. All your deepest, craziest hopes for love and peace and joy are yours right now in this baby boy, Jesus, Immanuel.

Let’s pray.