“The Savior”
[Matthew 1:18-25]
December 19, 2010 Second Reformed Church
Two thousand years ago, two teenagers, named Mary and Joseph, got betrothed. We would say, they got engaged. The difference is that in ancient Israel, betrothal was legally binding and required a divorce to break, just as marriage did and does.
Now, Mary and Joseph were betrothed, and Matthew tells us that they had not “come together.” Matthew is telling us that they had not had sexual relations, and they were still living with their parents – they were not living together.
And “Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” In Luke’s Gospel, he records that the angel, Gabriel, came to Mary and told her that she would bear the Son of God – a Holy Child – and she would bear Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, despite the fact that she was a virgin. And Mary submitted to the Will of God and glorified God and rejoiced in Him, despite the fact that pregnancy outside of marriage could get her killed, or at least shunned, by the community.
Do we have difficulty believing that Jesus was born of a virgin – that Mary became pregnant without sexual relations? Joseph didn’t know what to make of it – after Mary told him that she was pregnant by God the Holy Spirit – he didn’t know. He loved Mary and didn’t want to hurt her or have her subjected to the punishment for adultery – but he didn’t know. So he decided – in love – to divorce her quietly – gently – to send her away by the least harsh route. Justice for becoming pregnant had to come, but he didn’t desire to see her suffer greatly – he loved her and was a man of good character.
But before Joseph could go through with his plan, the angel of the Lord visited him in a dream. Now, we need to understand that there are two types of dreams – there is the normal dream that we have as our mind sorts through various experiences and concerns, and then there are divine dreams in which God addresses humans for His Purposes. This dream was of the second kind and had a divine seal on it – Joseph, though he was asleep, was address by the angel of the Lord – in reality – with a message from God.
The angel told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. Now, why would he be afraid? If Joseph went ahead and took Mary as his wife, and she was pregnant before they “came together,” people would naturally assume that Mary had committed adultery – they would have experienced public reproach for her pregnancy – and when they heard the story that she was pregnant by God the Holy Spirit – they surely would have been subject to public ridicule.
“Hey Joseph, so Mary is bearing the Child of God – is that what she calls you – or the guy that got her with child? Common, Joseph, be a man – throw Mary out for betraying you. Admit what really happened. Nobody believes that God formed a Child in Mary without a man being involved.”
All these things must have been going through Joseph’s mind – and it wouldn’t have just been for nine months. Can we hear the crowds – “He sure doesn’t look like you, Joseph.” “Are all of your children from God?”
It’s not realistic to believe that these two kids made up this story and kept to it for their whole lives – even to the point of seeing Jesus tortured and crucified. Wouldn’t they have cried out to Him, “Jesus, we lied to You – You’re not the Son of God – Mary was not a virgin.” Wouldn’t they have loved Him that much?
The angel told Joseph that Mary would bear a Son by the Holy Spirit – and He would be the Son of God – a Holy Child. And the angel told him that he was to call the name of his Son, Jesus, because “he will save his people from their sins.” The name, “Jesus” means “the Lord is salvation” or “the Lord saves.” The angel was telling Joseph that his Son would be the Savior – the Messiah – the Christ – the One that God promised back in the Garden of Eden Who would one day come and provide the way back to God for His people.
The Salvation that God promised – the only salvation that would make a person right with God – would be for all of a person’s sins to be forgiven and for God to account that person as righteous – when he is not actually righteous. And the only way that someone can be accounted as righteous when he is not righteous is if God gives that person God’s Righteousness. The only way for a person to be right with God is for him to be holy – sinless – perfect. And no one is. So, all of our sins have to be forgiven, and we have to be credited with Someone Else’s perfect keeping of the Law – that we might be considered righteous.
Consider the Lord’s Prayer – we pray that God would forgive our “debts.” So think of a bank – that our account for being righteous – holy – perfect keepers of the Law – is in debt – we owe, because we have sinned and continue to sin. Our account is in the red. We are in debt. And we are unable to pay the debt or even do anything that merits towards paying the debt. So the only way we can be right – out of debt – is for God – the banker – to forgive the debt – and to credit our account as full – of righteousness – which we must be given from Someone Who has kept God’s Law perfectly. We must be accounted as righteous.
Matthew tells us that this all happened to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” You may be aware that there are two objections to the orthodox Christian understanding of this text: first, the word that is translated “virgin” can also mean “young woman.” And Joseph and Mary’s Child was not named “Immanuel,” but “Jesus.”
To understand this, we need to turn back to the context of Isaiah. Ahaz was king of Judah, and the king of Syria and the king of Israel were preparing to attack. God told the prophet, Isaiah, to go to King Ahaz and tell him not to worry but to have faith in God, because God would wipe out Syria and Israel and protect Judah. But Ahaz doubted.
So God told Isaiah to tell Ahaz to ask for any sign and God would do it to prove Himself to Ahaz. But Ahaz wouldn’t ask for a sign, so Isaiah got angry and told him that God would then choose the sign: “Here then, O house of David Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted” (Isaiah 7:13-17, ESV).
Again, the word “virgin” can be translated as “young woman,” but John Calvin makes the point, “the promise is stupid if it does not mean an actual virgin.” Why? Because God is giving a sign to prove His intentions to save Judah. For God to say that a young woman would bear a child would be meaningless. Young women bear children all the time. The only way this sign is meaningful is to understand it to mean that a woman who has never had sexual relations will bear a child.
But what child does this promise refer to? There have been lots of argument and speculation, but the Only Child that makes sense – even though it was hundreds of years in the future – is the Son of Mary and Joseph. Because Mary was a virgin – never having had sexual relations, yet bearing a child. And, as Isaiah prophesied and the angel confirmed – this Child would be Holy – He would be able to choose the good over evil – He would not bear Adam’s sin – He would not be born with a sin nature. He was not born unable to choose the good – but, Like Adam before the Fall, He was born able to choose good – and He did, as the Holy Son of God.
And what of the names? If Jesus is God in the flesh, as the Scripture attests to us, is He not “God with us”? Even if Jesus did not bear the actual name, “Immanuel,” was that not Who He was and is? Jesus is God with us; the Savior.
Paul says of Jesus, “Great, indeed, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (I Timothy 3:16, ESV)
How did Joseph react to this news? He believed. The Word of God was received by him as it had been by Mary. They were convinced of the Truth of God and what God was doing in and through them. And Joseph woke up, took Mary as his wife – he did not divorce her. They did not have sexual relations until after the Child was born. And they called His Name, Jesus.
What then do we learn from this visitation?
Jesus is the Savior. He is the Promised One Who makes His people right with God.
Jesus had to be miraculously born. Jesus had to be born of a woman so He would be a real human being and live as we live and take our place before God. Jesus had to be born of a virgin so He would be born without Original Sin – without the sin of Adam – without a sin nature. And He had to be the Son of God – born of God – a divine generation – so He would be able to live a perfect and holy life and survive God’s Judgement for sin.
Mary must have been a virgin to conceive the God-Man – the Savior of God’s people. Joseph, her husband, was a man of great character and love. Mary was the mother of Jesus and through her union with God the Holy Spirit, she is known as the Mother of God.
Due to this union of God and human, Jesus was born wholly human and wholly God. That is the only way He could be our Savior.
Do you believe in Him?
Do you believe He is your Savior?
Do you believe that He was born of God and the Virgin Mary?
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for coming to earth in the Person of Jesus through the Virgin Mary that you might save us from our sin and account us as righteous. Help us to believe what the world calls foolishness. Help us to understand that this was necessary for You to be our Savior. And help to us rejoice in You now in this Advent season and always, knowing You to be our Savior. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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