How Jesus came to Be (and Let’s do this thing!)

A prayer:  Lord God, before we read these most important verses in the gospel of Matthew, please sharpen our minds to understand and open our hearts to receive your truth.  Amen.

Read carefully and slowly—this is a very critical account:

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”¹ which is translated, “God with us.”

Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.” Matthew 1.18-25, NKJV

Right out of the gate, let us notice something together—Jesus is the only person who ever lived before he was born!  Deep.  Jesus is God eternal, but now born in the flesh—God incarnate.

And then, while looking at this most important passage, let’s notice together HOW TO APPLY SCRIPTURE, by asking ourselves several questions—    

1) What is the passage about, or what is it saying?

2) Was it for a specific person or persons, or mankind in general?

3) Does it have any application for me personally?

4) Is there any action I should take?  (Possibly even looking up parallel passage in another of the gospels or a related scripture)

These verses are about the precious birth of Jesus Christ and also give us great insight into the man Joseph, noted as a son of David, placing him in the Jewish bloodline.  For Jesus to be a Son of David in Jewish categories, legally his father also had to be a son of David.² Joseph and Mary were betrothed, so both young people remained in their homes with their parents until the time of the wedding usually in one year.  Betrothal is different than how we view current-day engagements for marriage; a betrothal was almost unbreakable.  In order to break off the betrothal, a writ had to be executed, (almost like a writ of divorce). For Mary to be found pregnant would have been absolutely disgraceful, and she could have even been executed, according to Jewish law.³ 

So as hurt as Joseph must have been by Mary’s news to him---pregnant, with child, really Mary??—can you only imagine what he thought, how he felt?  But he clearly loves Mary so much that he does not want her to be publicly disgraced or punished.  Joseph, the man God chose to be Jesus’ earthly father, and the father of Jesus’ half brothers and sisters,⁴ was a compassionate, humble, kind, courageous,⁵ loving and protective man.   

Then God speaks to Joseph in a dream, and Joseph believes, obeys, and complies by taking Mary as his wife, and refraining from consummating the marriage; Joseph even accepts a name for his baby son, Jesus, when it should have been his right to name his child.  Joseph was quite a man!

Let’s make the passage further ours now through application-let’s do this thing!⁶

1) What is the passage about, or what is it saying? The Birth of Jesus

2) Was it for a specific person or persons, or mankind in general? All mankind                           3) Does it have any application for me personally? Understanding the supernatural nature of Jesus’ conception, and the kind of man God chose to make Jesus’ earthly father.                                                   

4) Is there any action I should take?  Well, what do you think?  Consider the notes below—read more and think! 

You and I must do our best to get right understanding about Jesus Christ, right from his birth, because if you mess up who Jesus is, you mess up who God is.⁷

Click the links to read Scripture; questions to answer

1 – the prophecy: Isaiah 7.14  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+7.14&versio...

2 - Matthew: St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary, R. C. Sproul

3 - Luke’s gospel is more about Mary and her experience giving birth to her holy baby, and her Savior. Luke 1.26-56; Luke 2.1-19 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1.26-56%3B+2.1-19...

4 – Matthew 12.46; Luke 8.19; Mark 3.31; Matthew 13.55-56 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+12.46%3B+Luke+...

What were the names of Jesus’ brothers? 

5 – Why would I describe Joseph as courageous?

6 - Let’s do this thing:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prkBmmFQcEw

7 - C.S. Lewis