God Is With Us

¹⁸ This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. ²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the Child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” ²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through His prophet: ²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a Child! She will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not have sexual relations with her until her Son was born. And Joseph named Him Jesus. Matthew 1:18-25 (NLT)

So far, Matthew has taught us a great deal about Jesus’ connection to the Old Testament storyline. From the very beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, Matthew has told us readers that Jesus is the Christ promised to Israel from the Old Testament (Matthew 1:1, 16-17). Christ is a Greek translation of the word Messiah or “Anointed One.” Then, Matthew tells us that Jesus is the Son of David; therefore, Jesus is King and the rightful Heir to God’s everlasting Kingdom promised to David’s Son (Matthew 1:1, see also see 2 Samuel 7:12-16; see also Psalm 132:11; Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5-6). Moreover, Matthew tells us that Jesus is the Son of Abraham; therefore, Jesus is the promised Son in which all people of the world will be blessed (Matthew 1:1; see also Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 15:9-21, Genesis 22:18; Zechariah 9:9-10; Matthew 28:18; Galatians 3:16). 

Next, Matthew tells us about Jesus’ miraculous birth from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18, 20). During the time of Mary’s engagement (betrothal) to Joseph, while she was still a virgin, Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit and conceived Jesus (Matthew 1:18, 20). Both Matthew and Luke’s birth story stresses that Mary was a virgin at the time of Jesus’ conception (see Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27, 34). Thus, Jesus’ virgin birth highlights that Jesus conception was indeed supernatural and from God’s Holy Spirit.

In the beginning, Joseph did not see Jesus’ birth as miraculous but adulterous, and he decided to break the engagement quietly with Mary (Matthew 1:19). No doubt, Mary’s pregnancy was also cause concerned among others. John 8:41 is an indication that Jesus’ birth caused Him problems as to legitimacy throughout His entire life. As Joseph was contemplating the engagement, an angel of the Lord visited Joseph and said, “Do not hesitate to take Mary as your wife for the Child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). In other words, Jesus conception in Mary’s womb was not a natural occurrence, and Jesus had no human father. Jesus was “conceived by the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20) and He is the one true and unique God Son of the living God (Matthew 14:33; see also Matthew 16:16; Mark 1:1; John 1:14, 18, 34, 49; John 3:16; John 11:27; John 20:28, 30-31; Acts 9:20-22; Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 15:28; Colossians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Hebrews 1:1-4; Hebrews 5:5). Furthermore, the angelic visitation told Joseph that Mary would have a Son, and he shall name Him Jesus “for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, NLT). The name Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua or Jehoshua, which mean, “Yahweh is salvation” or “the Lord saves.” Thus, Jesus is both our Savior and Redeemer.

When the angel’s speech concluded, Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Jesus’ miraculous birth was in fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy from the Prophet Isaiah (Matthew 1:22-23). The Prophet Isaiah predicted 800 years earlier that, “The virgin shall conceive a Child! She shall give birth to a Son, and He shall be called ‘Immanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:22-23; quoting Isaiah 7:14). A distinctive feature of Matthew’s Gospel is his continual references to fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (e.g., see Matthew 1:22-23; Matthew 2:15; Matthew 2:17-18; Matthew 2:23; Matthew 4:14-16; Matthew 8:17; Matthew 12:17-21; Matthew 13:35; Matthew 21:4; Matthew 27:9-10). Matthew wants to stress to his readers that God is sovereign and fully control His unfolding plan of salvation. 

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and accepted Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:24). However, Mary remained a virgin until her Son was born; and Joseph named Him “Jesus” (Yahweh is salvation) (Matthew 1:25). Jesus is Yahweh, and He will save His people from their sins. Likewise, Jesus is Immanuel (Emmanuel) because He is God with us who will always be with us, even to end of the age (Matthew 1:23; see also Matthew 28:20).

The story of Jesus’ birth is the story of God coming down from heaven to enter into human history and dwell among us (John 1:1-5, 14). Mary’s Child and Joseph’s legal Son is indeed God incarnate (in the flesh) who come down from heaven to be with us and to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21, 23; see also 2 Corinthians 4:4; Philippians 2:5-11). The fullness of God dwelt within Jesus (see John 1:1-5, 14; Colossians 1:19; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13). Moreover, Jesus is not just a Messenger from God, but Jesus is God (John 1:1; John 20:28; Romans 9:5).

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. ⁶ Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. ⁷ Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, ⁸ He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a Cross. ⁹ Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the Name above all other names, ¹⁰ that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11 (NLT)

References

New Student Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992).

The Living Bible Paraphrase (Tyndale House, 1971).

Ross, Mark E. Let’s Study Matthew (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009).