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).
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