22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. ~ Matthew 1:22-25
Today, we complete our study of Matthew 1. In our previous study, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to name the child to be born to his fiancee Mary, Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. The virgin birth paved the way for God to be born a man and yet not be tainted by sin. He had to be a man in order to save man from his sin. The virgin birth made it so God’s mercy and grace wouldn’t compromise His justice. God’s mercy and grace creates within is a profound degree of gratitude. It also produces in us a greater degree of dependency because God does not take dependent people and make us independent. Our need for His grace and mercy will never end, even into eternity.
In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'"
Here, Matthew employed an Old Testament prophecy found in Isaiah 7 to explain the virgin birth. In Isaiah 7:10-14 we read, "10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 'Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above.' 12 But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!' 13 Then he said, 'Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.'"
The Lord invited King Ahaz to pray, to request of Him a sign. King Ahaz refused to do so. Despite the King's refusal, the Lord, gave a sign to the "house of David." The sign was about the virgin birth of the Messiah who was to come. This sign was elaborated upon by two of the four Gospel writers, Matthew and Luke. While Luke shared his gospel through Mary’s eyes, Matthew presented his through the eyes of Joseph. Both stories are about the same miraculous birth.
When Mary was found to be with child, Joseph was completely blindsided. Horrified by what Mary had undoubtedly done, Joseph planned to divorce her quietly. He did this because he didn’t want to expose her to public disgrace. He still cared for Mary, but he couldn’t have her as his wife. The girl that he thought he knew and loved turned out to be somebody that he thought he didn’t know. Joseph’s life had taken a very unexpected turn, in the blink of an eye, and he really wasn’t sure how to proceed. He was stunned! Joseph later discovered God had a plan for him the whole time. It wasn’t Joseph’s plan, but it was much better which is always the case with the Lord. When life takes us on a detour, it is very comforting to remember that God always has a plan that cannot in the end be thwarted. And when we believe that, and trust that, there is almost no detour too great to cause us to lose our way in our faith in the God of the Bible.
"Immanuel" means, “God is with us.” As Immanuel, the Lord Jesus is the "with us God." This idea of God in the flesh with us shows up throughout the entirety of the Book of Matthew. It shows up here at the beginning, it shows up in the middle and then in the end. Here in the beginning, we read that Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. In the middle, in Matthew 18:20, the Lord Jesus reminded His disciples, "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." Then, the final words of the Lord Jesus are found in Matthew 28:20 which reads, "Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age."
No matter what unpredictable event takes place in our lives, the Lord Jesus promises to be with us, guiding us into the truth. In Joseph’s case, God guided him by an angel appearing to him in a dream. God in many ways appears to us, and He guides us in this life. It might be through a Bible verse that we come across at just the right time. It might be a well-timed phone call or a visit from a friend. It might be a verse of a hymn that we had not noticed before. It might be in some completely unexpected and surprising way. But when we have the eyes of faith, and when we trust that God is with us, we will recognize His leading.
We are reminded of this promise in a very powerful way at the very end of Matthew’s gospel. After the Lord Jesus had been arrested, crucified, and raised from the dead, He again gathered His disciples together to send them out to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Before He sent them out, He reminded them of this promise. The last words spoken by the Lord Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel would echo the words spoken by the angel to Joseph before the Lord Jesus was even born. Words which are at the heart of the Gospel, "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." This also is His promise to you and me.
Joseph and Mary were confronted with circumstances beyond their control. They were undoubtedly confused, frustrated, and scared. And, to their utter surprise, God was right in the middle with them. God became like one of us to be with us. Our preoccupation everyday should be to look for Him in everything. In the Lord Jesus, God became fully man while remaining fully God. This is the most extraordinary miracle in the whole Bible. The truthfulness of Christianity hinges upon this miracle. And, since this miracle is true, everything else in the Gospel accounts make total sense. We do not find it strange that the Lord Jesus walked on water or that He fed over 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. It’s not strange to see Him healing the sick and commanding demons to leave the possessed. It’s not strange that He conquered sin and death as He rose from the grave. In the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, God Himself came to be with His people, never to leave us. Since our sin separated us from Him He became known as YHWH who saves the willing from the penalty of our sin.
In v.24-25 of today's passage we read, "24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus."
God's goal in becoming a man was to remedy our sin problem and thus enable us to enjoy His personal presence in our lives. Most think we enter into His kingdom through our goodness. But no one enters the kingdom of heaven because of their excellent moral resume. There is no such thing. Matthew makes it clear that those who come into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus have to be "saved" into His kingdom. The Lord Jesus came to bring us back to the Father by taking the penalty for our sin upon Himself while on the cross of Calvary.
The Lord Jesus secured the kingdom for us by dying on that cross where He took our wages for us. In the Lord Jesus, God has done the unthinkable. The Lord Jesus died to save us from a life being defined by the self. To put it another way, the Lord Jesus died to save us to God’s definitions of life. I close with a quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon who said, "The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself. God poureth no power into man’s heart till man’s power is all poured out."
