Christmas! December 25, 2022
Matthew 1:18-25
“I Know Him!”
Service Overview: Jesus was born to save sinners, but he didn’t stop there. He came so that we could know him and make known the fact that God is indeed with us in Jesus!
Memory Verse for the Week:
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3 (NIV)
Background Insights:
- Matthew 1:16 and 18 make it clear that Jesus Christ’s birth was different from that of any other Jewish boy named in the genealogy. Matthew pointed out that Joseph did not “beget” Jesus Christ. Rather, Joseph was the “husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Jesus was born of an earthly mother without the need of an earthly father. This is known as the doctrine of the virgin birth. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 13)
- “Jesus” (Iesous) is the Greek form of “Joshua” (cf. Gr. of Acts 7:45; Heb 4:8), which, whether in the long form yehosua’ (“Yahweh is salvation,” Exod 24:13) or in one of the short forms, e.g., yesua’ (“Yahweh saves,” Neh 7:7), identifies Mary’s Son as the one who brings Yahweh’s promised eschatological salvation. (D. A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol 8: Matthew, 76)
- The fact that Matthew never explicitly refers to Joseph as Jesus’ father reminds us that Jesus was born to an adoptive father. After being named and taken into the family by Joseph, legally, Jesus is Joseph’s son. And being Joseph’s son means that this adoption ties Jesus to the line of David as a royal son. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 22)
- Both Mary and Joseph belonged to the house of David. The Old Testament prophecies indicated that the Messiah would be born of a woman (Gen. 3:15), of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 22:18), through the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10), and of the family of David (2 Sam. 7:12–13). … It is worth noting that Jesus Christ is the only Jew alive who can actually prove His claims to the throne of David! All of the other records were destroyed when the Romans took Jerusalem in AD 70. (Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, 13)
- The word “engaged” in verse 18, which the ESV translates as “betrothed,” is also important to consider, since an engagement was much more binding in the first century than it is in the twenty-first century. Once you were engaged, you were legally bound, so to call off an engagement would be equivalent to divorce. After the engagement, the only thing left to do was for the woman to go to the man’s home to physically consummate the marriage and for them to live together (Blomberg, Matthew, 57). This would happen approximately a year after the engagement began. So when Matthew says that she was pregnant “before they came together” (v. 18), he is saying that Mary was with child before she and Joseph consummated their marriage physically. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 20)
Message Part 1: How to ruin Christmas in three easy steps…
Step 1: Reject Mary’s virginity.
(Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27; 1:34; John 1:14; Hebrews 7:26)
To ignore the virgin birth is to ignore Christ’s deity. And to ignore His deity is tantamount to denying it. Real incarnation demands a real virgin birth. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew, 29)
Part of the purpose of the virgin birth of Jesus is to show us that salvation does not come from man, but from God. Salvation is wholly the work of a supernatural God, not the work of natural man. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves from our sins, which is evident even in the way in which Jesus entered the world. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 20)
Step 2: Deny Jesus’ divinity.
(John 1:1, 14; 8:58; 10:30; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1; Rev. 1:8)
Is it strange to see Him feeding 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish if He’s the One who created their stomachs? (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 25)
The story of Christmas celebrates the fulfillment of God’s promises and the incarnation of God in human flesh. That meaning is memorably captured by John 3:16. God loves, and God gives in order to save… It meant giving rather than getting, and Christ gave until He was empty; but His obedience led to an empty tomb and ultimate vindication that will culminate when throngs in heaven and on earth and under the earth, not just a host of angels, will bow down and sing glory in the highest to the One whose name is above every name. (David Garland, Luke: Exegetical Commentary, 129)
Step 3: Dismiss Jesus’ humanity.
(Leviticus 17:11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 4:4–5; Hebrews 4:15; 9:22; 1 John 4:2–3)
Our Lord Jesus Christ is both God for man and man for God; he is God’s incarnate Son, fully divine and fully human. (J. I. Packer, Rediscovering Holiness, 26)
There is something about keeping Him divine that keeps Him distant, packaged, predictable. But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t. Let Him be as human as He intended to be. Let Him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let Him in can He pull us out. (Max Lucado, God Came Near, 24)
Why emphasize Jesus’ humanity? We must affirm Jesus’ full humanity, because it means that Jesus is fully able to identify with us. He is not unlike us, trying to do something for us. No, Jesus is truly representative of us. Follower of Christ, you have a Savior who is familiar with your struggles—physically, mentally, and emotionally. He is familiar with your sorrow. He is familiar with your suffering (Heb 2:18). This is why it’s comforting to affirm that Jesus was born of a woman, as the Son of Man. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 24)
Message Part 2: How to redeem Christmas in three “easy” steps…
A. Trust Jesus as Savior.
(Mat. 1:21; Luke 2:11; John 3:16; 11:25-26; Acts 4:12; 13:23; Rom. 5:8; 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 2:13-14; 1 John 4:14)
Jesus is God’s answer to man’s cry for salvation. He is the redeeming action by which God extricates helpless man from the predicament of sin and guilt. (William E. McCumber, Beacon Bible Expositions, Vol 1, Matthew, 19)
God uses the humblest of persons in service to the highest of purposes. In the wonder of grace Mary’s Son will be Mary’s Saviour. How unsearchable is the wisdom of God! (William E. McCumber, Beacon Bible Expositions, Vol 1, Matthew, 18)
The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 154)
B. Find peace in Jesus as redeemer.
(Is. 9:6; Luke 1:68; John 14:27; 16:33; Rom. 8:38-39; Gal. 3:13-14; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14)
The Coming of the Prince of Peace is a promise that everything that is damaged by sin will be restored. (Paul David Tripp Sermon, “Hope is a Person”)
All we could ever imagine, could ever hope for, He is… He is the Prince of Peace whose first coming has already transformed society but whose second coming will forever establish justice and righteousness. All this, and infinitely more, alive in an impoverished baby in a barn. That is what Christmas means – to find in a place where you would least expect to find anything you want, everything you could ever want. (Michael Card, The Promise: A Celebration of Christ’s Birth, 11)
He offers peace from God (Romans 1:7) to all who are the recipients of His grace. He makes peace with God (Romans 5:1) for those who surrender to Him in faith. And He brings the peace of God (Philippians 4:7) to those who walk with Him. (John MacArthur, God With Us, 22)
C. Know Jesus as friend.
(Mat. 1:23; 11:28; John 14:16–17; 15:13-15; 17:3; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 1:17; James 2:23)
Your knowledge of God should always lead to greater affection for God. (Karl Graustein, Growing Up Christian, 149)
Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight of the Father. What solace then must that soul be filled with, that has the possession of Him to all eternity! (John Bunyan)
Following Jesus doesn’t just entail sacrificial abandonment of our lives; it requires supreme affection from our hearts. (David Platt, Counter Culture, 250)
Gospel Application…
Christmas is about Jesus; who came to save, adopt, and befriend anyone who will receive what he offers.
(Mat. 1:21; John 1:12; 6:44; 14:6; 15:13, 15; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9; Titus 3:5)
Among the voices that found their way into the carpentry shop in Nazareth was your voice. Your silent prayers uttered on tearstained pillows were heard before they were said. Your deepest questions about death and eternity were answered before they were asked. And your direst need for a Savior was met before you ever sinned. (Max Lucado, God Came Near, 49)
The [Christian] message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity – hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory – because at the Father’s will Jesus became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross. (J.I. Packer, New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations, 159)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- How does a denial of Jesus’ virgin birth affect the gospel message?
- What details of Jesus’ earthly ministry demonstrate His humanity?
- What details of Jesus’ earthly ministry demonstrate His divinity?
- Why is it insufficient to say that Jesus was only a great moral example for us?
- How should Matthew 1:21 shape the way you read the rest of this Gospel?
Quotes to note…
In contrast to today’s Christ-less Christmas, God so orchestrated the events during the first Christmas to frame the supremacy of Christ in a remarkable way without diminishing His humility. On that first Christmas, Jesus did not appear to kings in a palace, nor was His birth surrounded with splendor and royalty. Rather, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the wise and better provide a backdrop that would not rob, but rather radiate the glory of the newborn King. Unlike today, the humble events surrounding Christ’s birth that first Christmas allowed Him to be the center focus and attraction of the day. (Randy Smith Sermon, “The Gospel According To Luke Skywalker”, December 20, 2015)
He was made man, who made man. He was created of a mother whom he created. He was carried by the hand that he formed. He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, he the Word. Without whom all human eloquence is mute. (Augustine)
The spirit of Christmas needs to be superseded by the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Christmas is annual; the Spirit of Christ is eternal. The spirit of Christmas is sentimental; the Spirit of Christ is supernatural. The spirit of Christmas is a human product; the Spirit of Christ is a divine person. That makes all the difference in the world. (Stuart Briscoe, Meet Him at the Manger, Christianity Today, v. 41, n. 14)
This Gospel anticipates a world far different from C.S. Lewis’s Narnia, where it is “always winter, and never Christmas.” The promise of the Gospel is that it is “always Christmas.” To be “in Christ” is to enjoy each morning as a Christmas morning with the family of God, celebrating the gift of God around the tree of life. (Kevin VanHoozer, This We Believe, 76)
Christmas is based on an exchange of gifts, the gift of God to man – His unspeakable gift of His Son, and the gift of man to God – when we present our bodies a living sacrifice. (Vance Havner, The Vance Havner Quote Book. Christianity Today, v. 31, n. 18)
The virgin birth of Jesus denotes the beginning stage of the redemption of humanity that had been created in the image of God but had been distorted by the effects of sin. The process of redemption will involve our becoming alive through the sacrifice he will provide for our sin (2 Cor 5:17-21), but then it will also involve patterning our lives after Jesus (2 Cor 3:18; 1 Pt 2:21). Jesus is the full image of God (Col 1:15-20); he is the one person whose humanity was never spoiled by sin (Heb 4:15). Since the outworking of the image of God is seen most fully in Jesus, the Christian life means to pattern ourselves after him. (Michael J. Wilkins, The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew, 86)
In order to save us, the Redeemer must in one person be both God and man, sinless man. The doctrine of the virgin birth satisfies both of these requirements. It reveals to us Jesus Christ, one divine person with two natures: a. divine, b. sinless human. (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Matthew, 143-4)