Matthew 1:18–25 “Love that Comes Near”

December 21, 2025

Advent Week 4 — Love

Matthew 1:18–25

“Love that Comes Near”

Service Overview: In Joseph’s quiet obedience, we see the beauty of God’s love drawing near. Jesus is Immanuel (God with us). Love is not just spoken, it is shown in the coming of Christ. Advent ends with awe and anticipation: God has kept His word, and Love has come down.

 

Memory Verse for the Week:

1 John 4:9 (NIV) – “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”

 

Background & Technical Insights:

• 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). Matthew’s genealogy traced the line through Solomon, while Luke’s traced it through Nathan, another one of David’s sons. 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)
• Mary may have been between the ages of twelve and fourteen (or even as old as sixteen); if this was Joseph’s first marriage, he may have been between the ages of eighteen and twenty (the age for men’s marriage considered ideal by later rabbis). Their parents likely arranged their marriage, with Mary and Joseph’s consent. Later traditions suggest that premarital privacy between betrothed persons was permitted in Judea but frowned upon in Galilee, so Mary and Joseph may well not have had any time alone together at this point. (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 52)
• Betrothal was a binding contract, requiring ‘divorce’ to break it. The OT punishment for unchastity before marriage was death, but divorce had by this time become accepted instead, and a private divorce before witnesses was a humane option. (D. A. Carson, New Bible Commentary, 908)
• Ancient Mediterranean fathers generally arranged their daughters’ marriages through a custom called betrothal. Betrothal was much more serious than our modern practice of “engagement”: it left the survivor of the man’s death a widow, and if both partners lived it could be ended only by divorce (for example, m. Ketubot 1:2; Yebamot 4:10). (Craig S. Keener, IVP New Testament Commentary, Matthew, 49)
• Interestingly enough, the word Matthew uses for “birth” in verse 18 is transliterated “genesis,” which means origin—the origin of Jesus Christ. The imagery, then, in the first book of the New Testament takes us all the way back to the first book of the Old Testament, for in Genesis, the Spirit brings life to men. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 27)

 

What does the coming of Jesus reveal about the way God loves?

1. God loves by sharing fully in our humanity.

(vv. 18–19, 23 cf. Isa 7:14; Isa 53:3; Mic 5:2; John 1:14; Rom 8:3; Gal 4:4; Heb 2:14–17)

[Jesus’ humanity] 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)

Though Matthew expounds nothing of its significance here, the virginal conception has regularly been understood as a way by which Jesus could be both fully human and fully divine. His father, in essence, was God, through the work of the Holy Spirit; his mother was the fully human woman, Mary. As fully God, Jesus was able to pay the eternal penalty for our sins (v. 21) for which finite humanity could not atone. As fully human he could be our adequate representative and substitutionary sacrifice. (Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, 62)

 

2. God loves by sending a sinless Savior to save.

(v. 21 cf. Isa 53:5–6; Rom 3:23–24; 2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1 Pet 1:18–19; 1 John 3:5)

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, Matthew, 19)

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is the central fact of Christianity. The whole superstructure of Christian theology is built on it. The essence and the power of the gospel is that God became man and that, by being both wholly God and wholly man, He was able to reconcile men to God. (John MacArthur, Matthew 1-28, 29)

 

3. God loves by drawing near and offering His abiding presence.

(vv. 23–25 cf. Deut 31:6; Ps 23:4; 46:1; Isa 41:10; Matt 28:20; John 14:16–18; Rom 8:38–39; Heb 13:5; Rev 21:3)

If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: “God with us.” (John MacArthur, Truth for Today, 376)

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. This baby born in Bethlehem was and is the center of all history. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 22)

 

Conclusion: If God is truly Immanuel, what does that mean for us today?

1. We are understood, even in our weakness.

(Ps 103:13–14; Isa 53:4; Matt 11:28–29; Heb 4:15; 5:2; 1 Pet 5:7)

A Jesus who never wept could never wipe away my tears. (C. H. Spurgeon, June 23, 1889 sermon on John 11:35, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 35)

Whatever we may be going through, there is not a note we can play, not a melody or a dirge, no minor key, no discordant note, that does not evoke a “sympathetic resonance” in Jesus. He mastered the instrument while he was here on earth, and he wears it in Heaven. Do you want sympathy? Do not go anywhere else. Dare not go to anyone but him! (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Hebrews, 130)

 

2. We are offered forgiveness, even in our failure.

(Ps 103:10–12; Mic 7:18–19; Luke 19:10; Rom 5:8; Eph 1:7; Col 1:13–14; 1 John 1:9)

Forgiveness is the divine miracle of grace; it cost God the Cross of Jesus Christ before He could forgive sin and remain a holy God… When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God. (Chambers, Oswald, My Utmost for His Highest, Devotion for November 20)

No child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of forgiveness. (John Bunyan, A Puritan Golden Treasury, 110)

There is no evil that the father’s love cannot pardon and cover, there is no sin that is a match for his grace. (Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God, 28)

 

3. We are never alone, even in times of uncertainty.

(Josh 1:9; Ps 139:7–10; Isa 43:2; Matt 1:23; Rom 8:35–39; Heb 13:5)

I don’t always feel His presence. But God’s promises do not depend upon my feelings; they rest upon His integrity. (R. C. Sproul, One Holy Passion, 38)

Stop and consider who this is who promises to be with you: this is the God who spoke the world into being, the God who rules over all creation—every star in the sky, every mountain peak, every grain of sand, the sun and the moon, all the oceans and all the deserts of the earth—the God whom myriads of angels continually worship and sing praise to, the God whose glory is beyond our imagination and whose holiness is beyond our comprehension. This God is with you. (David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, 29)

 

Gospel Connection:

In Christ, the God who came near entered our humanity, bore our sin, and now abides with His people, now and forever.

(Isa 9:6–7; Matt 1:23; John 1:14; 3:16–17; Rom 5:6–8; 2 Cor 5:19–21; Gal 2:20; Col 2:13–14; Heb 9:26; Rev 21:3–4)

We must always remember that union with Christ is possible because of the Son’s descent to earth, not because of our ascent into heaven. The basis of our union with Christ is Christ’s union with us in the incarnation. He became one with us so that we might become one with Him. (Kevin DeYoung, The Hole in Our Holiness, 98)

 

Spiritual Challenge Questions…

Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with friends, family, or your Life Group.

• What does it mean to you that Jesus shared fully in our humanity?
• How does knowing Jesus was sinless shape your understanding of forgiveness and grace?
• Why do you think people sometimes struggle to believe they are truly forgiven?
• How does the truth of Immanuel challenge the idea that God is distant or uninvolved?
• In what areas of life do you most need the reminder that you are understood by God?
• How does God’s abiding presence change the way we face uncertainty or fear?
• What would it look like this week to live as someone who is understood, forgiven, and not alone?

 

 

HFM @ Home

Discipleship resources from the Free Methodist and Heidelberg Catechisms, offering historic, Scripture-based teaching to help us grow in our shared faith.

From The Heidelberg Catechism

Q27. What do you understand by the providence of God?

1. The almighty and ever present power of God¹by which God upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures,²and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—³all things, in fact, come to us not by chance⁴ but by his fatherly hand.⁵

¹ Jer. 23:23-24; Acts 17:24-28. ² Heb. 1:3. ³ Jer. 5:24; Acts 14:15-17; John 9:3; Prov. 22:2. ⁴ Prov. 16:33. ⁵ Matt. 10:29

 

Q28. How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?

1. We can be patient when things go against us,¹thankful when things go well,²and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing in creation will separate us from his love.³ For all creatures are so completely in God’s hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.⁴

¹ Job 1:21-22; James 1:3  ² Deut. 8:10; 1 Thess. 5:18. ³ Ps. 55:22; Rom. 5:3-5; 8:38-39. ⁴ Job 1:12; 2:6; Prov. 21:1; Acts 17:24-28

 

From The FREE METHODIST Catechism

THE SECOND AFFIRMATION: JESUS CHRIST, HIS ONLY SON, OUR LORD

God has only one unique Son.⁷⁹ This Son has been the Son of God eternally. There was never a time when the Father existed but the Son did not. Even before the creation of the world, the Son always was the Son of the Father.⁸⁰

The Son is of the same nature as the Father.⁸¹ Thus, He is not a lesser being but equal to the Father as His true and only Son.

⁷⁹ Matthew 16:16; Mark 14:61-62; Luke 1:35; John 1:14, 18; Acts 9:20; Galatians 1:16; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:17; 1 John 1:7.

⁸⁰ John 1:1; Colossians 1:15; 1 John 1:1; see Proverbs 8:22.

⁸¹ Psalms 45:6; John 7:12; 9:5; 14:6; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 1:8.