The Birth of Jesus the Messiah - Part 3

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Years ago, there was an article written in Biblical Archaeology, which is not a conservative magazine by any means, an article entitled, “Did Jesus Exist?”  The author, who is certainly not an evangelical, wrote this.

As far as we know, no ancient person ever seriously argued that Jesus did not exist. Referring to the first several centuries C.E. (That is, Common Era.), even a scholar as cautious and thorough as Robert Van Voorst freely observes, “No pagans and Jews, who oppose Christianity, denied Jesus' historicity or even questioned it. If anyone in the ancient world had a reason to dislike the Christian faith, it was the rabbis, yet all Jewish sources treated Jesus as a fully historical person.”

You see, you cannot legitimately deny Jesus' historicity.  He really lived 2,000 years ago.  He really walked in ancient Israel.  The only real question is, “Was He only a human being?”  He was a human being, but was he only a human being?  

We're studying Matthew's account of the birth of Christ, Joseph's side of the story, where Matthew answers that question.  Matthew wrote his Gospel to prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah of the Hebrew Scripture, the divine Savior and King.  So, he began his Gospel by showing that Jesus was in the lineage of Israel's kings, the line of David.  Then he records the events surrounding Jesus' birth, which also prove who He really was.  Let's read it together, Matthew, chapter 1, and I'll begin reading in verse 18. 

Now the birth of Jesus Christ (The Messiah) was as follows:  when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.  But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”  And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

In this narrative of Jesus' birth, Matthew focuses on “Five Unique Characteristics of the Birth of Jesus That Prove That He Truly Is The Messiah.”  So far, we've considered two of those characteristics.  We examined in verses 18 to 20 “His Virgin Conception.”  Jesus was conceived supernaturally by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary.  Last week, we considered “His Saving Mission” in verse 21.  We examined “The Author of That Mission,” who is the One True and Living God.” Call his name ‘Jesus,’ the Greek form of the Old Testament Hebrew name ‘Yehoshua’ or ‘Yeshua,’ which means ‘Yahweh’ is salvation’ or ‘Yahweh saves.’  So, Jesus' name points to “The True God's Identity.”  He is Yahweh, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures; and to His character, He is, by nature, a God who saves.  

Secondly, Jesus' name also reveals, as we saw last time, “The Agent of This Mission” and that is “The Incarnate Son of God.”  The child was to be named Jesus because “He Himself would save His people.” Yahweh saves; the child will save.  Jesus is the only One qualified to be the Savior because He is Yahweh, and in terms of John's Gospel, He is the incarnate Son of God. 

Thirdly, we saw “The Application of the Mission.”  He will save, verse 21 says, “His people.”  The Father gave Jesus a people who belonged to Him as an expression of the Father's love for the Son, and Jesus came on a mission for “His People.”  

And then lastly, we saw “The Aim of the Mission.”  Verse 21 says, “…call His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.”  God sent the Child in Mary's womb to accomplish our redemption.  This Boy will rescue His people from their sins through His perfect life, His substitutionary death, and His glorious resurrection.  Jesus came to save His people from their sins. 

Now today, we come to a third unique characteristic connected to Jesus' birth that proves He is, in fact, the Messiah.  Number three, “His Biblical Credential,” His biblical credential.  Look at verse 22, “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON.”  Now it's possible that the angel, Gabriel, finished speaking in verse 21, and Matthew picks up in verse 22, sort of furthering the explanation.  That's possible, but it's more likely, I think, that the angel is still speaking through verse 23.  But regardless, the expression, “all this,” refers to everything the angel has explained to Joseph, the entire set of circumstances.  Notice what he says, “All this,” literally in the Greek, “has happened to fulfill what was spoken.”  And notice it was spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah.  Did you notice Gabriel's view of inspiration?  The Lord spoke through Isaiah.  That should be your view of inspiration as well.  

Then Gabriel quotes the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 7:14.  The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament.  It was translated some 100 to 200 years before Jesus, so 100 B.C., maybe a little earlier.  It's the Bible that's frequently used by even the New Testament authors.  So, the Septuagint is the Greek translation, and it's what Matthew quotes here, and he quotes from Isaiah 7:14.  This is the first of twelve times that Matthew will use this fulfillment language, “This was done to fulfill what was written.”  But it's the first of more than sixty times that he will quote an Old Testament prophecy to prove that Jesus is the Messiah.  Now Jesus' birth then was the fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah chapter 7.  That's what Gabriel is saying to Joseph. 

So, let's go back to Isaiah; go back to Isaiah, chapter 7, and let's look at it in its context.  Now let me give you just a little bit of historical context before we read it.  Here's the context of this famous prophecy.  Ahaz was king of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. After the kingdom divided, after the death of Solomon, Israel divided into two, the ten tribes of the north, the two tribes in the south.  Judah and Benjamin were the two tribes in the south; that's where the descendants of David reigned.  Ahaz was a king in the south, a king over Judah, the Southern Kingdom.  He was incredibly wicked; he filled Jerusalem with idols, he reinstated the worship of the god, Molech, and even burned his own son in the fire in sacrifice to Molech.  During his reign, two other kings of other countries, Rezan of Syria, somehow Syria always tends to be involved in the Middle East conflicts, Rezan of Syria, and Pekah of Israel–those are the ten northern tribes.  So, the ten northern tribes, the King Pekah there, and the king of Syria, Rezan, they decided to attack Judah and to replace Ahaz with a puppet king.  So, Ahaz formed a secret alliance, not with the Syrians, but with the Assyrians, an ancient civilization that doesn't exist anymore, to protect himself.  He essentially sold-out Judah.  So, God then sends Isaiah to confront Ahaz and to tell him that Judah would not be taken and that he should have trusted in Yahweh rather than his alliances.  So that's the context. 

Now let's read the prophecy together, Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 10.

Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD (Yahweh) your God; make it (that sign) as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.”  (In other words, make it something that doesn't ordinarily happen.  Make it something great.)  But Ahaz (Sort of in a false piety because he really doesn't want to know what God wants.) said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD (Yahweh)!”  Then he said (Isaiah said.), “Listen now, O house of David!  Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?  Therefore, the LORD Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel…” 

Now, what you have here is that prophecy to which Matthew refers.  Now some translations and some liberal commentators have argued that the Hebrew word translated ‘virgin’ in verse 14, it's the word ‘Almah’ in Hebrew, they say that doesn't have to mean ‘virgin,’ it could just mean ‘a young woman,’ which of course changes everything.  Clearly the New Testament makes a lot about the virgin birth of Christ.  This is one of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith.  So, how do we know that this is, in fact, ‘a virgin?’  Several arguments demand the translation ‘virgin’ in Isaiah 7:14; let me just give them to you.  

Number one, “The Hebrew word, ‘Almah,’ occurs seven times in the Old Testament but never of a woman who is married or clearly not a virgin.”  This is so certain that during the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther issued this challenge, “ If a Jew or a Christian can prove to me that in any other passage of Scripture, ‘Almah’ means a married woman, I will give him a hundred florins (That's about $15,000), although God alone knows where I may find them.”  He was so sure that he was betting money he didn't have. 

Number two, “The context of Isaiah 7:14 demands a miraculous birth.”  I mean, think about it, what we just read, God had just commanded, in verse 11, Ahaz to ask for a sign as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.  In other words, “Ask for something truly amazing, miraculous.”  When Ahaz refused, Isaiah said, “Okay, you won’t ask, the LORD Himself will give you a sign.”  Now imagine if he had said, as they want him to say, “Here's the sign, as deep as Sheol, as high as heaven, a young woman will conceive.”  That makes no sense in the context.  Clearly, this is something miraculous.  The only thing that fits the promise of something miraculous is a virgin conception.

Number three, “Isaiah 7:1 through 9:7, that passage reveals that this child is not a normal child.”  In chapter 8, verse 8, we learn that the Immanuel, promised in 7:14, owns the entire land of Israel; it's called “Immanuel's land.”  In chapter 9, verses 1 and 2, we're told that He will appear in Galilee of the Gentiles as a great light to those who live in the shadow of death.  But look at chapter 9, verse 6, “For a child will be born to us, a son given to us…whose name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”  Now, I have called my girls a lot of things, but I have never called them “Mighty God.”  Clearly, this is not an ordinary child.  In addition, look at verse 7, “This son, this child will reign on David's throne forever.” (Paraphrase).  This child has to be the Messiah.  He is unique.  He's Mighty God.

Number four, more than 100 years before Christ, “The Septuagint (LXX) translators translated Isaiah 7:14, using a Greek word that always and only means ‘virgin.’”  That's 100 years before Christ, so they weren't Christians trying to slant the text.  This is what they saw clearly the text taught.

And finally, number five, “Matthew, writing under inspiration, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uses the Greek word from Isaiah 7:14, he uses in the translation of that the Greek word that always and only means ‘virgin.’”  So, go back to our text. What Gabriel is telling Joseph is that Isaiah prophesied 700 years before that Jesus would be born of a virgin, that a virgin would conceive, and while still a virgin, she would bear a son.  That child would be the long-promised Messiah that Isaiah has so much to say about throughout his book.  Now, do you see what the angel was telling Joseph?  Mary's child, that three-month-old embryo, child in her womb, that is the long-promised Messiah.  He's the One! As the only child ever conceived by a virgin, He possessed a unique biblical credential.  Mary's child was the Messiah God had promised the world. 

There's a fourth unique characteristic seen in Jesus' birth, and that is “His Divine Nature,” His divine nature.  Look at verse 23, “‘BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,’ which translated means, ‘GOD WITH US.’”  Here in the final part of Isaiah's prophecy, Isaiah says that “they,” those who truly understand, those whose sins Jesus forgives, “they will call this child Immanuel.”  The Hebrew word ‘Immanuel’ is actually composed of two words, ‘imanu,’ ‘imanu,’ which means ‘with’ or ‘among us,’ and ‘el,’ which means ‘God.’   It's one of the Hebrew words for God.  Isaiah uses ‘el’ twenty-one times; he never uses it of anyone but God Himself or the impostors who claim to be.  In other words, he always uses it of deity. For example, Isaiah 45:22, God says, “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God (‘el’) and there is no other.”  So, Jesus is human; He's in the womb of the Virgin Mary at the very time Gabriel is saying this to Joseph, “He'll be born a human infant, but He's ‘el.’ He's also God; He's Immanuel; He's God among us.”                 

Now up to this point, Joseph has not been told directly the true nature of the boy in Mary's womb.  It's certainly been implied. He's called ‘Yahweh saves’ because “He Himself will save.”  But what has been implied is now explicitly stated–this Child is God; He's going to be “with us.”  Not only in the sense that He'll be on earth, but also in the sense that He becomes one of us, truly with us.  Bound up in the name ‘Immanuel,’ is the incredible mystery of the incarnation. By the power of the third member of the Trinity, the second member of the Trinity added human nature to His divine nature and lived among us as one of us.  Think about that; the eternal Son of God became just like you except for sin. 

Look at Romans, chapter 1, this is the Gospel Paul preached.  He begins in verse 1, he mentions the Gospel of God; verse 2, “…which He (God) promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.”  And that Gospel, verse 3, “…concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ (The Messiah) our Lord.”  Go over to Romans, chapter 9; Romans, chapter 9, verse 5, he's talking about the fact of the advantages that Israelites have.  And from the Israelites come, verse 5, “the fathers,” that's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and from them is “…the Christ (Messiah) according to the flesh.”  But that's not all the story, “…who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”  That's the reality; God became one of us and lived among us.  He had to be one of us to stand in our place as our Substitute; but He had to be God to pay the infinite debt of our sin, and Jesus was both.  He was the God-Man; He was ‘God with us.’  His birth demonstrated His divine nature­; He is Immanuel!

Now that brings us to the fifth and final unique characteristic of Jesus' birth that proves He's the Messiah, and it's “His Legal Adoption,” His legal adoption, verses 24 and 25.  Look at verse 24, “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife.”  Joseph did exactly what the angel commanded; he took that next step, the second part of the Jewish wedding.  He went to Mary's home; he brings her back to his own.  He formally marries her.  Now, Joseph is not the hero of the story, Jesus is.  But at the same time, you have to admire his amazing faith and trust in God.  I mean, as unbelievable as it seemed that Mary was still a virgin, even though she was pregnant, he accepts God's assurance through the angel.  And he obeyed in spite of the personal shame that it brought on him.  I mean, think about it, for the rest of his life, people would think that he'd gotten Mary pregnant out of wedlock.  Verse 25, he took Mary as his wife, “…but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”  “Kept her a virgin” is literally he “did not know her.”  In other words, he had no sexual relations with her until she gave birth.  The reason for that is clear–the prophet Isaiah said not only would a virgin conceive, but a virgin would bear a Son.  So, she was to remain a virgin until the birth of Jesus, until the child was born. 

By the way, the implication here is exactly the opposite of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the “Perpetual Virginity of Mary,” that she remained a virgin throughout the rest of her life.  No, she remained a virgin until the child was born.  The story is different from there.  Turn to Matthew 13; Matthew 13, and look at verse 55, Jesus revisits Nazareth.  When they hear His preaching they say, verse 55, Matthew 13, “Is not this the carpenter's Son?  Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?  And His sisters, are they not all with us?”  In other words, after Jesus was born while Mary was still a virgin, then Mary and Joseph had at least six children, four more boys and at least two girls.  Jesus grew up in a family with at least seven (?) six younger siblings.  It might have been more than that because notice it says, “all with us, His sisters.”  That implies there's more than two. 

But as a virgin, Mary gave birth to Jesus. And Matthew adds that Joseph called his name ‘Jesus.’  Now folks, that's an absolutely crucial part of the redemption story.  When Joseph names Jesus, he was officially and legally adopting Jesus.  He was accepting Jesus as his own Son.  The point of the last two verses of Matthew 1 is to explain how Jesus, who was not Joseph's son by natural generation, came to be his legal Son.  And because of that, Jesus was in the royal line of David through Joseph. That's how Jesus, the Son of Mary, came to be a genuine heir of David's throne and Israel's rightful Messiah.  

But listen carefully, this also points to the other reason for the virgin birth.  You remember, two weeks ago, I told you the first reason for the virgin birth.  Let me just remind you.  “The virgin birth was the only possible means by which the preexistent second person of the Trinity could add a human nature without becoming two persons.”  Think about it, a man and a woman come together, they conceive a child; that child is a new person.  But Jesus was already a person; He was the eternal Son of God.  If it had gone that way, he would have been two persons–an impossibility!  The virgin birth allowed the eternal Son of God, already a person, simply to add a human nature so that He's now one person but with two natures, a divine nature and a human nature. 

The second reason for the virgin birth was because of a man that most Christians have never heard of.  “The virgin birth protected Jesus from God's curse on King Jeconiah.”  He's also called ‘Coniah’ and he's called ‘Jehoiachin.’  Go back to Jeremiah; Jeremiah, and chapter 22; Jeremiah 22, and verse 30.

Thus says the LORD (Yahweh) (speaking of Jeconiah, Jehoiachin, Coniah, same name, same person, all different names for the same person), 

“Write this man down childless,  (Now, it doesn't mean he didn't have children; he did have children.  It means it's as if he didn't have children.)

A man who will not prosper in his days; 

For (because) no man of his descendants will prosper

Sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.” 

This is a permanent curse on Jeconiah and all of his descendants; not one of his descendants would sit on the throne of David as king.  

Now here's the problem.  God promised David that one of his descendants through Solomon would be the Messiah and would reign forever, but Jeconiah is in the line of David through Solomon.  And here's the real shocker, he appears in the genealogy of Jesus.  Go back to Matthew, chapter 1; Matthew, chapter 1, and look at verse 11, “Josiah became the father of (Here it is.) Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.  After the deportation to Babylon:  Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel…”  You see the problem?  To have the legal right to David's throne, Jesus' line had to come from David through Solomon and, therefore, through Jeconiah.  But because of the curse, Jesus could not be a physical descendant of Jeconiah.  It appears to be an irreconcilable conflict.  How did God solve this dilemma?  The answer is the virgin birth.  Since Joseph married Mary before Jesus was born and since Joseph named Him as his own Son, Jesus was legitimately the Son and legal heir of Joseph.  So, through Joseph, Jesus was legally in the royal line. But through Mary, according to Luke's genealogy, Jesus was physically related to David, not through Solomon and not through Jeconiah, but through Nathan.  You see how God solved the problem?  

Only the miracle of the virgin birth allowed Jesus to be the complete fulfillment of both the promise God made to David and the curse He placed on Jeconiah.  It was the only way.  The point is Jesus possesses the legal right to David's throne through His adoptive father, Joseph.  This, Matthew tells us, is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah happened.  And in this description of the birth, Matthew highlights the characteristics that identify Jesus as the Messiah and your rightful King, “His Virgin Conception.”  The Holy Spirit created Him through a miraculous act in the womb of a virgin.  

“His Saving Mission”–the spiritual rescue of His people from their sins.  “His Biblical Credential”–His birth to a virgin underscores His credential as the Messiah that Isaiah had prophesied 700 years before.  “His Divine Nature”–He's not only the human Son of a woman, but He is “God with us.”  And “His– Legal Adoption”– He has the legal right to David's throne through His adoptive father, but without the curse that came with Jeconiah.  What an amazing beginning to Matthew's Gospel!  

How does the Holy Spirit want you to respond to what we studied together this morning?  Well, Matthew intended this paragraph to provide proof from the events surrounding Jesus' birth that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah.  His birth fulfilled two Old Testament key prophecies regarding Messiah's birth; He would be in David's line, and He would be the one born of a virgin that Isaiah had prophesied.  Folks, there has only been one virgin birth on this planet.  That's God's proof that Jesus is who He claimed.  We have the testimony of God Himself in the Scripture. We have the testimony of the angel Gabriel to Joseph.  We have the testimony of Mary in Luke 1 and 2, and Mary was neither gullible nor flighty.  We have the testimony here of Joseph, a skeptic, but who became convinced in spite of the sacrifice to his moral reputation that Jesus was and is all that He claimed.  And then we have the testimony of Jesus Himself through His words in the Gospels, through Matthew and Luke and Paul who sanctioned Luke's Gospel, all of whom were Jesus' legal proxies.  They're speaking for Jesus, telling us, “This is the truth.”  There are plenty of witnesses to this reality.  So, how do you respond? 

If you are already a repentant, believing disciple of Jesus Christ, this passage should powerfully strengthen your faith in Him.  What happened at the first Christmas and what happened in the nine months before were miracles intended to prove to you and to the world that Jesus is everything He claimed; that He's worthy of staking your life here and your eternity on.  He is not only one of us; He is “God with us.”  He's worthy of your trust; your faith in Him will not be, cannot be, disappointed. Matthew wrote, so that those who believe in Jesus would have their faith strengthened and built; that's my desire for you. 

If Jesus is not your Master and Lord, notice I didn't say, “If you profess Jesus,” I said, “If Jesus is not your Master and Lord.”  You see, if He's not your Master and Lord, it doesn't matter what prayer you prayed, what you said in the past, what experience you had at some point in the distant past.  If He's not your Master and Lord today, then you're not a Christian.  And if that's true of you, this passage is intended to give you sufficient evidence to truly put your faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus of Nazareth had a miraculous conception and birth. That alone proves that He's all He claimed to be.  But before we're done with Matthew's Gospel, there will be so much more evidence.  You see, these verses that we just examined together tell us who Jesus is.  The Baby in a manger is the virgin conceived, virgin born Messiah that God had promised.  He is Yahweh in the flesh.  He is “God with us.”  But these verses also tell us why He came.  He came to “save His people from their sins.”  How?  Matthew 20, verse 28, Jesus said He came to save us from our sins by dying as a ransom payment to God so God could be just and still forgive our sins. 

This story is an invitation to you. More than an invitation, it's a command to you to repent of your sins and believe in the Son of God who came.  And if you refuse to do that, you are simply adding another sin that you will face at the judgment because you are rebelling against the invitation and command of the God who made you and who sent His own Son into the world.  Repent and believe in Him; that, friend, is your only reasonable response! 

Let's pray together.  Our Father, thank You for our time together.  Thank You for the encouragement this passage gives to us who have believed in Jesus.  Thank You that our faith cannot, will not, be disappointed.  We see the evidence, not only in His genealogy, but in His miraculous conception and birth; He's everything He claimed.  And He's worthy of our trust for this life and for eternity!

Father, I also pray for those who are here who don't know You.  Lord, shatter their confidence in themselves, or if it's a false profession, shatter that as well and bring them to truly know You through the Gospel they've heard this morning.  May they truly repent of their sins, put their faith in Your Son as Savior and Lord.  We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.