Immanuel Has Come!

Matthew 1:18-25 The historical facts of our Lord’s birth are confessed by two billion Christians each and every Lord’s Day in churches around the world:  “I believe in Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary”. 

These words of the creeds are not a theological construct (that might or might not convey the truth) nor are they the compromise of a church council (designed to please everyone because they say nothing).  Instead, they are the truth of Holy Scripture.  The Bible says that:

The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 

            Both Luke and Matthew record the miraculous facts of our Lord’s birth:  that by the power of the Holy Spirit, without the aid of a human father, within the womb of the Blessed Virgin, a child was conceived and began to grow.

That has been the universal teaching of the Christian church from the very beginning-- but also from the very beginning this doctrine of the virgin birth of our Lord came under attack.

Early on, it came under attack from Jewish rabbis who wrote the most hateful things imaginable about the Mother of our Lord.  And then as time went on, the attacks came from within the church—from scholars and theologians who felt they had a duty to remove the miraculous from Christianity to make it more believable for modern people.

But when the miraculous is removed from Christianity (when there is no Virgin birth; no incarnation; and no resurrection) Christianity simply ceases to exist. Christianity by its very definition is the story of God acting in human history in mighty and miraculous ways.  And when that is denied, Christianity becomes just another human religion of moral precepts with a wise teacher who lived a good life and now lies in his grave offering no real peace or hope to those who follow him.

But that is not the Christian faith revealed in Holy Scripture or taught in the church.  In fact, the faith taught in Holy Scripture instructs us to expect the miraculous when it comes to our Lord.  The Bible says that: 

“All this took place (that is the miraculous nature of our Lord’s conception and birth) to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)"

The miraculous nature of the Messiah’s birth had been prophesied 700 years before and virgin births were just as unlikely in Isaiah’s day as they were in Jesus’ day and as they are now. But the birth of Jesus was not just any birth.

From the moment of his conception within the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was fully God—God in the flesh of a tiny human embryo barely visible to the naked eye:  Immanuel—God with us—God for us—to save us and deliver us once and for all from our mortal enemies of sin, death, and the devil. 

The world around us may refuse to even think in these kinds of moral and spiritual categories of sin and evil and so they take these things lightly—but God does not take sin lightly—and neither did Joseph.  The Bible tells us:

Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 

            Joseph knew the promises of God going all the way back to Genesis that God would raise up a deliverer for his people.  He knew that the Messiah would be born of a Virgin; that he would be born in Bethlehem; that he would be born from the seed of a woman.  He just didn’t expect that woman to be would be Mary. 

And so when Mary became pregnant before their wedding night, there was no other possibility in Joseph’s mind except that she had been unfaithful.

Matthew tells us that that Joseph was a just and righteous man--a faithful child of God who trusted in the promise of a Messiah and who lived his in holy obedience to God’s law.  There was no way that he would have a part in Mary’s sin-- but such was his compassion for her that he wanted to deal with her as gently as possible.

There are many lessons to learn from Joseph’s life but his approach to sin and sinners might be the most important for us to follow as Christians. 

We have the same obligation as Joseph to live our lives guided by the rule of God’s law.  We have not been set free to live as we see fit and as our flesh tempts us.  Instead, we have been set free to serve God and one another, living lives guided and informed and shaped by the Ten Commandments. 

And so among us there ought to be a keen desire to live lives that are holy and pleasing to God, having nothing to do with sin.  Lives just like Joseph’s.

But we also ought to look compassionately upon the moral failures of others like Joseph did with Mary.  We have a tendency to get that turned around—judging others harshly while forgiving ourselves.  But Joseph shows us God’s way of mercy:  not excusing what he thought was her sin, but at the same time showing genuine compassion for her.  In this, the heart of the heavenly Father towards sinners filled his own heart. 

God loves us-- but he does not love our sin.  So we are to hate the sin in ourselves and in others, while at the same time loving the sinner and dealing mercifully and compassionately with them—like Joseph did with Mary.

And so Joseph resolved in his own heart to divorce Mary quietly as was his right under the law but before he could do so, he discovered that Mary had not sinned at all-- but rather had been the object of a miracle.  The Bible says that:

As Joseph considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 

            That the new born baby of Bethlehem was “Immanuel”, God with us, might not be such Good News for us if we did not know that the baby was also named Jesus.  After all, since Jesus is Immanuel, God is with us:  with us when we lose our temper--with us when we say unkind things—with us when we are angry and bitter in our hearts—when we are unforgiving.

But the Good News for us is that God is not just with us—he has saved us.  That is what the name “Jesus” means—the LORD saves.

His miraculous birth by the power of the Holy Spirit served that purpose.  He was the new Adam unstained by inherited sin and where Adam eventually fell victim to Satan’s schemes and sinned—where we have sinned--Jesus overcame temptation every moment of his life and lived the life of holiness that God requires all of us to live. 

That holy life was offered up upon the cross as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.  For every single sin that has ever been committed—for every single person who has ever lived—Jesus laid down his life. 

Through faith in him, a new life has been given to us as a free gift of God’s grace.  In Joseph we see what that life looks like.  The Bible says:

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,  but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

            We see in Joseph’s life that the new life that comes through faith in the Messiah is a life of obedience and sacrifice for Christ’s sake.  At God’s command through his angel, Joseph obediently took Mary into his home as his wife. 

This was not an easy thing to do.  There would be a lot of malicious gossip and ugly ridicule.  But as a child of God, Joseph knew that he had not only been saved from something by the birth of the Messiah—but for something—and that was to lead a life of obedience to the Lord’s will-- and so he did as the Lord commanded.

So it is for us.  Christmas is a time to rejoice in what God has done for us in Jesus.  But it is also a time to be renewed in our faith and rededicate our lives to him—a time to remember that God has set us free:  not to live life as we see fit, but to live for him.  

God has saved us for a purpose:  so that we can live a different kind of life—a life like Joseph’s—obedient to the Lord’s will.  That will be a sacrifice for us-- but it’s always been that way for the Lord’s people.  It certainly was for Joseph.

When Joseph took Mary into his home as his wife, he still did not make use of his rights as a husband because he did not want there to be any doubt that the Son entrusted to his care was anything but a child conceived and born by a miracle.  And so Joseph sacrificed that which was rightfully his for the sake of God’s saving mission.

So it is for us.  The very center of our lives as Christians is Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow him. The cross MEANS sacrifice—even sacrifice of those things that are rightfully ours.  We sacrifice our money for the work of the Gospel.  We sacrifice our comfort zone to share the Good News of Christ with others.  We sacrifice our autonomy in marriage and family to serve those closest to us.  We sacrifice our pride as we forgive those who have wounded us.

These sacrifices are the true Christmas gifts that we give back to God in thanksgiving for the Christmas gift we have first received from him—the gift of Jesus—our Immanuel—God with us.  Amen.