The Birth of Jesus

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0:20This morning we continue our series in the gospel of Matthew. And so again, we wanna welcome the newcomers who are among us and visitors. We're glad you are here. We're glad for those who are tuning in online, we hope you'll join us in person as we turn now to God's word to hear God speak. Would you join me as I pray, father in heaven, as we come to this familiar passage, we pray that you would give us eyes afresh to see the wonders here in your word. Take out our hearts of stone and put in hearts of flesh so that we would behold Christ in all of his multifaceted glory. Do that for our joy, for our edification, for the building up of your church and for your glory this morning.

1:10We pray in Christ's name, amen. In our family, we like to tell the birth stories of our kids. So I wonder if any of you do this around your dinner table every so often you like to kind of recount the various stories. And so we have one where one of our children was born down at HCMC, Hennepin County Medical Center. And so I remember dropping off Stephanie along with the doula at the hospital there. I went to take advantage of the free parking at Bethlehem Baptist Church and parked there. I don't recommend this, but I didn't get towed. And then I walked up the street and as I was walking thinking it would take a while 'cause I remember how our first one went, I got a call from the doula and she says, if you don't run, you're not gonna see the birth of your child.

1:58And so I ran, or there was the other time I was scheduled to preach, this is Allen in Wheaton. I was scheduled to preach, I think it was a week before the due date. And so I told Stephanie, whatever you do, don't go early and if you do go early, don't go into labor on Saturday night. And sure enough, without any regard for my preaching schedule, Stephanie went into labor on Saturday night and she gave birth early Sunday morning, maybe five or six. And so I remember calling my fellow pastors and said, I'm ready to go. I have my suit, I have my shoes, I have my sermon, I can come preach. And they said, stay there with your wife and newborn baby.

2:40So that was good advice. And I preached that sermon the following Sunday. So it's not unusual to recount birth stories. Uh, you see a group of gathered women maybe with a little newborn and and the ladies wanna know, so so how did it go? And and they have sort of their version of war stories, right? The, the failed epidural, the the pain, the many hours or even dozens of hours of labor, the emergency c-section. And, and you know, my favorites are the dramatic ones where someone gives birth in a car or you know, at home alone in a bathtub or something. Telling birth stories is very natural to our culture.

3:23But that's what makes our passage this morning so unusual. This account is often understood as the birth of Jesus. Perhaps in your Bible it has the head or the birth of Jesus Christ, but this account describes the conception of Jesus rather than the birth. And we don't tell conception stories 'cause that would be very awkward and weird for obvious reasons. Despite this account's familiarity, it's actually quite scandalous. Mary is pregnant out of wedlock, she's betrothed to Joseph, he's going to divorce her. And if God does not intervene, this will be a disaster. So why does Matthew give us this account this morning?

4:07What is he doing? Well, Matthew's trying to convince his primarily Jewish audience that Jesus is not just born of Mary and Joseph, but Jesus is from God. His identity is of the divine. He has divine origins. And this account reveals some of the central truths that all Christians have held for all time that we just read in the Apostles creed. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary. Our passage will reveal that Jesus indeed came as the Savior who would save his people from their sins. He would be Emmanuel. And this was prophesied more than 700 years in advance. And so I imagine as we come to a text like this, it's, it's very familiar for many of us, some of you fully expected to sing Christmas carols this morning.

5:09I told Dan none of that until at least late November, right? We come with skepticism, the this is the virgin birth is a scientific impossibility. The logical explanation is sexual immorality. If this account is designed solely to convince Matthew's hearers, then it's hard to believe. And the reality is it requires faith and spiritual sight. And so that's what I'm praying for us this morning. It means that this birth account both conceals and reveals what's taking place. That Jesus is God, he is from God and he is God. That this is part of God's sovereign plan. And it shows us all of the scandalous details in this text.

6:03Show us that God has come to dwell among his people. And that's the central truth. I want us to make sure that we walk away with this morning that truth transforms everything. Transforms how we live, transforms how we go about our work, transforms how we pray for our kids, transforms how we read the news that God has come to dwell among humanity. So we're gonna walk through this passage in three main points. The scandal discovered the spirit at work and then the scriptures fulfilled. So scandal, spirit, and scriptures. So the scandal discovered, look with me at verse 18, it begins when his mother, Mary had been betroth to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

6:59So we see the shocking nature. Mary who has never known a man intimately is pregnant. And this was very shameful in Deuteronomy chapter 22, verses 23 and 24. It actually gives instructions what should happen to a betrothed virgin. And the man who lies with her, it says this, bring them both out of the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death with stones. And then it says, you shall purge the evil from your myths. This is as serious as it gets. This is punishable by death. It's called evil. And God has given instructions how to treat such a thing. Now today in our culture, premarital sex, pregnancy out of wedlock and even abortion are so acceptable and normalized that it's actually considered shocking if a couple doesn't engage in premarital sex or cohabitation prior to getting married.

8:04It. It just shows how our culture can become so conformed to that of sin. And it's just a reminder once again this morning. 'cause I know that there are people who have that question before them don't believe the lies. God has designed sexual intimacy for marriage and marriage alone. So even in a gathering of Christians, it needs to be said that we need to preserve the holiness of the marriage bed among God's people. Now betrothal, we often think of it a little bit like engagement, but it really was more like marriage than engagement. It's this mutual promise or contract for future marriage. And so it would typically happen this way.

8:51The fathers of the two individuals would come together. They would make an agreement that, you know, my daughter and your son, why? Why don't we have them marry? And during that time, while they were still young, 'cause they would be young that they could decide not to get married, but then they would come to a place where they would be betrothed. And this was a formal ceremony. The young woman would probably be in her early teens and the young man in his late teens or early twenties, and this be patrol though, would last about 12 months. And it was binding so that it could only be broken by divorce or by death.

9:29You notice in verse 19, Joseph is called her husband. So it's as good as though they are married, they're known as husband and wife. The woman is still living with her parents. There's no sexual intimacy, but it's more or less considered married. A dowry would've been exchanged. It's like having the marriage ceremony. Uh, and then 12 months later, finally consummating the marriage. Not ideal, right? And so that's what Beville would've been at that point. And so with all that background in view, the scandal of Mary's circumstances are all that much more clear. She's pregnant, she's betrothed, it's not his baby.

10:11He would know. And now this is punishable by death. Matthew makes really clear in verse 18, it's before they came together. And so Mary's pregnancy is discovered and Joseph resolves to divorce her quietly because it tells us that he's a just man. He, he's righteous, he's faithful to the law. And so what he could have did is brought her before the entire town and had her openly shamed and perhaps even stoned to death. But he could also divorce her quietly, which would just be to give her a certificate of divorce and bring that between two witnesses before two witnesses. So we kind of see the, the scandal discovered Mary's between a rock and a hard place.

10:53She's done nothing wrong. She's not been immoral, but her profile is beginning to show the effects of what is seemingly immorality in Luke's account. She replies this way when the angel reveals to her that she's going to conceive by the Holy Spirit, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me, according to your word. This is such a beautiful, incredible statement of faith, knowing exactly the scorn, the shame that would come upon her. Joseph is also between a rock and a hard place, isn't he? He's done all the right things. He's not touched her now. She's pregnant, he's betrayed, he's humiliated and he's angry and he has to do the right thing.

11:47If he's a just and righteous man, he needs to put her away. He needs to divorce her, but he doesn't want her stoned. And so the compromise is that he's going to quietly divorce her that way. It upholds God's righteous law, but does not put Mary to undo shame. And the irony of the entire count of this scandal is that there's no scandal at all. It was designed by God precisely this way so that we would be able to see the wonder and the glory of the conception and of the birth of Christ. This leads us now to our second point, the Spirit at work. Verse 20 says, as Joseph was considering these things, meaning he was thinking about what to do, he had already kind of decided.

12:36It says, 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. First God intervenes and clues Joseph in how Mary got pregnant. It's by the Holy Spirit and it's appropriately vague. And frankly, this is one of those mysteries. We don't know how this happened, but we know that it has happened. And the point is that Jesus is from God. He does not just have Mary's DNA, he has the DNA of God himself.

13:24He is from God and he is God. Second, the angel calls Joseph the son of David. It reminds us of what we saw last week, doesn't it? That Jesus is this Davidic, king Joseph is a descendant of King David. And Jesus is going to be this descendant of King David as well. Though he's not his biological father, he is his father nonetheless adopted by Joseph. And he's now in the line of King David. The third thing we notice is Joseph's told, do not fear to take Mary as your wife. And there is much fear in this moment. Uh, there is a great cost for Joseph to take Mary as his wife. The the constant whispers, the pointing, the laughing, the shame, the scandal, it would follow them all the days of their life.

14:20They're like, whoa, wait, you got married when? And Jesus was born when simple math, uh, this followed them all their days when Jesus was having an argument with the Jews in John chapter eight. And they kept saying, well, we're children of Abraham. We're not illegitimate children. And then they say to Jesus, we were not born of sexual immorality. And the inference there is you were, how dare you accuse us of not being true Jews. You are the illegitimate one. You are the bastard, not us fourth Joseph is to name their baby Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. And as we saw last week, Jesus means Yahweh saves this child is to be the savior.

15:13And so the message from this angel clarifies that Jesus is not just the Davidic king, not just the Messiah and the Christ the way that they thought he would be, that he would come and usher in all of this military victory and release the shackles of the Romans so that the Jews could finally be, be independent once again. But that Jesus, this messiah, this Christ, this savior would come and his primary mission would be to save his people from their sins. That he would bring salvation, forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death itself. And it's a reminder for us this morning that our greatest problem is our sin that keeps us estranged from God.

16:02It's so easy to look out in the world and say there's so much wrong, all this oppression, all these wars, all this global unrest and the economy and a presidential election and exploitation and all of this deception that's taking place and to get all bent outta shape and just think if only God would give us a, a, a better ruler, a a, a better world. And yet all of our problems are rooted in one foundational thing. Sin is our problem this morning. And by God's grace, he has sent us the solution for that reality. Jesus, all of humanity has disobeyed God's law fallen short of his perfect standard.

16:50All of us stand under his wrath, wrath against sin and sinners alike. And in God's grace, he sent Jesus to be Emmanuel, God with us, to come to save his people from our sins if we're Christians. And that does not make our heart leap. Oh, we need to look in the mirror and question, why have we become so dull to the most glorious reality in all of human history, that Jesus has come and he's come to save us from our sins, keeps us estranged from God. The gospel is summarized in a verse like Romans five, eight, that God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

17:45The scandal gives way to the spirit at work in this situation. And now it comes to fulfill the scriptures. This is our third point in verses 22 to 25. Look at verse 22 and 23. This is going to get a little technical, I'm just warning you in advance. All this took place 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 Emmanuel, which means God with us. Now verse 23, there, if you have a paper Bible, you can see it's gonna offset a little bit. And it is a quotation of Isaiah chapter seven verse 14. And it's the first of many quotations in Matthew's gospel that uses kind of that fulfillment formula.

18:31And all sorts of questions are raised by this. How does Jesus fulfill Isaiah's prophecy? Did Isaiah expect a virgin birth? Did Isaiah pro uh, prophesy consciously about the my the Messiah? Or was he thinking he was talking about something else in the original context? Does the word virgin mean virgin or does it mean something else? And then we have to ask the question, how is Jesus Emmanuel if he's never called that in anywhere in the scriptures or the gospels? So to understand this, I'm gonna encourage you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter seven. So I don't have the page number, but if you turn to kind of the roughly the middle of your Bible that gets you to Psalms, then you get Proverbs, then I think you get Ecclesiastes songs of Solomon.

19:16And then the first major prophet is Isaiah. So turn with me to Isaiah chapter seven and we're gonna walk through these kind of first 14 verses. I'm not gonna read 'em, but I'm gonna walk you through them and guide you through them. And to understand Isaiah seven 14, we have to understand the broader context of Isaiah seven. So Isaiah seven takes place during the reign of King Ahaz. And you saw his name earlier in the genealogy in verse nine. And this is about 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus. And during this time, there are two kings, resin, the king of Syria and Pika, the king of the northern tribes of Israel.

19:57And they have teamed up to come up against the southern kingdom of Judah and they have come to demolish it and to tear it apart. You can kind of see that in verse one. They came to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. And how does King Ahaz, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah respond? He is fearful and afraid. You see that in verse two, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. This is not kind of Psalm one or oaks of righteousness trees. This is the, the leaves shaking kind of trees. They trembled in fear.

20:37So God sends the prophet Isaiah to King Ahaz and he tells him in verse four, do not fear. Do you see that? Be careful. Be quiet. Do not fear and do not let your heart be faint. So he says, the threats of these two kings are going to not succeed. They will fail. It's you see that in verse seven. It shall not stand and it shall not come to pass. In fact, he assures him that 65 years will pass and then e from the northern kingdom will be shattered from being a people. You can see that in the latter half of verse eight. And a second reassurance comes now in verse 11. So he, he said to him, don't worry that their plans are not gonna be successful, Ephraim, the northern kingdom is gonna get destroyed.

21:28And then, now let me give you a sign in verse 11. Ask a sign of the Lord your God and let it be as deep as fuel or as high as heaven. So what's going on here? God says, I, I'm promising you, I have got you. I I'm gonna watch out for you. And so ask for any sign, any sign in the world to show that I'm gonna be faithful to my word. It's like telling you know, a king saying, ask me of anything up to half of my kingdom and I'm gonna grant it to you to show my generosity of heart. And how does, uh, king Ahaz respond? He says in verse 12, here, I will not ask and I will not put the Lord to the test.

22:13And this on its face sounds really humble. Like, oh, Ahaz got it. He's really humble. And yet that is not what's happening at all. King Ahaz already had his plan A and it does not mean he's trusting in God, he was not going to trust God at all. He wants nothing to do with God's promise, nothing to do with God's deliverance, nothing to do with God's sign. And he actually has a plan to recruit the king of Assyria to come and deliver him. And you can actually read all about that later on this afternoon, two Kings chapter 16, this records all of king Ahaz kind of exploits, if you will. He had recruited this other pagan kingdom, the strongest one of its time to come and to deliver them.

22:59And he was gonna hire him out, giving him all the gold of his house and of the temple. And it's at this point, Isaiah speaks our text in Isaiah seven 14, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. He says, you don't wanna sign, you're gonna get a sign either way. The Lord will give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. So what is going on? This is not like easy on face value, right? This virgin will be with child. And before this child knows how to discern what is right or wrong, the land of the two kings will be deserted. You can kind of see that in verses 14 to 18 here.

23:40But because king A has refused to trust Yahweh, God will bring the king of Assyria to bring judgment. And the king of Assyria would ravage the land like flies or BS or like a raging river. And this is in kind of the latter half of chapter seven and verse eight of Isaiah. So all of this means that A has did not want a sign from God. He had his own plan. And God says, it doesn't matter what you want, I am God, I am Emmanuel and I've come to be among my people. And so I will deliver you because that's what you need in this moment to show you my power. That you don't need to trust in the King of Assyria, but because you're trusting in the king of Syria, he's going to come and bring judgment and he's gonna demolish you.

24:28And so instead of trusting God, he's gonna be given over to his enemies. And so Isaiah teaches that if we trust in anything other than God, that thing will become the source of our downfall. It it's a principle that's kind of at work throughout the scriptures. Idolatry is described as you become what you worship. Or in the proverbs it teaches whoever sows injustice will reap calamity. If you wanna make your money by robbing people, guess what? I won't be surprised if you get killed in the process that, that that's what a verse like that means. Proverbs 22, 8 or whoever digs a pit in order to snare someone else will fall into it.

25:08Proverbs 26, 27 or whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap. So the broader lesson here is that you will reap what you sow, what you trust, what you love will become what ensnares you. And and there's a lesson here for us this morning that what we trust, if it's not God will become the thing that ensnares us. I if you put your hope, if perhaps you, you wanna drown out your sorrows in alcohol or drugs, that will become the thing that ensnares you and ruins your life. If you seek your joy in money or career or success or fame, those things will become the source of your downfall and will become the source of great heartache.

26:02We will become what we love. And so Isaiah seven 14 is not just this happy go lucky message of God is coming to save you. It's a message of both deliverance but then also of destruction and judgment. And the lesson is that you are to trust the Lord. Because when God comes, there is both salvation. But then there is also judgment. Now this meant that a young woman who was a virgin at that point in King Ahaz day would likely get married, then get pregnant, give birth to this child, and this child would serve as a sign for King ahaz of this eventual deliverance that would happen in his time. Now when Matthew cites this text in Isaiah, how is he using it?

26:52He understands that there's this secondary meaning or this, uh, kind of fuller fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Jesus. It's called multiple fulfillment or dual fulfillment. And we see that in verse 22 to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. And the prophecy was fulfilled in part in King eight has his day. But like so many things in the Old Testament, it wasn't just for them, the temple system in the Old Testament, was it just for Israel at that point? No, it was to prefigure and to prepare all the people that's coming someday is the lamb of God. That's why you're sacrificing all of these lambs, all these turtle doves, all these bulls so that someday when the lamb shows up, you would see that all of your history was pointing to this singular moment.

27:42In the same way Isaiah is saying that there is coming this child in your moment right now that's gonna signal this deliverance and this judgment. And he's saying now it's come in a fuller, bigger, better way that this fulfillment has come in King Jesus. And Jesus will signal deliverance and judgment when Jesus comes. This royal divine child would usher in God's greater kingdom. And how do we know that? How do we know that Isaiah was talking about someone greater in the future? It's because when you read Isaiah, you realize none of that was fulfilled in that first child. Isaiah nine, six, you guys know this verse for to us, a child is born to us, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor.

28:38Mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace did that child in Ahaz day usher in worldwide global eternal peace. No, they were anticipating someone who is to come or Isaiah 11, one, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. And the spirit of wisdom and understanding and the spirit of counsel in might and the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord mentioned four different times the spirit would be upon this child. And when we come to Matthew one, how is he conceived by the Holy Spirit?

29:24This Raider child has come in Jesus. So what does it mean when Matthew cites Isaiah And and what's the payoff for us, if you will? Uh, first I think we need to see that God has been working from the beginning of time from all of human history. He doesn't just kind of set the world in motion and then check on it every couple of centuries. He's ordained all of human history to climax in the person and work of Jesus all the way back, even to Genesis one, one, Jesus was there. He was upholding the world by the word of his power. He is the great offspring of Genesis three. And as we look forward, he is this child who would usher in God's salvation and judgment.

30:18So all of this is to help us anticipate Jesus so that when he comes, we don't miss him. Second king a has refused to ask for and receive a sign. And a sign came anyway whether you want it or not. I'm bringing a sign because I am God, I'm doing a work. And if you won't trust me, I'm bringing judgment. And in the same way this morning, this is not just the kind of fuzzy story, give us warm feelings, uh, of when Jesus was born. You know, we love baby Jesus. I don't really love the Jesus that comes in revelation with a flaming sword by his side and eyes of lightning. And, and, and the reality is God has come in the flesh, in the person and work of Jesus.

31:07Whether you want a sign or not, whether you want prophetic fulfillment, fulfillment or not, Jesus has come. And the question is for all of us, how will we respond to King Jesus? How will we respond to this child? For those who believe and receive Jesus, we find joy, salvation, and deliverance. And for those who reject him, judgment is indeed coming, destruction is coming. And so third Emmanuel in light of Isaiah 4, 7 14 is a word of comfort and a word of warning. We, we often think of Emmanuel God with us as mainly comforting. Like, oh, he, he's like that golden retriever I could just kind of snuggle up against and, and we domesticate God in all of his power and glory and fearsome awe.

32:11Jesus is called Emmanuel. He's never actually called that. But he, it describes his work of revealing God's presence among his people. And it means that God is right now here and among his people and he is here to both deliver and to judge. But in our text it tells us that he's come to save his people from their sins. He's coming back though to judge the living and the dead. And that's also in our apostles creed, isn't it? And so this morning don't reject the saving one who has come to save his people. This passage is designed to force the issue for all those who come to this text and say, he's either of God, he's Lord, and I need to come to King Jesus, or I'm gonna reject him to my own peril.

33:10Come to Jesus. He calls all to repentance this morning. And I know in a group this size that there are some who, who have heard preaching week in and week out for weeks, months, years, decades even. And you've never bowed the knee. You, you've never come to submit yourself to King Jesus. And the call of the scriptures this morning is to come. He is Emmanuel, he is the savior, he is God with us. And he has come to save us from our sins. And you can come to him with your sins and he will grant forgiveness. But if you refuse, just know that he is coming as a judge. He is coming to make all things wrong, right?

33:55Once again, he is coming to punish all those who rejected his lordship. And that's a very unpopular message in our world today. It's one that's not proclaimed very often, but that is the reality. Isaiah seven 14 says, salvation is here and oh, judgment is right around the corner. He is God, Emmanuel, but we don't control him. He is come. This is the sign we live in that little period of time when those two kingdoms are destroyed and before greater judgment comes not from Assyria, but from God himself. So in Jesus, the Davidic king, the greater son, the Messiah, the Christ, he has come to deliver us from our greatest enemy, not from these two kings, but from Satan himself, from the curse of sin and death.

34:51And so he's here as our savior and he will return as judge. And so I, I'm pleading with some here this morning, oh, believe don't delay. Today can be the day of salvation. The final verses of our passage reveal that Joseph wakes up. This is 24 and 25. He does exactly as the angel command did. He takes Mary as his wife, meaning that he married her, but he did not consummate the marriage until after Jesus birth. This is to ensure that Jesus would be known as being from God. But there's this sweet picture of humble obedience from Joseph here. He paid a really big cost to take Mary as his wife. And Mary paid a really huge cost to be the mother of Jesus.

35:47And together the cast aside fear and shame and scorn and all the knowing whispers and stares and, and they trusted God and walked obediently. And I think there's a word in that for us this morning. Some of you have before you a crossroads maybe at work, maybe in life, maybe in lots of different situations. And there there's kind of a choice before you. You can either choose to obey God and trust God, and that's gonna bring shame and scorn and reproach or you can compromise and that will come with it. Maybe promotion and, uh, accolades from our world. And, uh, people won't look down on you. They won't whisper behind your back and laugh at you.

36:37And so what will you do? My prayer is that we would be a people who obey God's word in all circumstances despite the cost. And the cost is coming. We can see the tea leaves, we can read them easily in our world to say certain things that the Bible says and the scriptures have said for centuries will soon become increasingly unpopular and maybe at some point even illegal. And may we be people who will do the right thing, follow God, obey his word. No matter the cost, we will not compromise, but trust the Lord and obey. And for Joseph and Mary, it meant scorn all the days of their life. At no point did someone, you know God show up and say, everyone, you guys are looking down on them.

37:28You shouldn't do that. It is just scorn all the days of their life. But they were vindicated and so too will we. These final verses also reveal that Joseph eventually did consummate the marriage after Jesus' birth. And so there's no biblical basis for what the Roman Catholics or the Eastern Orthodox Church believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary. I think taking a belief like that directly contradicts what's so plain in scripture. Matthew 1246 tells us that Jesus had brothers and Mark six three tells us that Jesus had sisters. So our our passage, our main point is that God has come to be with us and to save his people.

38:15It's very simple. At one level, God has come as Emmanuel, he's come as Jesus to save his people from their sins. And God walks among us. And God has sovereignly ordained that this story would unfold precisely this way so that all would look and see and either be blinded by the circumstances and disbelief or have spiritual eyes to see and to behold it as true. He's not just a normal baby, but he's conceived by the Holy Spirit. Born of the Virgin Mary made the son of Joseph, the son of David, prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, and now he is Emmanuel God with us. And the reality is that many in our culture believe it's just completely outrageous and backwards to believe in a virgin birth, which is precisely what this passage is arguing for.

39:12And I think it's crystal clear, they mockingly would say things like, don't you know how babies are made you Christians? And the reality is that this birth reveals and conceals Jesus' identity, only those with spiritual eyes can come and see that God was doing a new thing. He wanted all the world to see it. Jesus could have came many different ways. Angels, a legion of angels could have carried this, you know, little manger or crib and brought it down thousands of angels singing and said, he's here. This is the one. And then everyone would say, okay, we gotta make sense of that. He didn't do it that way. Why?

40:02Because he comes to the broken and the needy and the downtrodden and only those who are willing to humble themselves and to believe that God is doing his work. And so how do we respond to this truth that God has come in Jesus to dwell among humanity, very simply go to Jesus this morning, go to Jesus. He's come to save us from our sins. So go to him afresh with your sins and confess and ask him for help. Go to him, cleave to his promises. Draw near to him in prayer, boldly approach the throne of grace. Be that persistent widow that keeps knocking, that keeps knocking, that keeps knocking. He is God who is among us. He loves us and he cares for us.

40:52And he does not reject any of his children. Let us be those who put on the Lord Jesus Christ and put off the deeds of the flesh. Let's walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we've been called. Don't relegate your relationship to Jesus, to just on Sunday, but let us be a people who continually comes to Jesus. Draw near to him, behold him as your savior and Lord and Messiah. That's what we're supposed to see in this text this morning. Born of a virgin conceived by the Holy Spirit as prophesied in scripture. Exactly. Only Jesus could fulfill all of these realities. And it's to show us He's come to save us from our sins and to be with us forever.

41:41Oh, may we respond while it's still the time for salvation. And before judgment comes, let's pray. Father, give every set of eyes true spiritual sight. Give every heart a heart of flesh to receive, to respond, and to believe your word. So do that work in and among this people and make us a people who's eager to draw near to Christ as you draw near to us, to go to Jesus and then to obey all that you've commanded. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Prepare the Way

Jesus Fulfills What the Prophets Said about Israel’s Exodus, Exile, and Despised Messiah

The Wise Worship Jesus