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Day 6- You Shall Call His Name Jesus 

The Angel of the Lord continues talking to Joseph in the dream. He’s already told him to not be afraid to take Mary to be his wife because which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 

He now continues in Matthew chapter one verse 21– by saying, “She (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you (Joseph) shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sin.” Isn’t it amazing how God chooses to use us to accomplish His plan and His purpose.

This is an immaculate conception that could not have happened without the intervention of God through the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, God chooses to come into agreement with what’s in the earth and uses humanity to participate in His supernatural power and plan.

Mary had to submit to God to conceive and carry what God had promised. She also had to carry the Baby in her belly full term. Then she had to travail, push through the pain and ultimately give birth. God may have given her grace and strength, however, He didn’t do any of that, Mary did.

Joseph had to name Jesus. The Angel of the Lord told him what to name Him, but Joseph had to be the one to actually do it. You get the point don’t you? God chooses to use people like Mary and Joseph, and people like you and me to accomplish His purpose. 

The naming of Jesus is interesting because if you read John’s account of Jesus being introduced, it says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory full of grace and truth.

So, was Jesus name in heaven, Word? It sounds like it, doesn’t it. Nonetheless, the Angel tells Joseph that His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save us from our sin. Jesus, the Lord, the Messiah, the Savior of all mankind. Born to save us—what a narrative.

Take Away: God chooses to use people like Mary and Joseph to accomplish His plan, but there was only one plan that He could alone make possible. He became flesh! God became one of us, to save us from sin and to put us in right standing with Himself—by grace through faith we can experience salvation through trusting in Him to save us.

25 Days of Christmas
Day 5- On Second Thought

Sometimes it’s better to think about it before you react, especially if you don’t have all of the facts. Have you ever thought about doing something, but had an epiphany that made you change your mind? 

Aren’t you thankful that God gives us opportunities to think about the situation before we fully act on what it is the we think is right at the time. Sometimes it’s good to not be so hasty or to give in to those “knee jerk” reactions that we have all had at some time or the other.

Joseph was going to make the entire dilemma that he was facing (Mary being pregnant with Child from the Holy Spirit) a private matter. Which meant that it would have been a secret and that they would have dealt with this entire matter all by themselves. 

However, an Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream before took matter into his own hands. The dream from the Lord confirmed that the Child Mary was impregnated with was of the Holy Spirit. Aren’t you thankful that when you feel like you’re running out of options, God shows up and is faithful.

Nonetheless, the Angel of the Lord  is once again confirming the immaculate conception  of Jesus and then He addresses Joseph as a son of David. Notice a theme?

Matthew is wanting his readers to know, and especially the Jews, that the lineage of Jesus is being confirmed through the line of David and that this Child—the Messiah, Jesus, is born of an immaculate conception by the Holy Spirit. 

The Angel in the dream divinely confirms the Holy conception of Christ in verse twenty of Matthew chapter one and then he also consoles Joseph by telling him to not be afraid to take Mary to be his wife. Can you imagine the relief that Joseph must have felt after having this divine revelation and this sacred encounter with the Lord? 

Takeaway: Just like Joseph, we all have a choice. We can trust God, or we can take matters into our own hands. And the choice that we make will determine the outcome that we experience. For Mary and Joseph, although they didn’t fully understand the magnitude of what would happen, nor could they foresee the trying sequence of events that would follow, their choice to trust God produced God honoring—divine results for everyone. #youcantrustGod

Day 4- Joseph Was Not Just a Man—He Was a “Just” Man

Matthew 1:19 says that Joseph was a “just” man. Joseph was an upright man and he wanted to do what was right for Mary. I believe that he wanted to honor God and to honor Mary in every regard. 

The word “just” means: upright, blameless, righteous, conforming to God’s laws and to man’s laws as well. The word would describe someone who would live in accordance to rule or customs. A person who conforms to the divine standard of right that is made possible through justification and sanctification. 

Joseph wanted to do the right thing in regard to honoring Mary, especially in her current situation. In verse nineteen of Matthew chapter one, it tells us that Joseph didn’t want Mary to experience public humiliation, so he was going to make it a private matter. An issue that would be just between them and God. Joseph had a desire to the right thing, but later an Angel of the Lord would appear to him in a dream and confirm all that had taken place up until now.

What Can We Learn About Joseph: 

1. He was faithful to God

     a. By obeying Him

     b. By trusting Him

     c. By fulfilling His plan

2. He was faithful to Mary

     a. By believing her

     b. By trusting her 

     c. By honoring her

3. He was faithful to Jesus

     a. By naming Him

     b. By raising Him

     c. By releasing Him

Day 3- The Birth of Christ Was As Follows

Short Version

After a long list of lineage of the genealogy of Jesus Matthew gets into verse eighteen of Matthew chapter one telling is that Mary and Joseph were betrothed, but before they were married or had ever had sexual relations, Mary became pregnant with a child from the Holy Spirit.

Matthew is telling us at the get go that Jesus was born of an immaculate conception. He is also revealing the hearts and lives of who Mary and Joseph truly were as people. The were integral people with hearts after God.

Could you imagine Mary having to explain this to Joseph? Out a lone anyone else. She would have probably been frightened, perplexed and perhaps even embarrassed. Nonetheless, they had to trust one another and most of all, they had to trust God.

3 Key Take Aways:

1. You can trust God’s plan, even when it doesn’t make sense.
2. God’s plan will always include the most unlikely candidates.
3. The plan that God purposes will come to pass if we are obedient and take Him at His word.

Day 3- The Birth of Christ Was As Follows

Long Version 

After a lengthy discourse on the family lineage and the genealogy of Jesus, Matthew breaks into an interesting introductory verse in Matthew 1:18 about Christ being born to Mary. He also tells us that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. 

Nevertheless, here’s where it gets interesting… he then tells us that before they came together, she was found with a child from the Holy Spirit. In other words, before Mary and Joseph had ever had sexual relations and before they would ever became husband and wife—she became pregnant with the promise of God.

Can you imagine? I mean can you imagine explaining to anyone what had just happened. Mary had to have been frightened, perplexed and perhaps even embarrassed. She was still a virgin and her and Joseph were both only engaged, yet she was going to be visibly and physically pregnant! She would soon have a baby bump and not be married. And, even crazier yet, she had never had sexual relations with anyone.

You know the story. An Angel visited her, the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, and she became impregnated with a promise from God. But Matthew doesn’t choose to start out with this narrative. Instead, he comes out of the gate swinging with a story about Mary and Joseph being engaged, never knowing one another in an intimate and sexual manner and now she is with  Child from the Holy Spirit. 

It’s an interesting narrative, but it lets us know that Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and that His birth will come from an immaculate conception. It will also paints a picture of the kind of people that Mary and Joseph truly were. And, it will show how they had to live by faith and trust the plan of God, even when others didn’t understand, and even we they themselves didn’t fully understand either.

You see, Mary and Joseph knew the truth and they waited in anticipation for the promised outcome. However, others who didn’t know the divine truth about the miraculous conception, probably assumed the worst about Mary and Joseph. Nonetheless, they came together, they trusted God, and they trusted one another. They waited in faith while the plan of God would be fulfilled with Mary giving birth to Jesus, the promised Messiah. #trustwhatyouknow

3 Key Take Aways:

1. You can trust God’s plan, even when it doesn’t make sense.
2. God’s plan will always include the most unlikely candidates.
3. The plan that God purposes will come to pass if we are obedient and take Him at His word.

Day 2- He is the Messiah

Matthew concludes the genealogy of Jesus by grouping them into three groups of fourteen generations. He says in Matthew 1:17: “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are 14 generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ *(the promised Messiah) are fourteen generations.”

I don’t believe Matthew set out to make an inclusive or exhaustive list, but instead he wanted to point out the fact that Jesus was indeed from the lineage of David, and in fact, affirming that Jesus was the promised Messiah. 

So many findings, opinions and comparisons come from this verse and some, although not satisfying in defining the explanation, are still very symbolic and truly applicable in fulfillment of the context.

Here’s what I mean by that: The word of God is true, the promises of God are always fulfilled and the timing of God is divinely impeccable when it comes to fulfilling the plan of God. Therefore, Jesus was to come from the lineage of David, and He did.

According to the Jewish practice of gematria, the giving of a numeric value to the consonants in a word, David’s name would add to D + V + D or 4 + 6 + 4 = 14, and David is the 14th name on the list in this genealogy that is referenced in Matthew’s gospel. David is also mentioned twice.

Also, in Daniel 9:24–27, it states that seventy weeks of years, or four-hundred and ninety years, would pass between the restoration of Jerusalem and the coming of the messiah. And it did.

Since generations were commonly placed at thirty-five years, this means exactly fourteen generations passed between the restoration of Jerusalem and the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Which would equal seventy weeks of years, or four-hundred and ninety years. *(14×35=490). 

And lastly, the third group of fourteen generations mentioned in Matthew 1:17 would end with Joseph—the one who would take Mary to be his wife and the one who would also name Jesus and be His earthly father.

So here’s the takeaway: The timing of God is perfect and the promises of God will continue full-circle, until they are ultimately fulfilled in God through Christ.

Day 1- Where He Came From

We know that Jesus came from above, but Matthew reveals an even more practical insight through penning Jesus’ lineage to start out his gospel in the book of Matthew verses 1-16.

This lineage demonstrates a continuation and an intentional connection of the Old Testament to Jesus. It also reveals the royal biblical lineage through the connection of David and Abraham. Lastly, it reveals all of humanity and its faults and flaws—through the various people mentioned in this colorful lineage and genealogy of Jesus. Thus revealing God’s heart for humanity and Him becoming one of us, to save us from our sin and ourselves.

3 Take Aways:

1. Jesus was from above, but no one was beneath Him.
2. Jesus lineage was divinely biblical, yet noticeably human.
3. Jesus spanned the gaps of time and humanity to reach us all!

Choice- everything begins and ends with a choice. Adam and Eve the beginning of all creation and humanity had a choice. Do you ever wish you had a chance to redo a choice knowing what you know now? Me too! Do you think Adam and Eve wish the could have a do over? Everything thing that has happened in my life comes down to a choice! Either a choice that I have made or a choice that someone else has made. So what do you do? You can’t go back and change what has been done— you can’t make right every wrong, only God can do that! The only thing you have the power over is right now and what happens from here on out. So what do you do? You pray for the grace and wisdom to steward the choices you have been given, with courage and wisdom. And, you trust God to some how work it all for your good! I always think about Joseph when it comes to God working all things for my good. Joseph had a choice. He could have pouted in the pit, pleaded his case at Potiphar’s house and protested at the prison. Instead he was able to promise provision to the people that had caused him problems all while living in the promise and provision of the palace! It was his posture and his choice that dictated the outcome for him and for everyone else. You have a choice— you can get bitter or you can better. And you have a choice— you can take matters into your own hands or— you can trust God!