There is no greater depiction of Jesus than this verse describing Him as “God With Us!” These words were penned by the prophet Isaiah and were about to be fulfilled in this moment with Christ being born.
He was born of an immaculate conception from the Holy Spirit. That’s right, God became flesh and dwelt among us, and He came in the form of a baby that would be wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
The people of God had long awaited for God to come and Isaiah prophesied this in Isaiah 7:14. However, it appears that there were 400 years of silence between the last time a prophet spoke and the time when an Angel came from heaven and spoke to Mary about the birth of Christ.
In today’s passage, Matthew makes mention of this prophetic verse and declares that he is writing this (Matthew 1:22-23) to confirm in fact, that what the prophet had written in Isaiah 7:14, was indeed true— God is with us!
Take Away: God became flesh and revealed Himself to us. He is real and He is near. He is with us and He will never leave us or forsake us.
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.
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.
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:
You can trust God’s plan, even when it doesn’t make sense.
God’s plan will always include the most unlikely candidates.
The plan that God purposes will come to pass if we are obedient and take Him at His word.
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:
You can trust God’s plan, even when it doesn’t make sense.
God’s plan will always include the most unlikely candidates.
The plan that God purposes will come to pass if we are obedient and take Him at His word.
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.
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:
Jesus was from above, but no one was beneath Him.
Jesus lineage was divinely biblical, yet noticeably human.
Jesus spanned the gaps of time and humanity to reach us all!
