Messages

Day 9- Now After This Jesus Was Born In Bethlehem 

Matthew chapter two and verse one lets us know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. And, by telling us where Jesus was born, Matthew continues pointing us to the lineage of David. This was especially important for the Jews during this time period. Therefore, Matthew unapologetically points out the fact that Jesus was indeed the Messiah from a Davidic lineage, and these stories highlighting Bethlehem as His birthplace, help solidify that Jesus was a rightful descendant of King David.

This passage in Matthew chapter two, continues by telling us that wise men from the East came to Jerusalem asking, “Where is He who has been born, King of the Jews?” Did you pick up on that? “King of the Jews.” The Magi new the Biblical history and they new the lineage of Jesus. They were from the East and they were astrologers. Astrology was a sophisticated science during this era of time and they had studied this for years through scripture and prophecy that had continually been passed down to every generation in this priestly caste. 

However, it is important to recognize that these men were men of scripture that were reading a “prophetic sky,” and that they were seeing a scriptural message in the stars that could be traced back to Daniel, who many theologians would have believed was also a part of the Magi during his own time. Nevertheless, these men that were seeking the new born Messiah were not pagan astrologers reading some hidden occult wisdom by means of pagan astrology. These were men who had studied scriptures,  prophecies, and the sky, and they were coming to worship the Savior of the world— Jesus.

The wise men mentioned here in Matthew’s gospel were a continuation of what would have been the ancient priestly caste called the Magi, which included “wise men” from almost every known religion of that day. However, these men were followers of the most high God—the God of Daniel. And the star that they saw in the sky was only interpretable in an accurate way by their knowledge of the Scripture that for them, and for us, would have come from the Old Testament major and minor books of the prophets.  

Take Away: These Magi would further demonstrate their great knowledge of Scripture, the Messiah and His mission to come, by the gifts that they brought to Jesus. Matthew ends verse two of chapter two by saying what the Magi said after they had asked the question about where the child was—they said that they saw the star and they had come to worship Him. 

Many commentaries believe that the study of prophecy and their study of the sky would have spanned over 400 years and their journey that led them to Jesus that day would have been somewhere between five hundred and seven hundred miles. They studied the scripture, they remembered the prophecies and they came to worship Jesus, the Messiah— King of the Jews from the lineage of David. 

Day 8- The Dream Was Over and Reality Was At Hand

Matthew 1:24 says, “Then Joseph being aroused from sleep did as the Angel of the Lord commanded.” He took Mary to be his wife. He believed the Lord and he did as he was told. 

Mary and Joseph were obedient in what the Lord was requesting of them. Mary said, “Nevertheless, Lord, at Thy Word.” And Joseph woke up from his dream and did as the Lord said to do.

Verse twenty-four is pretty much cut and dry, but verse twenty-five is a little more PG-13. Nonetheless, it is a powerful verse that is usually not talked about much, probably because of the sanctity of this passage and it being about the story of our Lord and Savior’s birth.

We can probably read into verse twenty-four and assume that Mary and Joseph are now husband and wife. But verse twenty-five starts out with five little words: “and he did not know her.” 

The word “know” means getting acquainted with someone in a general sense, but it also means knowing someone in an intimate way. It is actually a Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse. The most intimate of relationships.

Notice that it says that Joseph  didn’t “know” her until after she had brought forth her first born Son. Mary and Joseph were now husband and wife and they lawfully could have had sexual relations. Nevertheless, I believe that Matthew includes this in his writing to make a statement about Joseph’s character.

Joseph didn’t have to wait, but he did. This verse says that he didn’t know her “until” she brought forth her first born son. This would be her first born Son, which meant that she would have other sons and other children. 

Therefore, Mary and Joseph would later have sexual relations and produce more children, but for now, Joseph waited until what God had planned—came to pass. Then when the Baby was born, he named Him, Jesus. 

Take Away: Joseph honored God, he honored Mary, and he honored Jesus. You honor God by who you honor, and by what you honor.

Day 7- Immanuel—God With Us 

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.

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.