Matthew 1:18-25 - Homiletics

The birth of Jesus Christ.

I. THE DISTRESS OF MARY .

1 . She was betrothed to Joseph. They had loved one another with a pure and holy love; now they were betrothed. The tie of betrothal was in the eyes of the Jews as sacred as that of marriage. The bridegroom had not yet taken home his bride; she was still in her parents' house. They were looking forward to the coming nuptials. It was the time upon which, years afterwards, men look back with such tender recollections—the time when young love was budding in all its freshness and purity; the time gilded by so many bright hopes of happiness to come; a time especially blessed when both are living in the faith and love of God, and are looking forward to live together in that holy estate of matrimony, which represents the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and the Church.

2 . She was found with child. Every rose has its thorns; that bright, happy time is often, in ordinary experience, clouded with difficulties and anxieties. Never was there a greater trial for a betrothed pair than this which befell Joseph and Mary. 'They loved one another, we may be sure, deeply, sincerely. Now there was a barrier between them; it seemed an impassable hairier. Mary knew the secret: did she tell her betrothed? It may be that she thought it too sacred, too awful; she could not tell even Joseph. She had received the angel's message in implicit faith. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," she had said; "be it unto me according to thy word." Perhaps she kept the secret in her heart; it was a strange mixture of awful joy and very bitter anguish. Those who are nearest to the Lord are often called to drink of his cup and to be baptized with his baptism. It was so now with the blessed virgin. She was to have that highest grace for which Jewish matrons longed so earnestly—she was to be the mother of the Christ; but she had to undergo a trial most acutely painful, a shame most terrible to a pure maiden soul. She seemed unworthy of the love of him who loved her best, whom she loved with the deep affection of a tender virgin-heart. She bore it in patience, though her heart was breaking; it was the agony which she had anticipated when she yielded herself in faith to the holy will of God. Perhaps she bore it in silence; the mystery was too deep, too awful for words. Perhaps (for we cannot tell)she whispered it to Joseph. But it was too strange, too incredible. He loved her and he trusted her; there is no real love without mutual confidence. But there is a limit to the trustfulness of the most loving heart. And this story seemed altogether impossible. Joseph could not believe it. His suspicions were natural, excusable; but how cruelly they must have wounded the tender heart of Mary!

3 . It was of the Holy Ghost. The evangelist relates in few and simple words the greatest fact in the world's history; the miracle of miracles, in tile train of which lesser miracles must of necessity follow. The Incarnation is a truth above words, above the reach of human thought; it calls upon us, not for rhetorical description, but for adoration and thanksgiving. "The Spirit of God had moved [brooded] upon the face of the waters" in the day when God created the heaven and the earth. And now in the beginning of the new creation the Holy Ghost had come upon the blessed virgin, the power of the Highest had overshadowed her. She was highly favoured indeed, blessed above all other women, chosen to be the mother of the Lord. Very pure and holy she must have been; it may well be, the holiest of women, as she was the most highly favoured. But she was a creature, born in sin like ourselves, needing, like ourselves, to be cleansed by the atoning blood of her own Divine Son. And now the unique grace and dignity vouchsafed unto her brought with it a season of heart-rending anguish.

II. JOSEPH .

1 . He was a just man. He too was sorely tried. He had tenderly loved his betrothed; he loved her still. He was in a position of the greatest perplexity. Mary was conscious of her own innocence; the angel had announced to her the cause of her immaculate conception. Joseph had, at the most, only her word to trust in; appearances were against her; her statement, if she told him all, required a very high degree of unquestioning, trustful faith. But he was a just man; he would not do her wrong. He could not wholly believe; perhaps he did not wholly disbelieve. We may be sure that he was distracted with anxiety. He was a just man; he wished to do what was right; but he was in a great difficulty; it caused him long and anxious thought.

2 . His intention. He intended to adopt a middle course; he would not expose his betrothed; he loved her still. His justice was not the strict, stern justice which considers only the letter of the Law; it was tempered with the gentler feelings, mercy and compassion. He could not bring one whom he had loved so dearly into the danger of shame and death. But under circumstances so suspicious he could not consummate the marriage. He was minded to put her away privily.

III. THE DIVINE INTERVENTION .

1 . The solution of Joseph's doubts. He thought on these things. We may be sure that he prayed. It was misery to him to mistrust his betrothed; it was misery to be doubtful about the right path to be pursued in a case of such momentous importance to them both. A holy man like Joseph, who prayed always, would pray most earnestly, most importunately under circumstances so distressing. At last the answer came. God will not leave his servants in perplexity; he will clear up their doubts; he will teach them what they ought to do. But trust in God does not remove the duty of thoughtfulness. We must think, as Joseph thought, seriously and prayerfully, when difficult questions present themselves. If we do this, God will not suffer us to be led astray; he will guide us aright.

2 . The angel. The word means "messenger." The blessed angels are God's messengers; they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. They help us now, for they encamp round about those who fear the Lord. They bring God's messages of love to us now, as they did then to Joseph; they guide us now, as they then guided him. The angel appeared to him in a dream; so they often whisper now the intimations of God's holy will in the hour of quiet, in the silence of the night.

3 . The message. It calmed the fears of Joseph, it removed his doubts, it enabled him to rejoice once more in the love of his betrothed. There was nothing to separate her from him. tie was to take her; her words, if she had told him, strange and mysterious as they were, were strictly true; that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost. She should bring forth a Son, a Son who should be the Saviour of the world, not Joseph's son, but entrusted for a time to Joseph's care. Mary was to be the mother of the Lord, the highest honour surely ever vouchsafed to child of Adam; Joseph was to have the great joy of watching over his infancy and youth. Surely no charge so high and holy had ever been entrusted even to the blessed angels. It was God's answer to prayer, the prayer of a righteous man which availeth much with God. His anxiety was over new; his doubts were dispelled; his path was clear. He was a righteous man; he had thought and he had prayed. God will answer us, he will guide us in our perplexities, and show us the path of duty, if, like Joseph, we try to live a holy life, if we think seriously, if we pray earnestly.

IV. THE PROPHECY .

1 . It must be fulfilled. For it was spoken of the Lord. " Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Isaiah is often called the evangelical prophet; in his prophecy we have the foreshadowing of the gospel, the good tidings of salvation; his very name points to the Saviour; it is "Jesus" with the elements reversed, it means "the salvation of Jehovah." The prophecy was given through him; but he was not the author of it, it came from God. God had spoken it, and he would make it good. He had announced his will long ago, and at length the time was come. "Now all this is come to pass," the angel said (for these words are part of the message), "that it might be fulfilled." All this had come to pass that human nature might be cleansed by its union with the Divine nature in the Person of Christ. That great result was the end contemplated by the prophecy; to fulfil the prophecy, and to save the souls of men, was the same thing, It was an end worthy of a Divine intervention, worthy of an angel-messenger. All this, the annunciation, the miraculous conception, all this is come to pass that his gracious purpose, announced so long ago, might now be fulfilled.

2 . The substance of the prophecy. The Hebrew words mean literally, "The virgin is with child, and beareth a Son." The prophet is speaking of one virgin, one illustrious and unique, as Chrysostom says. The terms of the prophecy can be satisfied only by a miraculous conception, a supernatural birth. It is the sign which the Lord himself shall give—the sign of the Messiah, the sign of deliverance from sin and death. That marvellous birth, foretold so solemnly, in such strange, startling language, was to be the beginning of the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God upon earth. For the virgin-born is the King, the King who must reign till all his enemies are put under his feet. And he is "God with us"—Immanuel. He has taken upon him the form of a servant; he is made in the likeness of men. He was from all eternity in the form of God, living in that glory which he had with the Father before the world was. Now he is Immanuel," God with us," the Word incarnate. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." He has taken upon him our human nature, that by the mysterious union of the human and Divine in the one Person of Christ our human nature might be cleansed from the dark stain of sin, and be created anew after the image of God. God is with us—with us to redeem, to cleanse, to regenerate, to sanctify. He abideth in us if we are truly his, he in us and we in him. He is with us always even to the end of the world, ready to hear our prayer, ready to help us, ready to save us even to the uttermost; for through the wondrous miracle of the Incarnation he is ours and we are his, if we abide in his love.

V. THE HOLY NAME .

1 . Joseph's obedience. All his doubts were dispelled, his anguish was gone, he was filled with a strange and awful joy. His betrothed was to be the mother of the Messiah. He was to care for her now, to watch over the infancy of the holy Child. He took unto him his wife; he respected her spotless purity; he lived with her in reverential awe. At last the promised Child was born. Joseph looked upon the heavenly face of the blessed Babe. There is something very sweet in the calm face of an innocent infant. What a depth of celestial beauty must there have been in the smile of the infant Jesus! what a treasure of unspeakable joy must that holy Babe have been to Mary and Joseph! He called his name Jesus, in obedience to the angel's bidding.

2 . Many had borne that name already. It is the Greek form of the common Hebrew name Joshua. The first Joshua of whom we read was called originally Oshea or Hoshea; this name, which was also the name of the last King of Israel and of the first in order of the minor prophets, means "salvation." Moses added to it the sacred name, and called the son of Nun Jehoshua or Joshua, "the salvation of Jehovah" He fulfilled the prophecy contained in his name. He was steadfast in unswerving allegiance to Jehovah: "As for me and my house," he said, "we will serve the Lord." He was the Lord's instrument in saving the people of Israel out of the hands of their enemies. He led them through the river Jordan, he fought their battles for them, he gave them rest in the promised land. In all this he was an eminent type of our Lord, who is the Captain of our salvation, who fought out the fearful conflict for us against the deadly enemy, who leads his people through the river of death into the everlasting rest. The name of their great leader naturally became common among the Jews; it appears again and again under its various forms, Oshea, Hoshea, Jehoshua, Joshua, Joshua, Jesus.

3 . But only the Son of God fulfilled its blessed meaning. He was indeed the Salvation of Jehovah; he was Jehovah, God the Son, come in his infinite tenderness, in his Divine compassion, to save his people. "He shall save his people from their sins," the angel said. This was the meaning, the translation of the name. "He himself shall save his people," the Greek word means—himself by his own power. The first Joshua saved the Israelites by the help of God; the second Joshua is himself God, therefore he himself is "able to save even to the uttermost all who come unto God by him." "He shall save his people." He came to "redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." He has a people, his own people, for he is a King, and his people are a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. They belong to him; they are his, bought with a price; they are not their own. All Christians are his by solemn dedication to his service in holy baptism; but in the deepest sense they only are his people in whom the promise is fulfilled, whom he is saving from their sins. Alas! there are some of whom it is written, "Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God' ( Hosea 1:9 ).

4 . His salvation is present. He saves his people from their sins; not only from the punishment of sin, but from the sin itself. His precious blood, once shed upon the cross, cleanses all who believe in him from the defilement of sin. His gracious presence, abiding in the heart through the indwelling of his Spirit, saves his people from the dominion of sin. "The sting of death is sin;" "but God giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." This is the plain teaching of Holy Scripture; then if we are his, sin must be losing its power over us, for his blood is cleansing from all sin those who walk in the light of his presence, and he is saving them from the power of sin. We must try to realize in our own experience this victory over sin. Most people seem to be content with a life that falls very short of anything that can be called victory. But this is what God promises to give us; the Lord Jesus came to save his people from their sins; the purpose of his coming is not fulfilled in us unless we are saved from them. And he will save us, himself will save us, if we trust his word and come to him in faith.

5 . And it is future , it is everlasting. Joshua led the children of Israel into Canaan; Jesus leads his people into heaven. He is preparing a place for us there, and is preparing us for it. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord; but he of God is made unto us Sanctification. He makes his people holy by the gift of his Spirit. He takes away the sting of death, which is sin, and changes death into sleep. " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," for if they die in him, in spiritual union with him, he is their Jesus, their Saviour; the blessed meaning of the holy Name is realized in their experience, and refreshes their soul in death with its heavenly music.

LESSONS .

1 . God's holiest saints are often very sorely tried. Be patient; trust always.

2 . God heareth prayer; he will bring the afflictions of his people to a happy issue.

3 . The holy Name is exceeding precious and sacred; pronounce it with reverence; treasure it in your heart; do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus.

4 . He shall save his people from their sins: is he saving you from yours?