The Infinite Becomes An Infant The Miracle Of The Nativity
Preaching
Preaching the Miracles
Cycle A
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; 19and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. " 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel (which means, God with us)." 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
A mother and father look at their newborn baby and exclaim, "It is a miracle!" Indeed, it is a miracle of birth. How could two people produce a new person with head and heart and hands and feet? It is amazing, but devout Christian parents do not claim credit for their child. They say, "It is a miracle of God. We were only instruments or the channel by which God brought a new life on earth."
It took a miracle to bring the baby Jesus to earth, too. Mary and Joseph were used as God's instruments to effect the miracle. It was the miracle of the incarnation. The infinite God became an infant. The Word became flesh. The spiritual became physical, eternity became timely, the ultimate became intimate, the divine became human, and holiness became sin. Next to the resurrection, the incarnation is God's greatest miracle. Without this miracle the man on the cross was just a martyr. Jesus was only a teacher and prophet, and humanity would still be lost in sin.
According to a recent book, The Agony of Deceit, published by Moody Bible Institute, the doctrine of the incarnation is distorted into heresy by some televangelists. One claims, "I am a little god." Another preaches, "Man was designed or created by God to be the god of this world." A third says, "You don't have a god in you. You are one!" Still another, "You are as much an incarnation of God as is Jesus of Nazareth." Years ago the truth of the incarnation was written by Emil Brunner, "The central truth of the Christian faith is this: that the eternal Son of God took upon himself our humanity." It is not that we humans have become God, but that God became human in Jesus. And that took a miracle which is related in today's Gospel lesson: Matthew 1:18-25.
Acclimation
The Situation
Matthew gives his version of Jesus' birth. Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. Before the wedding Mary realized she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Matthew does not explain how Mary knew it was the Holy Spirit who impregnated her. When Joseph learned of her condition, he, a good man, did not want to embarrass her publicly. He planned to divorce her privately. His plan was changed when an angel explained to him that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. The angel told Joseph that the child would be a boy whom he was to name Jesus, because the child will save the people from their sins. Matthew sees this as a fulfillment of a prophecy made to King Ahaz that a woman would bear a child named Emmanuel and by the time the child was old enough to know the difference between good and evil, his enemies would be gone. So, Joseph obeyed the angel's instructions by marrying Mary, but he refrained from sexual intercourse until Jesus' birth.
The Setting
1. The setting in Matthew. Matthew places the birth story in the context of the Hebrew people. It follows a genealogy which begins with Abraham and ends with Joseph and Jesus. The emphasis is upon Jesus as the son of David, the Messiah. Matthew puts the birth in the perspective of God's dealings with Israel from the time of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. Throughout history God has been dealing with the Hebrews as his chosen people by whom he would bring humanity back to him. Matthew sees Jesus as the Messiah who will save his people.
On the other hand, Luke sees Jesus as the Son of Man. In his genealogy Luke begins with Jesus and goes back to Adam, the father of humanity. Luke emphasizes the universality of Christ who died for the whole of humankind.
2. The setting in the church year. The New Testament gives us only two accounts of Jesus' birth. Both accounts are given on two Sundays: Advent 4 and Christmas. Matthew's version comes on Advent 4. It would seem that having two birth stories together would be a duplication for both preacher and people. But, there is a difference in the accounts that remove the supposed duplication.
Matthew gives the account from Joseph's viewpoint while Luke makes Mary the central character. Matthew does not give details such as the angel's visit to Mary, the census, the inn, the shepherds' visit and the angels' song. Matthew gives us the basic facts: Mary was the mother, she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, the birth was a fulfillment of prophecy, and Joseph immediately named the boy Jesus. They add up to the incarnation - the Word became flesh. God became a human.
This is appropriate for the Sunday before Christmas. It is necessary to know what happened on Christmas, who the child really was, what the miracle was. Advent 4 deals with the doctrine of the incarnation and gives the meaning of Christmas. With this understanding the church is ready to celebrate Christmas the following Sunday. Christmas is not a time for reflection nor explanation but a time for joy, praise and thanks based on what we know about the incarnation.
Related Passages
Genesis 1:2 - The creative Spirit.
Deuteronomy 22:23-24 - A pregnant virgin is to be stoned.
Isaiah 7:10-16 - The sign of a child.
Isaiah 9:6-7 - The names of the child.
Luke 2:1-20 - Luke's account of the nativity.
John 1:1-14 - The Word became flesh.
Galatians 4:4-5 - The Son born of a woman.
Philippians 2:5-11 - God emptied himself.
The Lectionary
Lesson 1 (Isaiah 7:10-16). King Ahaz' refusal to accept a sign of God's deliverance from his enemies, Israel and Syria, Ahaz prefers to get help from Assyria rather than to trust God for help. Nevertheless, he is given a sign of a woman who will bear a child to be named Emmanuel. By the time the child can tell the difference between good and evil, God promises that Ahaz' enemies will cease to exist. This passage is related to the Gospel for the Day in that Matthew quotes verse 14 as a promise fulfilled by the birth of Jesus.
Lesson 2 (Romans 1:1-7). Paul introduces himself to the church at Rome as one called to proclaim the gospel. The gospel concerns the Son of God who was a descendant of David (human) and Son of God with full divine power demonstrated in the resurrection. This human-divine person is Jesus Christ our Lord. Not only does Paul introduce himself but also Jesus as one fully human and divine. This passage corresponds to the gospel for the day in that Jesus is human by Mary and divine by the Holy Spirit.
Gospel (Matthew 1:18-25). Mary was pregnant before their wedding, but Joseph did not know how she became pregnant. Accordingly he plans to divorce her privately to avoid a public scandal. This plan was cancelled by an angel who advised Joseph that she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. In obedience Joseph goes ahead with the marriage and names the child Jesus as directed by the angel. This, according to Matthew, was the fulfillment of the promise made to Ahaz concerning a child named Emmanuel. Though married, Joseph refrains from sexual intercourse before the birth of the baby.
Liturgical propers. The Psalm of the Day (Psalm 24), the Prayer of the Day and the Hymn of the Day ("O Come, Emmanuel") emphasize the coming of the Christ child to us today. We pray for his coming. In the Psalm we are urged to open the gates of our hearts that the King of glory may come in. In the Hymn of the Day we sing, "O Come, Emmanuel" - come, God, and be among us. Indeed, Christ came to the world about 4 B.C., but we long for him to come to us this Christmas, only a Sunday away from today. If Christ does not come to us, he really never came centuries ago insofar as we are concerned.
Explanation
Betrothed (v. 18). Mary was betrothed to Joseph. In their generation a marriage generally consisted of three stages. First, there was an engagement usually made by their parents even when they were children. When the couple reached marriageable age, the engagement was confirmed by a betrothal. Before the betrothal the girl or boy could break the engagement. If they consented to a betrothal, they were as good as married. To break the betrothal called for a divorce. The betrothal lasted for a year when the wedding took place and the union was consummated. Consequently, Joseph planned a divorce because Mary was pregnant.
Found (v. 18). Mary was found to be pregnant. This was the reason for a divorce. In Mary's day it was a horrible disgrace to become pregnant before marriage, especially if the father was not the prospective groom. She was in danger of being stoned to death as the law required (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). To avoid this, Joseph in his goodness planned to get a private divorce.
Child of the Holy Spirit (v. 18). This refers to the Virgin Birth. The Virgin Mary was impregnated by the Spirit. God and no human, was the father of Jesus. Jesus therefore was not only a human born of a woman with a physical body but also the Son of God. The Spirit is God who infiltrated the body of Jesus. Therefore, Jesus from the time of his conception was God's Son. When we sing "Silent Night" we confess the truth: "Jesus, Lord, at your birth." At his conception by the Spirit, God entered into him and he became God as well as man.
Jesus (v. 21). Joseph was commanded by the angel to give the baby the name of Jesus. The Hebrew form of the name is Joshua. It was a significant name for it meant "He shall save." It described his mission to save the world from sin. He by name was the Messiah, the Savior. Jesus is also known as Emmanuel, the name given to the child in Isaiah. Its meaning also describes Jesus - "God with us." In the person of Jesus God is with us as a fellow-human.
Fulfill (v. 22). This is the first of 45 quotations Matthew takes from the Old Testament to prove that what happened to Jesus was foretold by the prophets. Matthew uses Isaiah 7:14 as a proof text torn out of context. Therefore, it does not fulfill the purpose Matthew had in mind. However, Matthew quotes the Old Testament to show that Jesus was in the eternal plan of God to redeem Israel. The quotations put Jesus in the context of the scriptures.
Virgin (v. 23). Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 from the Septuagint. The Greek word for virgin is parthenos. However, the Hebrew word is almah, meaning a woman of marriageable age, not necessarily a virgin. The verse refers to the offer made by Yahweh through Isaiah to Ahaz, king of Judah. The kings of Israel and Syria asked him to join them in attacking Assyria. Because he refused, they go to war against him in the hope of replacing him with a king that would cooperate with them. Isaiah advises Ahaz not to seek help from Assyria but to trust God for deliverance. He is promised that by the time a woman delivers a child and when the child can distinguish between good and evil, his enemies would be gone. In spite of the promise Ahaz prefers help from Assyria.
Did (v. 24). Joseph "did" what the angel commanded him to do. He married Mary, believed the child was by the Spirit, and named the baby Jesus. We see that Joseph was a godly man who had an experience with God, who was sensitive to the Word of God, and obeyed divine instructions. He was a good man who had love and compassion for the girl he at once thought betrayed him with unfaithfulness. If Jesus were to be born naturally, Joseph would have been a worthy father of Jesus.
Knew (v. 25). Didn't Joseph know Mary? Matthew says he knew her not until the baby was born. Of course, Joseph knew Mary as a friend and fiance but not as a sexual partner. The Bible uses "know" to express sexual intercourse. "Know" denotes a warm, intimate, one-to-one relationship. Joseph did not have this relationship with Mary before Jesus was born, but since Jesus referred to his brothers and sisters (Mark 3:35), Mary and Joseph exercised conjugal rights.
Application
Relevance Of Revelation
1. The miracle of the incarnation comes at a time when people may be too busy with Christmas preparations to think spiritually and theologically. The fever of commercialization is at its highest. For commercial people, Christmas is a sellabration, for the majority of the year's sales take place in the pre-Christmas season. Others find Christmas to be party or vacation time. In the midst of the rush-rush, a preacher is challenged to give the spiritual significance of Christ's birth.
2. For two Sundays we deal with the subject of birth. On Advent 4 we try to understand the meaning of the incarnation; on Christmas we will celebrate with joy the birth of Jesus. Birth is a popular and controversial subject of our day. Should birth be prevented by artificial birth control methods? Should a fetus ever be aborted? We preach in a day when pre-marital pregnancy is not the problem it was in Mary's day. Mary was a teenager who was pregnant before marriage. Today many teenage girls become pregnant but not by the Holy Spirit! Reports indicate that 20 percent or less of today's brides are virgins. Each year in America 600,000 babies are born out of wedlock. One of every 10 teenage girls is pregnant. Before age 20, 70 percent of females and 80 percent of males are sexually active. Ours is a different world from Mary's, a world that would stone to death a woman pregnant outside of marriage.
3. Today's Gospel lesson confronts us with the Virgin Birth. This, too, is a controversial subject. Fundamentalists and literalists insist that belief in the Virgin Birth is necessary because the Bible says so. Liberals do not accept the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. Moderates hold that they accept the Virgin Birth but do not consider the belief is necessary for salvation which does not depend on the method by which Jesus came into the world but on the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.
The subject of the Virgin Birth gives us an opportunity to teach what the Virgin Birth is not saying. It does not say that the Virgin Birth accounts for Jesus' sinlessness, for original sin could have been inherited through his mother. It does not imply that Mary was a perpetual virgin, for the New Testament refers to Jesus' brothers and sisters.
There are good reasons for accepting the Virgin Birth:
1. Although Mark, John and Paul do not mention the Virgin Birth, Matthew and Luke are reliable witnesses who do not lie.
2. From the beginning the church confessed her belief in the Virgin Birth by reciting the Apostles' and Nicene creeds.
3. The Virgin Birth harmonizes with the uniqueness of Jesus. He was unique among all people of all time: unique in being sinless, unique in wisdom, unique in power and unique in his relationship with God.
4. The Virgin Birth witnessed to the fact that Jesus' existence and coming to the world was totally the work of God. Jesus is not a human product resulting from love or lust. God used a human to bring his Son to the world.
5. God was in Christ, says Paul. How did he get in Jesus? It was by the conception of the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? He is God, the third person of the Trinity. From the moment of his conception, Jesus was God's Son, truly divine, begotten of God, "very God of very God."
Sermon Suggestions
1. God the Communicator. How can God meet humanity on its own terms? How can a human ever know or understand God? This problem is solved by the incarnation. God becomes man. The spiritual invades the physical. The following quotations explain:
"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." - C.S. Lewis
"The highest cannot be spoken; it can only be enacted." - Goethe.
"If you want to get across an idea, wrap it up in a person." - Bunche.
"God became a man without ceasing to be God so that men might be godly without ceasing to be men." - Browne.
2. The Humanity of God. In the incarnation God becomes human. In Jesus God is a man. There is the "Manhood of the Master." Because he became human, we can see, know and hear God, for as Jesus said, "The Father and I are one." As a human God understands the human lot with all our needs and problems. He is so much human that, as St. Paul claims, he became sin for us. With his death sin for the world also dies.
3. The Problem of the Incarnation. The incarnation was a serious problem for Joseph. Can you imagine the shock and disillusionment he had when he learned Mary was pregnant? How could this be when he was celibate? How could she be so unfaithful to him? He planned to divorce her privately. Then God stepped in and solved the mystery. God himself is responsible for her pregnancy through the conception by the Spirit. Likewise, the incarnation may give some of us problems. How could the infinite God become a finite human? How could the holy become sinful? It blows our minds. It seems preposterous and impossible. But, God has the answer for us. God did it all, for all things are possible through him.
4. The Divine Blender. Cooks use a blender to put two or more substances into one inseparable product. The incarnation was the divine blender of the two natures of Jesus - the divine and human. By the blender Jesus was an integrated personality of both human and divine natures. The one cannot be separated from the other. Jesus was always God and was always human. Even on the cross God was in Jesus reconciling the world.
5. The God who Dared to be Man. It was dangerous for God to become human in Jesus. He allowed himself to be vulnerable to what humanity might do to him. It took a heap of daring to come as a baby in Bethlehem. It was not long for God to experience vulnerability. There was no room for him to be born. Before age two, he was a refugee. His hometown rejected him after his first sermon. Many disciples forsook him because they were offended at his teaching. His people rejected him as king and savior. Most of all, God suffered the most on the cross. Knowing all this would happen, God still dared to come to earth! Amazing grace!
6. The Incarnation for God not People. Today's heresy uses the incarnation to make gods out of people. The incarnation teaches that God became human in Jesus. God does not identify himself with the world so that the Creator is the creation. God is in the world but not identical with it. If so, there would be the heresy of pantheism. The incarnation does not mean that humans are gods. God comes to a human through the Holy Spirit, but people are always people. The physical body may be the temple of God but not God himself. We may be and should be like God but we cannot be God.
7. The Hidden God. At Christmas we usually think of God's revealing himself in Jesus. On the other hand, God hid himself in Jesus. Who would suspect God could become a human? Because he was hidden in Jesus, the religious leaders considered him to be a blasphemer because he claimed to be God's Son by forgiving sin. They nailed him to a cross not knowing they were crucifying God. Even Satan was caught by God by using Jesus as bait. It takes faith to see in this humble itinerant preacher the very Son of God. The reason for this hiddenness? No one can see God directly and live. Jesus was like a transformer that put the light and power of God where we could see, use and understand God.
Sermon Structures
1. What Christmas Cost God (1:18-23). Christmas is an expensive time for many people. For some it takes months to pay off the Christmas gifts charged to our credit cards. There are additional expenses: parties, food, drinks, travel. Such expenses are minimal compared with the price God paid for us to have Christmas. What it cost God -
A. Himself - "Emmanuel, God with us" - v. 23
B. Humility - "emptied himself" - Philippians 2:7
C. Cross - "save his people from their sins" - v. 21
2. No Ordinary Baby (1:18-23). On an average day in America, there are 10,510 babies born. In 1989 there were 4,000,000 children born of which 300,000 were born to unwed mothers. What is one more baby such as the one born in a barn in Bethlehem? Jesus is like no other baby ever born, because -
A. His father was the Holy Spirit - v. 18
B. He was born to die for the world's sin - v. 21.
3. A Miracle Made a Miracle (1:18-21). In today's Gospel, the Virgin Birth cannot be avoided. It is an integral and essential part of the story of the incarnation. Since there is a division of opinion among Christians, it may be appropriate to deal with the subject.
A. What the Virgin Birth does not mean -
1. Condemnation of marital sex or parenthood
2. Jesus was made sinless
3. Jesus became God
B. What the Virgin Birth signifies -
1. God alone gave Jesus: "begotten not made"
2. A unique person deserved a unique origin
3. God possessed Jesus at the conception by the Holy Spirit
4. God's Answer to our Greatest Need (1:21). Paul assured us that God is able to supply every need of ours. When he came in Jesus, he came to meet humanity's greatest need. What was it?
A. Information? If so, God would have sent an educator.
B. Money? If so, God would have sent an economist.
C. Technology? If so, God would have sent a scientist.
D. Pleasure? If so, God would have sent an entertainer.
E. Salvation? Yes - God sent us a Savior (v. 21).
5. Why Would God do such a Thing? (1:18-25). Why would God go to such extreme and tragic extent that he gave his only Son to die for the world? What is the reason for it? John 3:16 says the reason was love. Because of his love -
A. Christ came to reveal God.
B. Christ came to redeem lost humanity - v. 21.
C. Christ came to rule with the law of love in his kingdom.
6. The Good News of the Nativity (1:18-25). How can we celebrate Christmas if we do not know the reasons for the celebration? Without the reasons, the Christmas services will be program but not worship. The incarnation means -
A. God is one of us - "She was found to be with child" - v. 18
B. God is with us - "Emmanuel" - v. 23
C. God is for us - "Save his people" - v. 21
Illustration
The Wonders of Christmas. "There are three wonders here: one, that God should become a man; another, that a virgin should bear a child; and the third, that Mary believed. And the greatest of these is that Mary believed." - Martin Luther
God is Here! There was a teacher who did not believe in God. He did not want his students to believe in God either. As the Christmas season approached, he sent a pupil to the blackboard with instructions to write, "God is nowhere!" The pupil obeyed but inadvertently divided by placing the "w" with the previous word so that it said, "God is now here!"
The Virgin Birth. An old professor at Harvard Divinity School was ridiculed by some students for believing in the Virgin Birth. One day a student challenged him, "Do you mean to tell me that if some young woman from Boston came into the hospital and said that she was going to have a baby, that she was a virgin, and that an angel had appeared to her, you would believe her?" The elderly man hesitated but then answered slowly, "No, I probably wouldn't believe her story. But I'll tell you one thing for sure; if that baby grew to manhood and his teachings changed the course of history, if he grew up and eventually died on the cross and rose from the dead, if 2,000 years later one-third of the world's population called him Savior and Lord - if that happened, I think I would give that girl's story a second hearing!"
The Reflection of God. In Rome's Barberini Palace there is a great painting by Guido Reni. It is a masterpiece showing the chariot of the sun coming through the clouds, horses and clouds, and darkness and light. The painting is very difficult to see because it is on a ceiling. The problem has been overcome by placing a long table with a mirror top underneath the painting. The mirror reflects exactly the painting on the ceiling. People gather around the table and look into the mirror to see the painting. Jesus is the mirror who perfectly reflects and reveals God the Father.
Stepping out of the Picture. Dr. E. Stanley Jones told about a boy who stood in front of the picture of his absent father. He turned to his mother and wistfully said, "I wish Dad would step out of the picture." At Christmas Jesus stepped out of the picture and came to us not as a principle or theory but as a person we can know and love.
Toughest Thing for God. Dr. Al Lindgren of Garrett Seminary tells of taking his junior high school son fishing. While waiting for the fish to bite, they got to talking. The son asked, "Dad, what was the toughest thing God ever tried to do?" His father answered with a question, teacher style! His father asked, "What do you think was the toughest job God tried to do?" The son replied, "In science class, I thought that creation was God's toughest job. Later in Sunday School we were talking about miracles and I thought that maybe the resurrection was the toughest. But then I got to thinking. No one really knows God real well. Now I think the toughest thing God ever tried to do is to get us to understand who he is and that he loves us." His dad responded, "You're right, son. And it took God's Son to do it."
Hidden in Humanity. Martin Luther: "But God says: 'Now I shall hide thy majesty, most thoroughly, shall allow my Son to become man, born of a virgin; let him do good to men and preach them the forgiveness of sins. He shall act in the kindest manner possible; only bear in mind that this man is the same God who spoke in the desert at Mount Sinai to the children of Israel. Believe, therefore, that it is he whom you are hearing. He has hidden his majesty in humanity, does not appear with lightning, thunder or angels, but as one born of a poor virgin and speaking with men of the forgiveness of sins.' "
A mother and father look at their newborn baby and exclaim, "It is a miracle!" Indeed, it is a miracle of birth. How could two people produce a new person with head and heart and hands and feet? It is amazing, but devout Christian parents do not claim credit for their child. They say, "It is a miracle of God. We were only instruments or the channel by which God brought a new life on earth."
It took a miracle to bring the baby Jesus to earth, too. Mary and Joseph were used as God's instruments to effect the miracle. It was the miracle of the incarnation. The infinite God became an infant. The Word became flesh. The spiritual became physical, eternity became timely, the ultimate became intimate, the divine became human, and holiness became sin. Next to the resurrection, the incarnation is God's greatest miracle. Without this miracle the man on the cross was just a martyr. Jesus was only a teacher and prophet, and humanity would still be lost in sin.
According to a recent book, The Agony of Deceit, published by Moody Bible Institute, the doctrine of the incarnation is distorted into heresy by some televangelists. One claims, "I am a little god." Another preaches, "Man was designed or created by God to be the god of this world." A third says, "You don't have a god in you. You are one!" Still another, "You are as much an incarnation of God as is Jesus of Nazareth." Years ago the truth of the incarnation was written by Emil Brunner, "The central truth of the Christian faith is this: that the eternal Son of God took upon himself our humanity." It is not that we humans have become God, but that God became human in Jesus. And that took a miracle which is related in today's Gospel lesson: Matthew 1:18-25.
Acclimation
The Situation
Matthew gives his version of Jesus' birth. Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. Before the wedding Mary realized she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Matthew does not explain how Mary knew it was the Holy Spirit who impregnated her. When Joseph learned of her condition, he, a good man, did not want to embarrass her publicly. He planned to divorce her privately. His plan was changed when an angel explained to him that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. The angel told Joseph that the child would be a boy whom he was to name Jesus, because the child will save the people from their sins. Matthew sees this as a fulfillment of a prophecy made to King Ahaz that a woman would bear a child named Emmanuel and by the time the child was old enough to know the difference between good and evil, his enemies would be gone. So, Joseph obeyed the angel's instructions by marrying Mary, but he refrained from sexual intercourse until Jesus' birth.
The Setting
1. The setting in Matthew. Matthew places the birth story in the context of the Hebrew people. It follows a genealogy which begins with Abraham and ends with Joseph and Jesus. The emphasis is upon Jesus as the son of David, the Messiah. Matthew puts the birth in the perspective of God's dealings with Israel from the time of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. Throughout history God has been dealing with the Hebrews as his chosen people by whom he would bring humanity back to him. Matthew sees Jesus as the Messiah who will save his people.
On the other hand, Luke sees Jesus as the Son of Man. In his genealogy Luke begins with Jesus and goes back to Adam, the father of humanity. Luke emphasizes the universality of Christ who died for the whole of humankind.
2. The setting in the church year. The New Testament gives us only two accounts of Jesus' birth. Both accounts are given on two Sundays: Advent 4 and Christmas. Matthew's version comes on Advent 4. It would seem that having two birth stories together would be a duplication for both preacher and people. But, there is a difference in the accounts that remove the supposed duplication.
Matthew gives the account from Joseph's viewpoint while Luke makes Mary the central character. Matthew does not give details such as the angel's visit to Mary, the census, the inn, the shepherds' visit and the angels' song. Matthew gives us the basic facts: Mary was the mother, she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, the birth was a fulfillment of prophecy, and Joseph immediately named the boy Jesus. They add up to the incarnation - the Word became flesh. God became a human.
This is appropriate for the Sunday before Christmas. It is necessary to know what happened on Christmas, who the child really was, what the miracle was. Advent 4 deals with the doctrine of the incarnation and gives the meaning of Christmas. With this understanding the church is ready to celebrate Christmas the following Sunday. Christmas is not a time for reflection nor explanation but a time for joy, praise and thanks based on what we know about the incarnation.
Related Passages
Genesis 1:2 - The creative Spirit.
Deuteronomy 22:23-24 - A pregnant virgin is to be stoned.
Isaiah 7:10-16 - The sign of a child.
Isaiah 9:6-7 - The names of the child.
Luke 2:1-20 - Luke's account of the nativity.
John 1:1-14 - The Word became flesh.
Galatians 4:4-5 - The Son born of a woman.
Philippians 2:5-11 - God emptied himself.
The Lectionary
Lesson 1 (Isaiah 7:10-16). King Ahaz' refusal to accept a sign of God's deliverance from his enemies, Israel and Syria, Ahaz prefers to get help from Assyria rather than to trust God for help. Nevertheless, he is given a sign of a woman who will bear a child to be named Emmanuel. By the time the child can tell the difference between good and evil, God promises that Ahaz' enemies will cease to exist. This passage is related to the Gospel for the Day in that Matthew quotes verse 14 as a promise fulfilled by the birth of Jesus.
Lesson 2 (Romans 1:1-7). Paul introduces himself to the church at Rome as one called to proclaim the gospel. The gospel concerns the Son of God who was a descendant of David (human) and Son of God with full divine power demonstrated in the resurrection. This human-divine person is Jesus Christ our Lord. Not only does Paul introduce himself but also Jesus as one fully human and divine. This passage corresponds to the gospel for the day in that Jesus is human by Mary and divine by the Holy Spirit.
Gospel (Matthew 1:18-25). Mary was pregnant before their wedding, but Joseph did not know how she became pregnant. Accordingly he plans to divorce her privately to avoid a public scandal. This plan was cancelled by an angel who advised Joseph that she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. In obedience Joseph goes ahead with the marriage and names the child Jesus as directed by the angel. This, according to Matthew, was the fulfillment of the promise made to Ahaz concerning a child named Emmanuel. Though married, Joseph refrains from sexual intercourse before the birth of the baby.
Liturgical propers. The Psalm of the Day (Psalm 24), the Prayer of the Day and the Hymn of the Day ("O Come, Emmanuel") emphasize the coming of the Christ child to us today. We pray for his coming. In the Psalm we are urged to open the gates of our hearts that the King of glory may come in. In the Hymn of the Day we sing, "O Come, Emmanuel" - come, God, and be among us. Indeed, Christ came to the world about 4 B.C., but we long for him to come to us this Christmas, only a Sunday away from today. If Christ does not come to us, he really never came centuries ago insofar as we are concerned.
Explanation
Betrothed (v. 18). Mary was betrothed to Joseph. In their generation a marriage generally consisted of three stages. First, there was an engagement usually made by their parents even when they were children. When the couple reached marriageable age, the engagement was confirmed by a betrothal. Before the betrothal the girl or boy could break the engagement. If they consented to a betrothal, they were as good as married. To break the betrothal called for a divorce. The betrothal lasted for a year when the wedding took place and the union was consummated. Consequently, Joseph planned a divorce because Mary was pregnant.
Found (v. 18). Mary was found to be pregnant. This was the reason for a divorce. In Mary's day it was a horrible disgrace to become pregnant before marriage, especially if the father was not the prospective groom. She was in danger of being stoned to death as the law required (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). To avoid this, Joseph in his goodness planned to get a private divorce.
Child of the Holy Spirit (v. 18). This refers to the Virgin Birth. The Virgin Mary was impregnated by the Spirit. God and no human, was the father of Jesus. Jesus therefore was not only a human born of a woman with a physical body but also the Son of God. The Spirit is God who infiltrated the body of Jesus. Therefore, Jesus from the time of his conception was God's Son. When we sing "Silent Night" we confess the truth: "Jesus, Lord, at your birth." At his conception by the Spirit, God entered into him and he became God as well as man.
Jesus (v. 21). Joseph was commanded by the angel to give the baby the name of Jesus. The Hebrew form of the name is Joshua. It was a significant name for it meant "He shall save." It described his mission to save the world from sin. He by name was the Messiah, the Savior. Jesus is also known as Emmanuel, the name given to the child in Isaiah. Its meaning also describes Jesus - "God with us." In the person of Jesus God is with us as a fellow-human.
Fulfill (v. 22). This is the first of 45 quotations Matthew takes from the Old Testament to prove that what happened to Jesus was foretold by the prophets. Matthew uses Isaiah 7:14 as a proof text torn out of context. Therefore, it does not fulfill the purpose Matthew had in mind. However, Matthew quotes the Old Testament to show that Jesus was in the eternal plan of God to redeem Israel. The quotations put Jesus in the context of the scriptures.
Virgin (v. 23). Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 from the Septuagint. The Greek word for virgin is parthenos. However, the Hebrew word is almah, meaning a woman of marriageable age, not necessarily a virgin. The verse refers to the offer made by Yahweh through Isaiah to Ahaz, king of Judah. The kings of Israel and Syria asked him to join them in attacking Assyria. Because he refused, they go to war against him in the hope of replacing him with a king that would cooperate with them. Isaiah advises Ahaz not to seek help from Assyria but to trust God for deliverance. He is promised that by the time a woman delivers a child and when the child can distinguish between good and evil, his enemies would be gone. In spite of the promise Ahaz prefers help from Assyria.
Did (v. 24). Joseph "did" what the angel commanded him to do. He married Mary, believed the child was by the Spirit, and named the baby Jesus. We see that Joseph was a godly man who had an experience with God, who was sensitive to the Word of God, and obeyed divine instructions. He was a good man who had love and compassion for the girl he at once thought betrayed him with unfaithfulness. If Jesus were to be born naturally, Joseph would have been a worthy father of Jesus.
Knew (v. 25). Didn't Joseph know Mary? Matthew says he knew her not until the baby was born. Of course, Joseph knew Mary as a friend and fiance but not as a sexual partner. The Bible uses "know" to express sexual intercourse. "Know" denotes a warm, intimate, one-to-one relationship. Joseph did not have this relationship with Mary before Jesus was born, but since Jesus referred to his brothers and sisters (Mark 3:35), Mary and Joseph exercised conjugal rights.
Application
Relevance Of Revelation
1. The miracle of the incarnation comes at a time when people may be too busy with Christmas preparations to think spiritually and theologically. The fever of commercialization is at its highest. For commercial people, Christmas is a sellabration, for the majority of the year's sales take place in the pre-Christmas season. Others find Christmas to be party or vacation time. In the midst of the rush-rush, a preacher is challenged to give the spiritual significance of Christ's birth.
2. For two Sundays we deal with the subject of birth. On Advent 4 we try to understand the meaning of the incarnation; on Christmas we will celebrate with joy the birth of Jesus. Birth is a popular and controversial subject of our day. Should birth be prevented by artificial birth control methods? Should a fetus ever be aborted? We preach in a day when pre-marital pregnancy is not the problem it was in Mary's day. Mary was a teenager who was pregnant before marriage. Today many teenage girls become pregnant but not by the Holy Spirit! Reports indicate that 20 percent or less of today's brides are virgins. Each year in America 600,000 babies are born out of wedlock. One of every 10 teenage girls is pregnant. Before age 20, 70 percent of females and 80 percent of males are sexually active. Ours is a different world from Mary's, a world that would stone to death a woman pregnant outside of marriage.
3. Today's Gospel lesson confronts us with the Virgin Birth. This, too, is a controversial subject. Fundamentalists and literalists insist that belief in the Virgin Birth is necessary because the Bible says so. Liberals do not accept the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. Moderates hold that they accept the Virgin Birth but do not consider the belief is necessary for salvation which does not depend on the method by which Jesus came into the world but on the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.
The subject of the Virgin Birth gives us an opportunity to teach what the Virgin Birth is not saying. It does not say that the Virgin Birth accounts for Jesus' sinlessness, for original sin could have been inherited through his mother. It does not imply that Mary was a perpetual virgin, for the New Testament refers to Jesus' brothers and sisters.
There are good reasons for accepting the Virgin Birth:
1. Although Mark, John and Paul do not mention the Virgin Birth, Matthew and Luke are reliable witnesses who do not lie.
2. From the beginning the church confessed her belief in the Virgin Birth by reciting the Apostles' and Nicene creeds.
3. The Virgin Birth harmonizes with the uniqueness of Jesus. He was unique among all people of all time: unique in being sinless, unique in wisdom, unique in power and unique in his relationship with God.
4. The Virgin Birth witnessed to the fact that Jesus' existence and coming to the world was totally the work of God. Jesus is not a human product resulting from love or lust. God used a human to bring his Son to the world.
5. God was in Christ, says Paul. How did he get in Jesus? It was by the conception of the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? He is God, the third person of the Trinity. From the moment of his conception, Jesus was God's Son, truly divine, begotten of God, "very God of very God."
Sermon Suggestions
1. God the Communicator. How can God meet humanity on its own terms? How can a human ever know or understand God? This problem is solved by the incarnation. God becomes man. The spiritual invades the physical. The following quotations explain:
"The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." - C.S. Lewis
"The highest cannot be spoken; it can only be enacted." - Goethe.
"If you want to get across an idea, wrap it up in a person." - Bunche.
"God became a man without ceasing to be God so that men might be godly without ceasing to be men." - Browne.
2. The Humanity of God. In the incarnation God becomes human. In Jesus God is a man. There is the "Manhood of the Master." Because he became human, we can see, know and hear God, for as Jesus said, "The Father and I are one." As a human God understands the human lot with all our needs and problems. He is so much human that, as St. Paul claims, he became sin for us. With his death sin for the world also dies.
3. The Problem of the Incarnation. The incarnation was a serious problem for Joseph. Can you imagine the shock and disillusionment he had when he learned Mary was pregnant? How could this be when he was celibate? How could she be so unfaithful to him? He planned to divorce her privately. Then God stepped in and solved the mystery. God himself is responsible for her pregnancy through the conception by the Spirit. Likewise, the incarnation may give some of us problems. How could the infinite God become a finite human? How could the holy become sinful? It blows our minds. It seems preposterous and impossible. But, God has the answer for us. God did it all, for all things are possible through him.
4. The Divine Blender. Cooks use a blender to put two or more substances into one inseparable product. The incarnation was the divine blender of the two natures of Jesus - the divine and human. By the blender Jesus was an integrated personality of both human and divine natures. The one cannot be separated from the other. Jesus was always God and was always human. Even on the cross God was in Jesus reconciling the world.
5. The God who Dared to be Man. It was dangerous for God to become human in Jesus. He allowed himself to be vulnerable to what humanity might do to him. It took a heap of daring to come as a baby in Bethlehem. It was not long for God to experience vulnerability. There was no room for him to be born. Before age two, he was a refugee. His hometown rejected him after his first sermon. Many disciples forsook him because they were offended at his teaching. His people rejected him as king and savior. Most of all, God suffered the most on the cross. Knowing all this would happen, God still dared to come to earth! Amazing grace!
6. The Incarnation for God not People. Today's heresy uses the incarnation to make gods out of people. The incarnation teaches that God became human in Jesus. God does not identify himself with the world so that the Creator is the creation. God is in the world but not identical with it. If so, there would be the heresy of pantheism. The incarnation does not mean that humans are gods. God comes to a human through the Holy Spirit, but people are always people. The physical body may be the temple of God but not God himself. We may be and should be like God but we cannot be God.
7. The Hidden God. At Christmas we usually think of God's revealing himself in Jesus. On the other hand, God hid himself in Jesus. Who would suspect God could become a human? Because he was hidden in Jesus, the religious leaders considered him to be a blasphemer because he claimed to be God's Son by forgiving sin. They nailed him to a cross not knowing they were crucifying God. Even Satan was caught by God by using Jesus as bait. It takes faith to see in this humble itinerant preacher the very Son of God. The reason for this hiddenness? No one can see God directly and live. Jesus was like a transformer that put the light and power of God where we could see, use and understand God.
Sermon Structures
1. What Christmas Cost God (1:18-23). Christmas is an expensive time for many people. For some it takes months to pay off the Christmas gifts charged to our credit cards. There are additional expenses: parties, food, drinks, travel. Such expenses are minimal compared with the price God paid for us to have Christmas. What it cost God -
A. Himself - "Emmanuel, God with us" - v. 23
B. Humility - "emptied himself" - Philippians 2:7
C. Cross - "save his people from their sins" - v. 21
2. No Ordinary Baby (1:18-23). On an average day in America, there are 10,510 babies born. In 1989 there were 4,000,000 children born of which 300,000 were born to unwed mothers. What is one more baby such as the one born in a barn in Bethlehem? Jesus is like no other baby ever born, because -
A. His father was the Holy Spirit - v. 18
B. He was born to die for the world's sin - v. 21.
3. A Miracle Made a Miracle (1:18-21). In today's Gospel, the Virgin Birth cannot be avoided. It is an integral and essential part of the story of the incarnation. Since there is a division of opinion among Christians, it may be appropriate to deal with the subject.
A. What the Virgin Birth does not mean -
1. Condemnation of marital sex or parenthood
2. Jesus was made sinless
3. Jesus became God
B. What the Virgin Birth signifies -
1. God alone gave Jesus: "begotten not made"
2. A unique person deserved a unique origin
3. God possessed Jesus at the conception by the Holy Spirit
4. God's Answer to our Greatest Need (1:21). Paul assured us that God is able to supply every need of ours. When he came in Jesus, he came to meet humanity's greatest need. What was it?
A. Information? If so, God would have sent an educator.
B. Money? If so, God would have sent an economist.
C. Technology? If so, God would have sent a scientist.
D. Pleasure? If so, God would have sent an entertainer.
E. Salvation? Yes - God sent us a Savior (v. 21).
5. Why Would God do such a Thing? (1:18-25). Why would God go to such extreme and tragic extent that he gave his only Son to die for the world? What is the reason for it? John 3:16 says the reason was love. Because of his love -
A. Christ came to reveal God.
B. Christ came to redeem lost humanity - v. 21.
C. Christ came to rule with the law of love in his kingdom.
6. The Good News of the Nativity (1:18-25). How can we celebrate Christmas if we do not know the reasons for the celebration? Without the reasons, the Christmas services will be program but not worship. The incarnation means -
A. God is one of us - "She was found to be with child" - v. 18
B. God is with us - "Emmanuel" - v. 23
C. God is for us - "Save his people" - v. 21
Illustration
The Wonders of Christmas. "There are three wonders here: one, that God should become a man; another, that a virgin should bear a child; and the third, that Mary believed. And the greatest of these is that Mary believed." - Martin Luther
God is Here! There was a teacher who did not believe in God. He did not want his students to believe in God either. As the Christmas season approached, he sent a pupil to the blackboard with instructions to write, "God is nowhere!" The pupil obeyed but inadvertently divided by placing the "w" with the previous word so that it said, "God is now here!"
The Virgin Birth. An old professor at Harvard Divinity School was ridiculed by some students for believing in the Virgin Birth. One day a student challenged him, "Do you mean to tell me that if some young woman from Boston came into the hospital and said that she was going to have a baby, that she was a virgin, and that an angel had appeared to her, you would believe her?" The elderly man hesitated but then answered slowly, "No, I probably wouldn't believe her story. But I'll tell you one thing for sure; if that baby grew to manhood and his teachings changed the course of history, if he grew up and eventually died on the cross and rose from the dead, if 2,000 years later one-third of the world's population called him Savior and Lord - if that happened, I think I would give that girl's story a second hearing!"
The Reflection of God. In Rome's Barberini Palace there is a great painting by Guido Reni. It is a masterpiece showing the chariot of the sun coming through the clouds, horses and clouds, and darkness and light. The painting is very difficult to see because it is on a ceiling. The problem has been overcome by placing a long table with a mirror top underneath the painting. The mirror reflects exactly the painting on the ceiling. People gather around the table and look into the mirror to see the painting. Jesus is the mirror who perfectly reflects and reveals God the Father.
Stepping out of the Picture. Dr. E. Stanley Jones told about a boy who stood in front of the picture of his absent father. He turned to his mother and wistfully said, "I wish Dad would step out of the picture." At Christmas Jesus stepped out of the picture and came to us not as a principle or theory but as a person we can know and love.
Toughest Thing for God. Dr. Al Lindgren of Garrett Seminary tells of taking his junior high school son fishing. While waiting for the fish to bite, they got to talking. The son asked, "Dad, what was the toughest thing God ever tried to do?" His father answered with a question, teacher style! His father asked, "What do you think was the toughest job God tried to do?" The son replied, "In science class, I thought that creation was God's toughest job. Later in Sunday School we were talking about miracles and I thought that maybe the resurrection was the toughest. But then I got to thinking. No one really knows God real well. Now I think the toughest thing God ever tried to do is to get us to understand who he is and that he loves us." His dad responded, "You're right, son. And it took God's Son to do it."
Hidden in Humanity. Martin Luther: "But God says: 'Now I shall hide thy majesty, most thoroughly, shall allow my Son to become man, born of a virgin; let him do good to men and preach them the forgiveness of sins. He shall act in the kindest manner possible; only bear in mind that this man is the same God who spoke in the desert at Mount Sinai to the children of Israel. Believe, therefore, that it is he whom you are hearing. He has hidden his majesty in humanity, does not appear with lightning, thunder or angels, but as one born of a poor virgin and speaking with men of the forgiveness of sins.' "
