Word of Salvation – Vol.51 No.48 – December 2006

 

Jesus’ Origin and Name

 

An Advent Sermon by Rev John De Jongh on Matthew 1:18-25

Scripture Reading:  Isaiah 7

Suggested Hymns:  BoW 251; 253; 385; Rej 376; 477

 

Dear Congregation.

It’s interesting to look closely at the genealogy Matthew records at the beginning of his gospel. We often skip over genealogies like this one, but we shouldn’t, because Biblical genealogies often make some very significant points. The genealogy in Matthew 1 is very important. Last time we looked at this passage we saw that this genealogy implies that Jesus is a new beginning: a new Creation, a new Adam, a new Israel, and a new King of the Jews. In Jesus the purpose of the Old Testament, and for that matter all of history, has been fulfilled.

The verses we’re looking at this morning continue to develop that same theme of renewal and fulfilment. They talk about Jesus’ origin and his name. They talk about their significance. You see again that in fulfilment to Old Testament prophecy, Jesus is a new beginning – a fresh start. And he’s the new King of Israel – the Messiah.

Point 1

The words that Matthew uses to introduce his genealogy take us back to Genesis 2:4 and 5:1, which begin with the same words. In this way they imply that Jesus is a new beginning and a new Adam. Matthew takes us back to the creation – God forming Adam from the dust of the earth, breathing into his nostrils the breath of life, making him into a living being.

With the concepts of breath, spirit and life all closely connected in the Old Testament, often even represented by the same Hebrew words, it’s a short step from God creating and breathing life into Adam to the Holy Spirit causing Mary to conceive and have new life grow inside her without the need of a human father. God was doing something inside Mary that was pretty similar to what he’d done with Adam in the very beginning.

Another place in the Old Testament you can go to see the same sort of connection between Spirit, breath and life is the vision presented in Ezekiel 37. God by his Spirit takes Ezekiel in a vision to a valley of dry bones that represents spiritually dead Israel. God asks Ezekiel if the bones can live, and Ezekiel says, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Ezekiel knows full well that he (i.e., Ezekiel) can’t make it happen. But then God tells him to prophesy to the bones that God’s breath might enter them and they might live. And between the work of God’s Word and Spirit, the bones come together, flesh and skin cover them, breath enters them, and they stand there, a vast army. God by his Word and Spirit can give life where otherwise there would be no life. He can even give life to a spiritually dead Israel. He can even begin life in the womb of a virgin.

Ezekiel gives us the reason why Jesus needed to come and bring a fresh start into the world at all. The first start in Adam came unstuck when Adam took us all into sin with him. The result was sin and death and eternal condemnation before God for all of us – on our own we’re all dry bones in Ezekiel’s valley. But in Jesus, God effectively starts again without starting again from scratch, which means we have the opportunity of a new start too, in him. We can become a new creation in Jesus, through faith in him. We can have a fresh start, too.

But, of course, Jesus’ origin without a human father isn’t exactly something that happens every day. In fact, it’s only happened twice in the entire history of the world. Right at the very beginning with Adam, and again in Mary with Jesus.

And so you can understand why Joseph was shocked at Mary’s news that she was pregnant. As far as he could tell, she’d been with another man. Did she try to explain? Did she realise it would be no use? Either way, Joseph’s mind was made up. He was going to call it off and quietly move on.

Matthew calls it divorce because they were already betrothed to be married which, in their day, was as good as being married – they just hadn’t moved into the same house yet. They had a binding contract that could only be broken by death or divorce. Joseph was already considered her husband. It was only a matter of months before he would take her to his house in a public ceremony and the marriage would be complete. Divorce was a big step. But Joseph knew he wasn’t the father. And in fact, even after God changed Joseph’s mind, they didn’t sleep together until the child was born.

Matthew’s point again is that this is no normal child. It hasn’t been conceived in the normal way. Joseph is definitely not this child’s physical father. The Holy Spirit is the one behind this child’s conception. Something new and different was happening here. In Jesus we have a new beginning.

Point 2

The second matter this passage talks about is Jesus’ name.

Again, like genealogies in the Bible, what a name means isn’t usually all that important to us. We usually call our kids something we like the sound of. We don’t even always find out what it means. In fact some of us might have names that we’re better off not knowing the meaning of! But in the Bible, meaning of a name is often important. And especially if God’s the one who has given it, then it has something to say about what the person will be like, or what they’ll achieve with their life.

Notice that in this passage there are a few steps the angel takes before he gets to the name of this child. First of all he addresses Joseph as the ‘son of David’. And that takes us straight back to the genealogy again. Matthew wanted us to know that Jesus was a descendant of David. In fact he was more than just a son of David – he was heir to David’s throne.

On the other hand, it wouldn’t have been all that clear to the average citizen unless they checked. Davidic kingship had effectively ended with the Babylonian exile 550 years before the time of Jesus. When Israel returned from exile, Zerubbabel was the royal heir to the throne. But Israel was still under Persian rule, so he was the governor, but not the king. Then after him Davidic succession to leadership came to an end and other people took over for different reasons. It was never picked up again right through to the time of the New Testament. But it seems that Matthew is giving us the line of succession of those eligible to the throne. And Jesus is in that line. He’s the rightful King of the Jews, heir to David’s throne.

Then the angel encourages Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife. It was important that he did so. If Jesus was going to be the legal and rightful heir to David’s throne, he had to be legally Joseph’s son. Joseph needed to still take Mary as his wife, and complete their marriage, to establish Jesus’ claim to David’s throne.

For the same reason it was important for Joseph to name him. That would mean that Joseph accepted him legally as his son. And so the angel guides Joseph to do both.

The first verse of Matthew’s gospel, and the first verse of this passage, introduce Jesus as Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah. ‘Messiah’ means, anointed one. The later you get in Old Testament history, the more the word ‘messiah’ becomes a term for the king, and especially around the time of the exile and beyond, the king to come who would fulfil all expectations for Godly kingship in Israel.

Something more of the Holy Spirit’s role in all of this becomes clear. According to the Old Testament, it is with God’s Spirit that the Messiah would be anointed. The Spirit of God is the One who introduces the Messianic age. Isaiah 11 says, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse… The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom… understanding… counsel… power, knowledge and… fear of the LORD – and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.” Then in Isaiah 42 God says, “I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.”

Then in chapter 61 comes the passage Jesus takes up at the beginning of his ministry as fulfilled in him, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor… bind up the brokenhearted… proclaim freedom for the captives… proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour… “ And then also Joel in his prophecy has the passage that was fulfilled at Pentecost, when Jesus pours out the Spirit on all people, and everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.

This whole theme of ultimate Messianic Kingship is fulfilled in the one the Holy Spirit causes to be conceived in Mary as the Messianic King in the line of David.

And so, getting back to this Child’s name, it’s not surprising that the name God gives him is “Jesus.” It’s a name that means “He will save” or “Yahweh will save”.

Think about the saviours or deliverers in the Old Testament. Think of the judges like Gideon and Samson, that God raised up to save Israel from enemies like the Philistines and the Midianites. Maybe you think of Joshua, who saved Israel out of their desert wanderings and brought them into the Promised Land – in fact his name is the Hebrew equivalent of ‘Jesus’. You think of people who saved Israel from physical enemies in one way or another.

But this sort of deliverance from physical enemies was only a picture of better and greater things to come. It was a picture of the real salvation God’s people needed – salvation from sin. And so along with the growing expectation for an ultimate Messiah King came the expectation that he would save God’s people from their sin – the real cause of all their problems. And again, you can track that through well-known passages like Isaiah 53: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And you can go to Jeremiah’s new covenant passage in chapter 31. God says, “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel… I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Is it any surprise, then, that God has the angel tell Joseph to name the child “Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”? Jesus is the new start that deals with our basic problem of sin by saving God’s people from it. And we can be a part of this new start by trusting in him, putting our faith in him, committing ourselves to him, and living our lives for him.

Point 3

The last point Matthew makes here is that both Jesus’ origin and his name fulfil Old Testament prophecy. Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14. Maybe it seems a bit obscure as a prophecy referring to Jesus. With the Hebrew word translated ‘virgin’ also able to mean young woman, it seems to be fulfilled in Isaiah’s day. Judah faces the threat of war against Aram and Ephraim. They’re scared. But God promises them this sign of a child, and that before the child grows very old, the land of Aram and Ephraim will be laid waste.

If you didn’t know any more than that you’d think it was all fulfilled in Isaiah’s day. Except that Isaiah picks up the theme again in the next chapter. And then again in chapters 9 and 11, this time thinking forward to the coming Messiah. So that even though you might not have seen it for yourself if Matthew and Luke hadn’t pointed it out for you, when they do, you can see that a prophecy that was fulfilled in a limited way in Isaiah’s day was also pointing to a much greater fulfilment in Jesus.

The other interesting thing here is the name ‘Immanuel’. It means, ‘God with us’. Jesus is God with us in the flesh. Sin is what caused God to distance himself from us back in Genesis 3. But Jesus has dealt with sin so that in him God is able to live with us again.

Conclusion

With Christmas less than a week away now, let’s make a point of remembering that this is what Christmas is all about. The world’s in a mess. Without God, we’re in a mess. The first Adam took us into sin with him and put us in the mess. But the last Adam, Jesus, gives us the chance of a new start.

Jesus is the Adam the world needs. Jesus is the King the world needs. His kingdom has come into the world. It’s growing until it touches the whole world. And the call goes out to everyone in the world to enter it by throwing in their lot with him. But people need to hear that call. So let’s not leave the message of Christmas confined to a stable. Let’s expand it into the whole world, and share that message of Christmas with others.

Jesus is the King of creation. He’s introducing a heavenly kingdom of eternal love and peace and joy. And we can be a part of it by following him.

Amen.