Matthew 1:18-25

Collin Ross

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Our text this morning is most likely familiar to many of us. Even if you aren’t a Christian, chances are good that you’ve heard about the birth of Jesus. You’ve heard about Mary, the virgin birth. You’ve seen the nativities around your neighborhood. So we’re familiar with the story. And that’s both a good thing and can also cause us problems.

I remember my first big New Testament paper in seminary. I spent hours upon hours pouring over countless books and journal articles researching and writing this paper. It was on the the political nature of Christ’s teachings and how they were a threat to Roman power and authority. So I proof read the paper numerous times, even had Melanie look it over, and I was really proud of it. When I got it back graded, as it turns out I had missed some mistakes…on the cover page, I had misspelled the word Caesar, and in a footnote I had another typo that turned a word into something I can not say in front of you all this morning, but oh did my professor find it.

Familiarity is sometimes advantageous, but other times it cause us to miss things. So what I want to do this morning is take a fresh look at this familiar story by coming at it from perhaps a new angle, but an angle that I believe Matthew always had in mind.

Why did Matthew write this book about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection? Why did any of the gospel writers record these things in their writings? It was not merely to give information about the man’s life and ministry. When we read biographies today, we do so to get an unbiased account of a person’s life. That is not what Matthew intended to do when he set about writing about the life of Jesus. He has a message and a purpose for writing, and it is this: Matthew wants to help us see the world through Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Well that’s what we’re talking about this morning.

Look with me at the first verse of the gospel of Matthew:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Now this is really quite cool. Matthew opens up his gospel by looking at the origin story of Christ. In the era of Marvel superhero movies, we know all about origin stories. But instead of a radioactive spider, we get a genealogy. It was a different time, people. So Matthew opens his gospel by looking at the origin of Jesus, first with his genealogy and then with his birth story. But what we find is that Matthew introduces us to the origin of Jesus by using language that reminds us of the origin of the universe.

In this first sentence Matthew uses a particular Greek word that is translated genealogy here, but it’s actually a Greek word that you know. If you know who Phil Collins is or the first book of the Bible, it’s the word genesis. So Matthew opens by saying, the book of the genesis of Jesus the Messiah. Now, look down at verse 18 in our text we read this morning:

Matthew opens up his gospel with a genealogy of Jesus, something we tend to breeze past if we’re honest, but here’s what’s cool. In this first sentence Matthew uses a particular Greek word that is translated genealogy here, but it’s actually a Greek word that you know. If you know who Phil Collins is or the first book of the Bible, it’s the word genesis. So Matthew opens by saying, the book of the genesis of Jesus the Messiah. Now, look down at verse 18 in our text we read this morning:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.

Now, guess what word Matthew has repeated here, but is translated as birth? Now the genesis of Jesus Christ took place in this way, and he goes on to give the actual account of Christ’s birth.

Now, you’re probably thinking…why is this cool Pastor Collin? Well, what is the most well known part of the first book of the Bible which is called Genesis? Most of us would say that it’s the story of the creation of the universe. God creates the heavens and the earth. Okay, so if we were to look at the second chapter of Genesis in the ancient and popular Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the septuagint, when God is describing his great act of creation, we find this opening in verse 4:

“The book of the genesis of the heavens and the earth.”

These phrases, particular the first verse are taken straight from the book of Genesis chapter 2 when God’s great acts of creation are being described. This was where everything began, where we see God’s power and authority on full display as he speaks and his word brings order out of the chaos. Many of us look to what God has created as evidence of his existence. I remember many times looking at the sun setting behind the Rocky Mountains and just marveling at the beauty and immensity of the world, and I felt in my bones I had to praise the God who created it all.

And what we find is that Matthew is putting the events of Jesus’ birth in parallel with God’s great acts of creation. Is there any act of God’s power and love that can rival his creation of the world? Matthew says yes, and it’s the birth of this child. What Matthew is hinting at is that this story of a baby being born to a virgin is not just a phenomenal birth story. This isn’t a birth story, it’s a creation story, but it’s not the old creation, it’s something new. The birth of this child is the beginning of a new creation. Christ’s birth is a new genesis, a new beginning for the world.

And Matthew reinforces this idea with the way he describes the remarkable circumstances of this birth. Verse 18.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

18 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 from the Holy Spirit.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

18 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 from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

So how many of you have seen the Disney movie Hercules. In the Roman and Greek world, there were countless stories of gods coming down, sleeping with a human woman, and that woman then bears a child of the god, who are usually the great heroes of the mythological story. So Mathew knows that this is a pretty common story.

But this origin story is different, and Matthew makes sure that we recognize that. Twice he mentions that the divine agent that brings life to Mary’s womb is the Holy Spirit. So track with me here: Matthew has already told us that this is a genesis story, this is a creation story not unlike the creation of the world in Genesis chapter 1. And in Genesis chapter 1, who is present hovering over the chaotic waters of the deep, bringing life where there was no life before?

English Standard Version Chapter 1

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters

So in Genesis, the Spirit of God is present at the creation of the world. The world was wild and waste, void and empty, there were no living things, but the Spirit brings life to where there was no life and light to where there was only darkness. And the pinnacle of God’s creation were human beings, who were made in his image to continue his work of bringing the life and light of God to the world. Which of course, they failed to do, and instead of life and light, they brought into the world sin and death.

So again, Matthew is showing us that this is not just a story of the birth of a child, this is the beginning of a new creation. Life is again being brought into the dark chaos of the world. A new world is being born, and that world starts with this child, who’s name is Jesus.

Maybe you’ve never thought about Christ’s birth in this way before, maybe you have. But evidently Matthew thinks it’s important that we get this. Why is it important for us to see the birth of Jesus as the beginnings of a new creation?

Because if it is true that God has begun creating a new world in the midst of this world, than we’ve got to learn how to live in it, because problems tend to pop up when you don’t understand the world you live in.

Parents, you always try to prepare your kids for school, especially when their changing schools, like moving up to middle school or high school and definitely before they go away to college. Because we know that their world is going to be different, a lot of things will be new and unfamiliar, and you know that their success in that new context will largely be due to how well they understand it.

The same can be said about this new creation that has begun with the birth of Christ. We had to learn how to live in the first creation - we had to learn that bears don’t make great pets and that not all red berries are edible. Now that God has created another world in the midst of this world, we’ve got to learn how to live in it.

And this is what Matthew is saying here: the key to understanding and living in God’s new world is this baby born in Bethlehem. We cannot understand the world in which we live unless we understand who Jesus is. The way that we learn how to live in this new world is by looking to Jesus, because his life, death, and resurrection, they show us the way in which we are to live in God’s new creation.

It comes back to what we said is the purpose for Matthew’s writing. He wants to help us see the world through Jesus Christ. He wants the story of Jesus to be the determinative story in our lives, that the story of Jesus would direct and shape our lives.

I think the answer comes back to what we said is the purpose for Matthew’s writing. He wants to help us see the world through Jesus Christ. He wants the story of Jesus to be the determinative story in our lives, that the story of Jesus would direct and shape our lives.

We can know about Mary and Joseph,

we can know about the virgin birth,

we can know about the virgin birth, we can know about the wisemen, we can know about

we can know about the wisemen,

we can know about the miracles,

So we end this morning with a question.

we can know about Christ’s teachings,

1) Do you see the world in which you live - your home, your family, your neighborhood, your office, your school - do you see the world in which you live as the world that God has created and redeemed through Jesus?

we can know about even the cross and the resurrection.

And before you say yes, you need to think about it. Because if you say yes, that you see your world as created and redeemed through Jesus, than you have to recognize that some of your most fundamental assumptions about the way things are will be challenged. But I guarantee that the more you see your world through Jesus, the more you see your world as the one that God has created and redeemed through Jesus, the more you will know joy and hope.

It is true that there are many terrible aspects of the world - Paul says that all of creation is groaning to be fully redeemed, but even Paul, a man who’s adult life was spent in the prisons all along the Mediterranean, so if anyone knew the worst of the world it was him, he knew all about the groaning of creation, but he saw his world through Jesus, and his present sufferings were overshadowed by the glory of God’s love, a love that he knew and that we know and understand by looking at Jesus.

And remember that you are not alone in this. In the first creation account, the Spirit brings life and light to where there is none. In Bethlehem, the Spirit brings life where there was none. And in your life as well, the Spirit brings life and sight to us. So as we come to the table in a little bit, I invite you to ask for the Spirit’s help so that you might see your world through Jesus. That the story of Christ would color your world in all its wonder and goodness so that you would know the new world that Christ has brought.

2) The second question

Let’s pray.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Yehoshua in the Hebrew, is shortened to Yeshua, and then transliterated into the Greek as Yesus, and then finally Jesus in English. His name is Jesus, and what does his name mean? Yahweh saves.

And what do we learn is the name of this new beginning for the world? Well, after learning that his soon to be wife is pregnant with a child that is not his own, Joseph is mulling over what to do, when he receives a visit from an angel who tells us the name of this new creation:

English Standard Version Chapter 1

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”