GOD'S FAITHFULNESS IN THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

 

MATTHEW 1:18-23

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. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 

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

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name emmanuel”

(which means, God with us). 

When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Matthew tells us that the birth of Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. Matthew does this many times in his gospel, showing that Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. 

Why did he do that? 

Certainly, Matthew wanted the Jews to recognize Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. 

But, Matthew also wanted to show them, and us, something about God. That is, God always does what he says he will do. In other words, God is faithful. 

That may not sound like a Christmas theme, but think about this. “Advent” is a transliteration of a Latin word meaning “to come to”. It refers to the Second Coming.

So, the Advent season is historically a time to prepare our hearts and minds to look forward to Christ’s second coming at the end of this age. The church celebrated the first coming as a reminder of his promised second coming. 

Why is this important?

Well, it’s been a long time coming, as the song says. And when the waiting is long, we often despair of its happening. 

My middle daughter struggled with the concept of future days when she was a child. If she had to wait for something to happen and was told it isn’t happening today, she would ask if it would be tomorrow. If we said no, she would ask despairingly, “is it after Tuesday”, which seemed like an eternity to her. 

Christians have been looking for Christ to return ever since he left. When he did not return within a few years, some began to doubt that he would return. Peter wrote that some will say “where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing a they were form the beginning of creation”. (1 Peter 3:4) 

Those doubters lost sight of God’s faithfulness. The message of God to the church was: “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven”. (Acts 1:11) 

God revealed himself as “ abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6), so we believe he is faithful. And we keep believing even as time goes by.

Matthew wanted his people to see God’s faithfulness in the first coming of Jesus as the promised Messiah.  God wants us to believe in his faithfulness to fulfill his promise of a second coming or advent.

The beauty of this is that God’s faithfulness gives us hope. We can endure all things in light of the hope of Christ’s return to live among us in the new creation. And hope gives us joy. We can sing “Joy To The World” and mean it. 

That is because we sing it at Christmas time, but it is not about the birth of Christ. It is about his second coming. It speaks of what the world will be like when Christ returns. Sin and sorrow are removed and the curse is taken away. 

That is our hope. And our hope brings us joy. And joy is the theme of Christmas.

Have a joyful Christmas!