Meditation June 29, 2020
Matthew 1
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found
with child of the Holy Ghost. 19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded
to put her away privily. 20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of
the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of
the Holy Ghost. 21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a
son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God
with us. 24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the
Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn
son: and he called his name JESUS.
Matthew now gives a straight forward account of the virgin birth
of Jesus. He is so matter of fact in recording this event one might suppose it
was a common occurrence. I suppose for one who spent three years with Jesus
seeing on an almost daily basis marvelous acts of God the idea of a virgin
birth was of small note.
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ”, which includes His conception,
“was on this wise”; i.e., it took place in this way. “Mary was espoused to
Joseph….” Jewish espousals or engagements, were as binding as marriage and
subject to the same conditions as a marriage for the breaking of the espousal
contract; it required a divorce. Moreover, it was common that during the
espousal period the bride and groom to be had no direct contact with one
another. And as premarital sex was not commonly approved among Jews, Matthew
had only to say “before they came together”. Whether he meant prior to marriage
or prior to having sex is moot. The one said the same as the other regarding
the conception of Jesus. Thus, before Mary and Joseph came together, “Mary was
found to be with child of the Holy Ghost.” In short, God created a child in her
womb. For some this is just too fantastic for some to accept as if somehow this
is beyond the power of God who started with nothing and created all things.
Admittedly there is to be some awe and wonder in this. Virgins are rarely
pregnant. It is scientifically inexplicable. However, it is, it seems to me, far
less a wonderment, as my Grandmother would call it, than the very scientific
notion that somehow in eons of time energy was floating about dispersed here
and there in space until for unknown reasons or, as the nature of the case
would be, for no reason at all, it collapsed on itself with a really big bang
and by sheer force of chance, that is by equal reason as its collapse, it brought
forth a man child. It would be difficult to give a better example of what is meant
by being given over to a reprobate mind. (Ro. 1) But I am chasing rabbits. Back
to the text.
Mary apparently told Joseph of her pregnancy. Apparently also
he did not accept the explanation for he determined to put her away, i.e.
divorce her, privately. Being found with child during her espousal but not with
the child of her espoused would have been considered adultery. For that Mary
could have been stoned to death. Or Joseph could have divorced her in a public
divorce intended to shame her for unfaithfulness. Now, as we have suggested
above, creating a child in the womb is a small and not very notable thing for God
who created the world from nothing and Adam from dust; however, realizing this
to be an unusual event among men, and an event not likely to be believed, God sent
an angel to tell Joseph not to be concerned the child was the work of God.
“Joseph, thou son of David….”
It is important to note the angel’s address to Joseph as ‘son of David’. Few
Jewish men descended from David, I suppose to this very day, failed to
understand themselves as to possible progenitor of the Messiah. Prior to the
promise to David that the Messiah would be his descendant, there seems to have
been the hope of the Messiah with every male child that was born. Such seems to
be implied in Eve’s remark regarding Seth, “I have gotten a man from God” or
more literally perhaps, “I have gotten a God-man.”. Again, at the birth of Noah
we see a similar hope when Lamech said of Noah’s birth “May this one comfort us
in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has
cursed.” Thus, in several instances in the OT we see these hints of
messianic hope among the Jewish people. Alas, when Messiah appeared, they
missed him and to the present set and empty chair for his when they celebrate
Passover. It is a sad thing. I remember an evangelist to the Jews breaking down
weeping as he explained the empty chair at the Jewish Seders. “He came to His
own and His own did not receive Him.” (John
1:11) Back to the story.
When the angel addressed
Joseph as ‘son of David’ he was conveying to Joseph not only that his taking
Mary to be his wife would not be at odds with his being an heir of the hope of
the Messiah, but that it would, in fact, be the means by which he would become
the father of the Messiah; i.e. the one “thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he
shall save his people from their sins.” With this plain announcement, we could
wonder how it was possible that Mary and Joseph were so many years coming to an
understanding that this child to whom Mary gave birth was the Messiah. The
answer lies in the fact that the Messiah God provided and the Messiah the Jews
sought were so radically different that Jesus was unrecognizable as that Messiah.
That much or the story remains to this day. The Messiah sought by the world and
the Messiah provided by God, Jesus the Christ, are diametrically contrary;
thus, he is yet rejected. But to Joseph, it was promised, you may take Mary as
your wife, she has not been unfaithful, on the contrary, she has been faithful
to the will of God and the child she will bear you will name Jesus.
(T)his was done, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call
his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Isa. 7:24) Thus
did Messiah come to His own when Jesus “who, being in very nature God, did not
consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather,
he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human
likeness. And being found in appearance as a man….” (Phillipians 2:6ff) “For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever
believes in Him might be saved. For God did not send His Son into the world to
condemn the world but that the world might be saved. Whoever believes in him is
not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because
they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John
3:16-18)