The birth of the Messiah
Chapter 1: 18-25
God has used four methods to create human beings:
- Direct creation using non-living matter: "the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being"(Genesis 2: 7).
- Direct creation from a piece of live human tissue: "the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman" (Genesis 2:22).
- Direct creation of an egg within a woman: "Mary... was found with child of the Holy Spirit"(Matthew 1:18).
- Indirect creation through human reproduction, in obedience to his command: "and God said: ' let us make man in our image, after our likeness '; … God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it'" (Gen. 1:26 -28).
The first three methods were used solely by God and only once each: in the same order, the creation of Adam, Eve, and the Messiah, also called in the Bible "the second Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45). The last method is the only one that depends on human will, it fulfills the will of God when used after marriage for life of one man with one woman, who join forces to this end. Any union outside of marriage is sin.
In this text, we have a brief account on the establishment of the Messiah in the body of Mary. Doctor Luke knew of a few more details, which he reported in his Gospel, concluding that "with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:34,35,37).
However, this unprecedented event had already been announced centuries before by Isaiah "the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (7:14), as well as Jeremiah "the LORD has created a new thing in the earth— A woman shall encompass a man" (31:22).
The Bible therefore clearly teaches that the Messiah was born of a virgin, without the intervention of a man. Two evangelists say this clearly, one of whom was a doctor, and the prophecies of antiquity had already foreseen it. It also explains what God said to the serpent, after it had induced Eve to the sin of disobedience: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head ..." (Genesis 3:15). The seed of the woman (not man), would hurt the serpent, who was the devil.
Mary was Joseph’s bride: she was engaged to marry him, a compromise that had greater value than the engagement of nowadays, and could only be broken with divorce. Although they did not live together, the bride's infidelity was treated like adultery and was punishable by death.
God chose Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, but had also chosen Joseph to be his father, although not biologically. He was of the royal dynasty of David, the rightful heir to the throne of Israel.
Joseph was a remarkable man, and in this episode, he showed his purity of character, his dignity, his love for Mary, his gentleness and wisdom. Mary had become pregnant by the work of God. There was no infidelity on her part with respect to Joseph, but only she was sure of this. Joseph knew of course that he himself was not the father because there had been no intimate relationships with Mary yet, awaiting their wedding.
When the people saw a pregnant woman before marriage, they only knew of two possibilities: the groom would have gone ahead of marriage, or the bride would have been unfaithful. The first case would be dishonorable to both, and the second incriminated the bride.
The purity of character of Joseph was at stake, because if he admitted being the father he would be lying, if he denied it he would be condemning Mary to public disgrace. The only honourable solution that Joseph knew to the problem was to leave her secretly, nullifying the marriage, and he was planning to do this. It was the lesser of two evils, for Mary would then have the status of divorcee and he would have the freedom to continue his life without having to answer questions. However, it was still a tragic solution, and it did not serve the purposes of God.
It was a humanly impossible situation and required divine intervention. An angel of the Lord therefore appeared in dreams to Joseph, to take away his doubts, and to clarify the magnificent reality of what was happening: he should not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because what had been generated in her was from the Holy Spirit; she would give birth to a son to whom Joseph should give the name Jesus, for he would save His people from their sins.
Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew "Yoshua" meaning "Jehovah is salvation". "Jehovah" being the second person of the Trinity, it is clear that this Son was the second person of the Trinity, the Saviour of His people.
Matthew was writing his Gospel to the people of Israel, and made sure to point out that all this was done in compliance with the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 (see above). He appealed to his people to understand the fulfillment of the prophecy.
More than 300 prophecies can be found in the Old Testament about the Messiah's first coming, all of them fulfilled. We find more references from the Old Testament in the Gospel of Matthew than in all the three other Gospels combined, which makes us understand that its purpose was not so much to give a biography of the Lord Jesus, as to prove the fulfilment of prophecies of the Old Testament concerning Him.
In that prophecy of Isaiah, the son who would be born of a virgin would be called Emmanuel, which means "God with us". This word appears only three times in the Bible: the third is in Isaiah 8:8. The Lord Jesus is never called by this name, but Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.
He is also called "the Christ" or "Christ" which is the translation of the Hebrew "Messiah". This word translates as simply "anointed", but it is understood that "the Christ" is a title while, without the article, simply "Christ", the word denotes his character and his relationship with believers. However, in this passage we read that He will be called Emmanuel, which translates as "God with us". He cannot be God with us if not born of a virgin, because there is no other way for Him to assume our humanity if not born of a woman.
In addition, He cannot be "God with us" if He is not "Jehovah is salvation": He is called the Saviour because He is God with us. We read in Hebrews 2:9: "we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. "
He had to be innocent, an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of all, and only "God with us" could be innocent, for He was not born of man, therefore did not inherit our sinful nature, but was born from a virgin through a divine seed.
Through the intervention of the angel, Joseph abandoned the plan to give a letter of divorce to Mary, and continued to admit his engagement until the birth of the Lord Jesus, after which he started to have marital relations with her. The theory that emerged much later that Mary remained a virgin until she died is contradicted by verse 24. We have other passages that mention the children that Mary had with Joseph: Matthew 12:46, 13:55,56, Mark 6:3, John 7:3.5, Acts 1:14, 1 Corinthians 9:5 and Galatians 1:19.
By marrying Mary, Joseph received Jesus as his own adopted son, making Him the legal heir to the throne of David. Thus was born the Messiah-King, the Eternal entered time, the Omnipotent became a little Baby, the Lord of Glory covered that glory in His human form, and "in Him all the fullness of the Godhead inhabits bodily."
R David Jones
Previous
Next
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which is translated, "God with us."
24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 to 25