A Divine Man

Good morning, everyone. Let me invite you to have that passage in Matthew open in front of you.

And it might be worth having Isaiah 7 as well open as we turn to God's words this morning.

But as we start our Christmas, our run up to Christmas today, let me tell you about this man called Matthew,

the man Matthew who wrote this gospel. Little known fact about him is that he wasn't always known as Matthew.

In fact, in a previous life, he was known as Levi. Now, Levi was a Jew and Levi was a tax collector.

So his job was to collect money from his fellow Jews and give it to the Romans who were the despised occupying force of the day.

And you can imagine, given the nature of that job, what he does for a living,

because there was corruption and bribery going on absolutely everywhere, it was a very lucrative profession.

And so if you add all that up, the two defining features about Levi's life,

the two defining features, if they are number one, that you have sold out to the enemy.

You are the definition of a turncoat.

And defining feature number two is that you are most likely very rich.

You can imagine like one of those good old Western films that we all love,

that if Matthew, Levi were around today, he'd be the kind of guy that would walk into a bar

and the music would suddenly stop and everyone would clench their fists, glare at them and say,

son, you've got some neck showing your face in here.

So Levi is that kind of guy.

In fact, it was so despised that apparently the Jews didn't just view tax collectors as traitors.

They viewed them as murderers.

So you can imagine the utter horror when Jesus crops up in the scene

and he doesn't just take an interest in Levi and his tax collector friends.

He wants to know them.

Actually, he calls Levi to be his disciple, to be his follower.

And it's likely Jesus then that gives Levi his new name, Matthew, signifying his new start in life.

Matthew, his name means, one of you knew this, that name means gift of God.

Works in two ways.

It's what Jesus is to Matthew, that the one who stepped into this man's life out of the blue,

out of nowhere, and the one who brought forgiveness and newness of life,

despite Matthew's, Levi's, horrendous life choices.

Let me just say, if that's you here today, maybe you're feeling

you've made some horrendous life choices.

Maybe you're here today and you're thinking, why would anyone want to know me?

Matthew would invite you into his gospel and say, think again.

Think again, because that was me.

It's who I was.

It's why I've written this gospel, because people, outsiders like me,

who thought we had no chance before this God,

he came in the person of Jesus and showed us grace.

And it's what Matthew and his gospel are to the church.

They are a gift from God.

As Matthew reflects on Jesus' life, as he looks back on it,

he writes this gospel so that his fellow Jews will know who this man Jesus is.

And so here is the key word in Matthew's gospel that comes up time and time and time again.

If you're going to read it in your own times, look out for this word.

As Matthew reflects on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,

it's the word fulfillment.

Fulfillment.

It's as almost as if Matthew looks back on Jesus' life and everything that happened,

and there's a light bulb that goes on in his head and in his heart,

because he understands that the things that happened in Jesus' life were not random events

that took place in a strange place in a far-off distant land.

They're the very fulfillment of everything that God said was going to happen.

And here's what I was thinking this week.

You know, you've got authors today who revel in the element of surprise.

You know, you heard that line?

The author revels in the element of surprise.

Matthew is the opposite.

He's an author who revels in the element of unsurprise.

This happened exactly like God said it would.

And so the question that I want us to explore over these next four weeks

is what is it that Matthew sees as being fulfilled?

What is it in the birth of Jesus in particular that Matthew sees God was good to his words?

Come with me to Matthew chapter 1 and to verse 18.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

We'll jump into the first of these today.

And let me harness the momentum that Pete built up with the kids talk

and tell you what underwhelmed me massively this week.

Do you get any idea what your name means?

I wonder if you were playing that game when Pete was up doing the thing.

Do you know what your name means?

Right?

I wonder if we went around the room, we'd have some cracking backstories

as to what people's names mean.

But I'll tell you what underwhelmed me massively this week.

I'll pick it up with my parents in three weeks' time.

Graham apparently means grey outbuilding.

That's what it means.

Boring.

Functional.

And the irony is that six months ago I painted an outbuilding in our home.

Grey.

But my name means grey outbuilding.

No doubt some cheeky monkey out there will say how fitting.

But in our day, a name may well have some significance.

We do this all the time, don't we, with children.

Sometimes we name other things in our lives.

Names perhaps carry a significant meaning.

But in the Bible, names always carry significance and meaning.

Always.

And you'll see if you've got the text there that Matthew gives us two names in this passage.

Two names that I think, as I've kind of wrestled with it this week,

two names that are the key to understanding what Matthew sees as being fulfilled

in the life and birth of Jesus.

And the first thing to see about these two names is that they are two names with some serious background.

So come with me to verse 22.

This is what Matthew writes.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet.

Now, the question is, who is the prophet?

Because Matthew is thinking about the prophet Isaiah, the verses that we had read earlier.

This man called Isaiah, this man who God sent to his people as his messenger,

who is on the scene in Judah, circa 700 BC, call it that.

And what's crucial about that time is it's a time when the kingdom of Israel,

those 12 tribes, are divided into the north and the south.

Ten in the north, two in the south.

Judah's in the south.

His people are rebellious.

His borders are threatened.

And his king in Jerusalem is sitting there all the while unconcerned.

And yet the one thing that God's people do have,

because they've got a ton of stuff that is not in their favor,

yet the one thing that they do have is the promises of the covenant Lord.

His word.

Of how he will defeat the enemies of his people.

Of how he will bring his people to a place of rest.

Of how he will raise up a king who will come from David's line,

who will usher it in, and who will be his king, and whose reign will be forever.

And so King Ahaz, with all those promises in his back locker,

with all the history of Israel,

he looks at the enemies who are on the horizon.

And make no mistake, they are big, bad, and scary.

He looks at those enemies, and he's got a choice.

And it's key that we see this choice,

because we're going to come back to it at the end.

The choice is, will he live by faith and God's promises,

or will he live by sight?

Will he live by faith, or will he live by sight?

And so Isaiah goes to him and says,

don't be afraid of your enemies.

Don't be afraid of them.

They might look big, bad, and scary to you.

But understand that the Lord is no domesticated God.

The Lord is the one who is all-powerful.

The Lord is the one who is all-knowing.

And because he is the one who knows the end from the beginning,

we need to understand, remember who the Lord is.

He's telling you that these two nations on the horizon,

who are threats to you,

and who are making insults at you,

they will soon be in the course of history,

two smoldering stubs.

And to prove the point, let me ask you here today,

I guarantee you that you've never heard of King Rezin of Aram.

Have you?

But I can guarantee you that you're sitting here today,

all these years later,

and you've heard of the baby who is to be born of this virgin.

It's exactly what God's point is.

But Ahaz said,

I will not ask,

I will not put the Lord to the test.

Now that sounds pious,

and you think,

well,

sounds plausible enough that he wouldn't want to test God.

But actually,

you look underneath it,

and what he's saying

is a way with your sign.

A way with your sign.

And Isaiah says,

have it your way.

Therefore,

the Lord himself will give you a sign.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,

and will call him Emmanuel.

Now,

what are we supposed to make of this sign?

That God himself is going to arrive on earth

to dwell with his people,

having been birthed through an untouched female womb.

Now,

it's so above our capacity to fathom.

It's so above our comprehension.

It's so above our understanding.

This is something that only God can do.

And I think that's exactly the point.

This isn't about Israel getting their act

together,

although they are called to repent

and put their faith in the Lord.

This is about God being the Lord.

This is only something that God can do.

And I think that because of that,

this is the reason that it divides its hearers

in this day and in our day.

Because Ahaz probably thought

this was a load of nonsense.

But to the faithful believers

in Israel,

in Isaiah's day,

down the ages,

through the horrors,

despite their failures as a people,

those who are faithfully clinging to the promise

that God will do this,

this is a wonderful source of hope.

that God will come,

that God sees,

that God knows,

that God will make good in his promises.

And he will come.

He will come to dwell with us.

And this child who's going to be born,

if you flick on a few chapters in Isaiah,

Isaiah chapter 9,

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

he will be wonderful counselor.

He will be mighty God.

He will be everlasting father.

He will be prince of peace.

And he will enlarge the nation.

I take it that just means

others from all over the world

are going to come to know this child

and everything that he is.

This child king will defeat his enemies

and he will save their people

from their sin.

So do you see how these two names

come with some serious background?

Those random things

that come with some serious background

and some serious history.

And so what Matthew observes

is happening in the birth in Bethlehem

is that these two names

with some serious background

become two names

that have come to the foreground.

So in our story,

here are Mary and Joseph

flicking it onto Matthew 1.

Here are Mary and Joseph.

Here are this young,

poor, engaged couple

from this little backwater town

of Nazareth.

Now, you read the Gospels

and Nazareth is a town

that people joke about.

You hear Nathaniel,

what good could come from Nazareth?

It's a town that carries with it

a stigma of thinking

there's nothing that goes on there.

And yet this couple are from Nazareth.

Now, you've got to understand

that OK Magazine

and their engagement

aren't phoning them up

and saying,

can we do a full piece spread

from your wedding?

Okay, Mary's not climbing

the corporate ladder.

Joseph's not just completed

his 15th Iron Man.

The world are not standing up

to attention

when this couple

come on the scene.

Matthew's not bringing them

to the surface

saying, let's toast the success

of Mary and Joseph

in who they are.

What is it Matthew

draws our attention to?

And I love seeing this this week

and really, really seeing it

in all these years

of reading this passage.

What is it that Matthew

draws our attention to

about them?

It's not their success.

It's their faithfulness.

It's a wonderful lesson

for us today.

What is it that the Lord's

interested in?

What does God want

from his people?

It's not that we would

up the game.

It's that we would be faithful.

We'd be faithful to him.

That we would follow his word.

We would cling to his promises

and stake it all on him.

It's their faithfulness

that Matthew draws

our attention to.

Luke records Mary's

Magnificat,

her song of praise.

It's clear that she knows

God's promises.

And Matthew,

he focuses on Joseph.

From David's line,

he's a faithful to the law

kind of man.

Did you see that description there?

He's a,

I want to do the right thing

by Mary kind of guy.

These are faithful people.

And I wonder whether

they're the kind of

representing,

as it were,

exactly the faithful

kind of people

that God's promise

in Isaiah all those years

before was for.

Nothing going for them.

Nothing going on

in their lives.

And yet they're walking

day by day

in faith that God

would deliver on

this promise.

And yet we need to

appreciate,

and here's what I want

you to know as well,

they were faithful people,

but they ain't gullible

people.

You see that in their

reactions,

it takes an angelic

appearance to both of them

individually to convince

them that this is true.

Joseph is about to end it

with Mary when he finds out.

Now what's the point?

The point is that

what C.S. Lewis called

chronological snobbery,

that just because we

exist in 2021,

we look back on this

and think that somehow

we're a lot more

sophisticated,

that we wouldn't have

fallen for anything

like this.

People in this day

aren't gullible.

Mary and Joseph know

how,

this audience,

her first reading

this gospel,

know how the birds

and the bees work.

Right?

They know that

this isn't how it

goes down.

They know that

there's only one way

for a woman to get

pregnant,

and that ain't

happened.

They're not gullible

people.

Matthew emphasizes

that this pregnancy,

do you see it?

What's the Holy Spirit

doing?

This is the virgin birth.

And maybe at that point,

I don't know,

maybe I've lost you.

You know,

the virgin birth,

is that up there

with Bigfoot,

the Loch Ness Monster,

and that guy in the red suit

comes this time of year?

Is it nonsense

in your eyes,

I wonder?

And it's really right,

and you've got to hear me

right in this.

It's good

that we think long

and hard about the

plausibility of the Bible.

And what you find,

and I find this in my own life,

when you really begin

to research this,

and there's some cracking

resources I can recommend

to you if you want to

think more about this,

this stuff historically

really stands.

It really stands.

And it's important

that we understand

that our faith

is not blind.

Our faith

is trust based on

evidence.

But Leonard put me to you,

if you're struggling

with this one,

lovingly,

that if there is

an all-powerful God

who created the world

out of nothing,

is this really all that hard

for him to do?

Well, you see,

that's exactly it.

I mean, I don't believe

there's a God

who created the world.

I don't believe in miracles.

Well, let me ask you again

to think about it.

And maybe think about

the fact that you

probably live your life

in the light of

more miraculous stuff

than you think you do.

For instance,

take the creation

of the world.

You know, Stephen Hawking

said,

because there's a law

like gravity,

the universe can

and will create itself

out of nothing.

You know,

whilst there are elements

of that that are true,

it still doesn't explain

why there's something

and not nothing.

I remember sitting

in biology classes

at school

and listening to the teacher

explain the theory

of evolution to me

and finding her argument

intellectually unsatisfying.

And that wasn't even

beginning to scratch

the surface of the why,

let alone the how.

Can I suggest

that there's a truth

in the slightly mischievous

words of Glenn Scrivener

who said,

Christians believe

in the virgin birth

of Jesus.

Atheists believe

in the virgin birth

of the universe,

choose your miracle.

And let me just recommend

we're going to give this away,

this book called

Is Christmas Unbelievable?

by a wonderful lady

called Rebecca McLaughlin

who's researched these things

and written it down

for sceptics.

Is Christmas Unbelievable?

We're going to be giving them away

from next Sunday,

the couple of Sundays after

on our callers service as well.

It's a wonderful book

that you can take away

but also just to give

to people who perhaps

struggle with this stuff.

Is Christmas

Unbelievable?

But that the virgin birth

happened is one thing.

Why it happened

is quite another

and it's probably the thing

that Matthew wants us

to focus on.

Because the answer

to mankind's sin problem

and history is a long

testimony to this,

is never going to come

from the human gene pool.

The saviour that we need

needs to come from out with us

so as to not be stained

with our sin.

And yet they need to be

one of us

if they are to stand

in our place.

And so the virgin birth,

far from being a take it

or leave it part

of Christianity,

it is one of the key

building blocks

of the Christian faith.

Here is Jesus

fully God

and fully man.

Here is Emmanuel.

Here is God

with us.

God with us.

Get your head around

that one.

I remember a friend of mine

when he was young

went to hospital

for a major operation

and he looks back

on that time

as the time

when he found out

that his parents

really loved him.

He heard them say it.

Sure, the years come by

but it was at the operation.

Looking back,

he remembered that

they were there

when he went to sleep.

They were there

when he woke up

and they never left his side

the whole time

during the operation.

What was it that convinced him

that they loved him?

It was their presence.

Do you see how

in the ultimate sense

here is God

showing a world

and his people

intent on sinful rebellion

turned away from God

running a hell-bound race.

Here is God

reaching down

and saying

this is not about you

coming to find me

because that would never happen

because you love the darkness.

This is about me

because who I am

coming to find you.

And despite us

giving this God

all the reasons

to cast us off,

despite us giving him

all the reasons

to cut ties

because we love the darkness

rather than him,

God came seeking us.

that's what this screams

that this God loves us

and he's come after us.

Jesus come

to show us the Father.

Here is Emmanuel

and it's unfolding

right in this

little manger in Bethlehem.

But here's another question

I asked myself this week

back in Matthew 1.

Why does the angel

not say to Joseph,

you shall call him

Emmanuel?

You ever thought about that?

It's a wee bit confusing

to introduce another name

at this point in the story.

Why not just say

you shall call him Emmanuel?

Because then it would have been

a lot more sense in a way.

We would have known

exactly what's going on.

Where does this Jesus name

come from?

The more I've thought

about it this week

and I could be wrong,

could be wrong,

but here's a shot

at an answer.

Because when you consider

who this God is,

holy,

three times holy,

majestic,

radiantly perfect,

the eternal one,

the one all-knowing,

the one all-seeing,

the fact that he is with us

as sinful people

could potentially be

terrifying news,

could it not?

I know some of you

have got WhatsApp groups

for the street.

Can you imagine a message

that came in that WhatsApp group

and said,

big news,

lying with us.

How would that strike you?

It would strike you

as cool news,

it would strike you

as big news,

but it would strike you

potentially

as terrifying news,

would it not?

Imagine that in the street,

lying with us.

Nobody's running out

into the street

grabbing a selfie

with Simba, are they?

They are locking the doors

thinking we're not

going out of there

because we know

the potential

of the one

who is on the street.

I think that's why

Matthew's quick

to let us know here,

but the angel

said to Joseph

that his name

will be Jesus

because God with us

is wonderful news,

it is potentially

terrifying news,

but God with us

come to save us?

That is incredible news.

Let me quote Max Lucado,

if our greatest need

had been information,

God would have sent us

an educator,

if our greatest need

had been technology,

God would have sent us

a scientist,

if our greatest need

had been money,

God would have sent us

an economist,

but since our greatest need

is forgiveness,

God sent us a saviour.

And that's exactly

what Jesus did

all those years later

as he goes to the cross

to fulfil everything

about his name.

He saves us.

And at the end

of Matthew's gospel,

the risen and soon

to ascend Jesus says,

Behold, I am with you

to the end of the age.

You see, this gospel

is bookended

by God's presence.

Words true

in a new and greater way

by God's indwelling spirit

living in the lives

of his people.

And we've got to understand

that in him,

in Jesus,

we can also say,

having been reconciled

to our heavenly father

through our faith

in who this Jesus is

and what he's done for us.

We can know

God with us, yes,

but God for us.

God for us.

And this is the wonderful news

of the gospel

that's unfolding

in Bethlehem.

Here is Jesus.

Here is Emmanuel.

And both of those

wonderful truths,

those wonderful names,

so wonderfully converge

in the baby

in Mary's womb.

But back to Bethlehem

as we begin

to wrap this up.

You know,

after the angel

appears to him

in a dream

and tells him

about the name,

Joseph's got a choice.

It's the same one

that Ahaz had

all those years before

as he too

is presented

with this child.

Will he live by faith

or will he live

by sight?

Now, make no mistake,

we romanticize this often.

For Joseph

to associate himself

with Mary

and this child

is to sign up

for a life of ridicule.

Right?

Remember,

this is an honor

and shame culture.

Remember,

Nazareth is not a big place.

Remember that people

are people are people.

Down the generations,

people love to talk.

So for him

to associate with Mary

is to sign up

for a life of ridicule.

And there's a wonderful

little parallel there,

give you this for free,

between the life

of the father

and the life

of the son.

Life of ridicule.

But the easy thing

to do here for Joseph

would be do what?

Run.

Bolt.

Save your skin.

Save your face.

You take the sympathy.

Let Mary take the hit.

Let her take the shame.

She can be on her own.

You might have

a fighting chance,

another career,

another job.

I don't know.

But Joseph says,

verse 25,

he will have the name Jesus.

And it's more than Joseph

just doing the decent thing here.

It's him staking

his whole life

and his and his people's future

on the identity

of the one

who is this child.

He's leaning it all

on the name Jesus.

You know,

just as we close,

I remember when I first

moved to Edinburgh

trying to get my head

around the local lingo.

Found out that the locals here

used this word,

Ken.

Okay,

do you Ken?

Why I Ken?

And I soon find out

that Ken means

to know.

Right?

But to say that you

Ken a person here

doesn't mean that you

know them.

It just means that you

kind of know who they are.

And we know,

don't we,

that there's a world

of difference between

knowing somebody's name

and knowing who they are

and really knowing them.

And the challenge

I think this passage

presents us with

as we finish

is do you know

him as Jesus?

Not do you Ken him,

do you know him

as your

saviour?

You know what I love

about this passage?

I love the fact,

again,

I thought about it this week.

Mary and Joseph

say nothing.

They act,

but they say nothing.

In other words,

this isn't about us

upping our game.

This isn't about us

being the most

spectacular people

that God wants us to be.

This is about us

stepping out in faith

and living our lives

in light of everything

that God will do

to save us.

And I wonder whether

some of us here today

have walked in here

in the spirit of law

thinking that we need

to perform for our

Heavenly Father.

And this would say,

no,

this is not about us

up in the game.

This is about Jesus.

This is about who he is.

And if you're here today

and you're struggling

with your guilt,

come to him

as the one who saves us.

Come to him

and know him

as Jesus.

I'll praise the name

of this God

that he would do this for us.

Let's pray.

And so,

our loving Heavenly Father,

we just praise you

for this time of year.

And just remembering

the birth of Jesus.

And I pray, Father,

for some of us here today

who are perhaps

struggling in life,

who are perhaps

feeling guilty

of their sin,

who are feeling

maybe like Matthew

did at the beginning

that we thought about,

who are struggling

with who they are.

Father,

I pray through your Spirit

that you would give us

a fresh understanding

of the one

whose name is Jesus.

Oh, Father,

help us to live our lives

in the light

of who he is

and what he's done

for us.

The wonderful Counselor,

mighty God,

Prince of Peace,

everlasting Father.

and it's in his

wonderful name

that we pray.

Amen.