The Virgin Birth

Now, can you turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Matthew,

as we continue to explore the early chapters of Matthew's Gospel.

Matthew's Gospel, we're going to read from chapter 1, verse 18 to verse 25.

And we're going to consider today the virgin birth and the incarnation of Jesus

becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

Matthew chapter 1, verse 18.

Matthew 1:18

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.

His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph.

But before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace,

he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife,

because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,

because he will save his people from their sins.

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

The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him

and took Mary home as his wife.

But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son,

and he gave him the name Jesus.

Amen. This is God's word.

Now, as we come to a passage like this,

as we begin to explore together the virgin birth,

perhaps some of us will be here with questions,

wondering how this can be.

We are dealing with a profound mystery here,

as J.I. Packer puts it,

and we're talking about the babyhood of the Son of God.

And we're talking about the union of God and man

in the person of Jesus,

and all that by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we come to this passage,

we discover striking things about the identity of Jesus.

So as we've been thinking through this morning,

in verse 23,

we are told the child in the manger was God.

But then as the angel speaks to Joseph,

we discover that the child in the manger was God

who became human by the creative power of God,

the Holy Spirit.

And we're told something striking too about the purpose,

about the mission of this child.

He is, verse 21, God's promised Savior.

So as we sit here today,

what do we make of this?

Is this truth that causes us to worship?

Or perhaps it causes us to wonder

and to have questions?

You maybe saw in the news this week

of the sale of Einstein's so-called God letter,

selling for two million pounds.

It was a letter written a year before he died.

Einstein was a man who,

through his life,

seemed to wrestle with science

and his own sort of Jewish faith.

But in that short letter,

he speaks of the Bible.

And he calls it a collection of venerable,

but still rather primitive legends.

And he speaks on religion in general

as an incarnation of a primitive superstition.

Words that are echoed by folks in our own day,

like Richard Dawkins,

who would describe miracles

and the virgin birth

as a story for unsophisticated people

and for children.

And so that's the understanding

of some within the scientific community

and some within our community.

Perhaps you're here today

and you have significant questions

about what we just read.

Or maybe you're having conversations

with friends at work

or in your community

and they have questions

at this time of year

about what we believe

about the virgin birth.

Or maybe we're wondering,

even as Christians,

is the virgin birth something

that really matters anyway?

Is it something that should be central

or can we,

and some parts of the church

are doing this,

shall we just sort of ignore it?

It's kind of embarrassing

and hard to deal with.

Well, before we really get into the text,

can I suggest two reasons

why I think the virgin birth

and the incarnation

are reasonable

and are crucially important

for our faith,

that they're not just

a primitive superstition.

The two things that I would say,

first of all,

is just thinking about the text,

think about it in terms

of the difficult detail

that this is giving to us.

The virgin birth

is not something

that's going to make Christianity

seem more plausible.

If people were writing this

as a work of fiction,

they would have no good reason

for making that up.

It's a unique claim.

You look around

all of the various religions

and you're not going to find

another example

of God taking on

full humanity

to live in his creation.

This isn't something

that's been copied

from another belief system.

central to our text

in Matthew

is that passage

and especially Isaiah 7.14

that Donald read for us.

And we need to understand

that that was not

a key messianic prophecy.

There weren't lots and lots

of Jewish people

waiting,

looking around for virgins

who would give birth

to a baby

who would be God's savior.

If this was a work of fiction

and if the writer

was wanting to say,

here is a special child

who's come into the world,

there would be other ways

to do it.

In the Old Testament,

what happens when

God is going to do

something new,

when God is going to

provide a deliverer sometimes

or provide a child

a promise,

that child will be born

to a barren woman.

That's often the pattern

in the Old Testament.

So it doesn't fit

with an existing type

or pattern.

And there doesn't appear

at a human level

to be any benefit

whatsoever

in giving Jesus Christ

such dubious origins.

And we find all

through his life

people asking questions

and people being scandalized

because of questions

about who his father was.

So it's a difficult detail.

And when we come

to difficult details,

it leads us often to think,

well, the best explanation

for it is because it's true.

The best explanation

for the virgin birth

is that Matthew,

the New Testament writers,

the eyewitnesses,

the church,

through most of history,

believed it to be true.

Scaling back a little bit,

the question of whether

we think the virgin birth

is reasonable or ridiculous

will in large part

depend on our worldview

and on certain faith beliefs.

So for people like Einstein

and Dawkins,

if you believe in a closed universe

that where either

there is no God

or there's no God

who intervenes,

then of course,

something miraculous

like a virgin birth

seems pure following.

There's a Christian scholar

and debater and writer

by the name of

William Lane Craig.

He said when he first

came across

the idea of the virgin birth

before he was a Christian,

he wrote it off

as being something absurd.

I mean,

he didn't have

the ability

to create from nothing

a male child.

Where did the male

Y chromosome come from

was one of his questions.

But nevertheless,

he kind of

pinned in that doubt

and continued to explore

the life of Jesus.

And as he read

into the life

and the teaching

and the death of Jesus

and the significance

of his death for sinners

and as he looked

at the historical

reliable evidence

for the resurrection,

Lane Craig was persuaded

that the Bible speaks truth.

And when you understand

that the Bible speaks truth

and you go to the beginning

of the Bible,

you meet the God

who created a whole cosmos

just by speaking.

And therefore,

Lane Craig concluded

creating a Y chromosome

is child's play

compared to that.

So it depends

on our view

of the world.

It depends

on our understanding

of the universe.

The God of the Bible

didn't wind up the world

and let it go

and then stands back

and doesn't get involved.

He intervenes

in supernatural ways,

in miracles.

So if we believe

in a God

who created

by intelligent design,

then the virgin birth

stands as

entirely reasonable.

How do you and I

or how can you and I

believe this kind

of deep mystery?

Something that

on the surface

seems as Craig

but it absurd.

Well, it requires faith,

doesn't it?

And it needs for us

to know Jesus

personally.

Let me try and illustrate

how this process works.

So I had to visit

a friend in St. Andrews

for the first time

this week

and I wasn't entirely

sure where he lived

so that was my first question

where exactly

am I supposed to be going

but then when I arrived,

second question then

is after making

that journey,

is my friend in?

So as I got out

of my car,

I saw that his car

was also parked

on the street.

That was a good sign.

As I got closer

to the door,

I saw that the lights

were on

and the front door

was unlocked.

So those are

good signs,

aren't they?

They're good clues

but they're not decisive.

Could have been his wife,

could have been another

family member

that was in the house

but

as soon as I

knock the door

and my friend

opens,

now the question

is answered

once and for all

with absolute

certainty.

Those clues,

that's secondary evidence,

not as important

as meeting

my friend

face to face.

And that's at the

heart of Christianity

is meeting

with Jesus

and that's a gift

that he gives.

Jesus spoke to Nicodemus

in John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

and he said,

I tell you the truth,

no one can see

the kingdom of God

unless he is born again.

We need that miracle

of new life

to be worked in us

before this makes sense.

Ultimately,

to see the child

in the manger

as God's chosen king

requires

the gift of faith.

So if you're here

and you want

to believe,

you want to believe

in Jesus,

you want to know more,

then ask God

for the gift of faith.

And for our family

and friends

who don't believe,

that's what we need

to pray for them,

that God would give

to them

the gift of faith

that they might hear

and believe.

So that just by way

of introduction

to say that I think

the virgin birth

is both reasonable

and really important

for our faith

and I hope we'll see

that as we go.

Let's think now

about our text,

let's think about

the history

of the incarnation.

Read with me again

verse 18.

This is how

the birth

of Jesus Christ

came about.

Now notice,

Matthew writes

presuming

that his first readers

know

about the virgin birth,

about the virgin conception.

So he's writing

sometime between 60

and 80 AD.

He's writing

at a time

when some of the eyewitnesses

were still alive.

he's writing

of a truth

that was accepted

by the church

for some 1800 years.

He's presuming

that they know

this story.

His mother Mary

was pledged

to be married

to Joseph

but before they

came together

she was found

to be with child

through the Holy Spirit.

So we've got

this human couple

in focus

who we met

last week

in verse 16

in the family line

of King David

and they are

Mary and Joseph

and they are betrothed.

So there's this

binding agreement.

They're not married yet

but it's binding

like a marriage.

It's a legal

commitment

to one another.

But

in their

situation

where they're

unmarried

and where they've

never slept together

Joseph discovers

that Mary is pregnant.

You see that

the information

is told

from Joseph's

point of view.

But just imagine that.

We get used to the

Christmas story

don't we?

We've heard it

lots of times before

but imagine

the shock

and the hurt

and confusion

when Joseph

discovers

his bride-to-be

is pregnant.

Bear in mind too

that he lives

in a very conservative

religious society.

Remember the shock

and the shame

and the scandal

that comes

with this

kind of news.

Verse 19

what do we discover

about Joseph?

Joseph her husband

was a righteous man

and did not want

to expose her

to public disgrace

so he had in mind

to divorce her

quietly.

He's a righteous man

he's living by God's law

and in God's law

if someone is unfaithful

you do not need

to marry

or remain married

to them.

And so Joseph

doesn't want to

marry Mary

but he still

cares for her

doesn't want to

publicly

disgrace her

so he has in mind

a quiet

divorce.

He doesn't know

about the angel's

announcement

to Mary

and what God

by the Holy Spirit

has done

in Mary

at this stage.

So he's made

that decision

I'm going to

divorce her

quietly

I don't want

that scandal

and to live

with that hurt

but after his

decision

verse 20

an angel of the Lord

appeared to him

in a dream

and said

Joseph son of David

do not be afraid

to take Mary

home as your wife

because what's

conceived in her

is from

the Holy Spirit.

So the angel

comes in a dream

and says

do not fear.

Now a lot of times

when the angels

come to people

they say

do not be afraid

because people

are quaking

in terror

because of the

appearance

of the angels

in power

and glory

but here

it's not the angel

that Joseph

is afraid of

rather

he had been afraid

to take Mary

home as his wife

but he's told

don't be afraid

she's not been

unfaithful

what's conceived

in her

is from

the Holy Spirit

there's been

a new life

creative work

through the Holy Spirit

in the womb

of Mary.

Notice it's

Joseph son of David

a reminder

that Joseph's

in King David's

family line

verse 21

she will give birth

to a son

and you

are to give him

the name Jesus

because he will

save his people

from their sins

it was Joseph

you are to name

him Jesus

in naming

Jesus

that would be

a sign

of legal adoption

that would be

a sign

of Jesus

being taken

legally

into

the family

line

of King David

which is so important

as we'll see

to the promises

and we thought

about that

last week

as well

how does

Joseph

react

verse 24

when Joseph

woke up

Joseph

stands like

other figures

of faith

you can read

about in the

Old Testament

and did like

Mary

as we discovered

in Luke's

gospel

with obedience

to the word

of God

in his case

that meant

taking Mary

home

as his wife

but we're told

importantly

there is no

sexual union

until after

Jesus is born

and

Jesus

is legally

adopted

given

the name

Jesus

now two points

of application

as we think

about the

history

the events

that we have

here

the first

general point

about labelling

people

we discover

in the story

of Jesus

and his

family

they were

labelled

wrongly

as it turned

out

but labelling

people

is damaging

this week

I've heard

of two

stories

of women

who were

looked down

on

ignored

rejected

within

their churches

because of

their past

because of

accusations

about their

past

because of

disapproval

about family

situation

labelled

and

rejected

that's wrong

isn't it

we must

both believe

and live

out

the gospel

of grace

grace that

covers sin

and shame

grace that

gives people

welcome

so labelling

people

as we see

in the story

of Jesus

and his

family

is damaging

and his

wrong

and the

second thing

we see

at a very

basic level

is that

faith in

God

is not

always easy

faith in

God

comes with

a cause

you read

the gospels

and you

sense the

shame and

the scandal

that Mary

and Joseph

lived under

the accusations

against Mary

the questioning

of who

Jesus

father is

rejecting him

because of his

unknown

parentage

it was

costly

for Joseph

to obey

and faith

will always

come with a

cause

of different

kinds

perhaps for us

it might be

the loss of

our reputation

because of

our Christian

beliefs

because we

hold things

like the virgin

birth to be

true

perhaps it

will be for

us a loss

of independence

where we're

no longer

free to

say I'm

just going

to do

whatever I

want regardless

of consequences

because we

want to

submit to

God

it's costly

in the sense

that we're

called daily

to die to

ourselves

for the sake

of God

and the good

of others

we're called

constantly to

put others

ahead of

ourselves

so that

costs us

in our time

and our energy

and our

resources

in the

emotion

and care

that we

pour out

for the

sake of

others

it's costly

to say

Jesus is

my Lord

because it

means submitting

with all

of our lives

and all

of our

hearts

to him

a couple

of weeks

ago at

the church

planting

conference

up in

St.

Columbus

the minister

of a new

church plant

in Glasgow

Christ Church

Glasgow

Jonathan

de Groot

was speaking

about their

first convert

he is an

Iranian

student

who began

reading the

Bible with

a friend

began exploring

the claims

of Jesus

and came to

faith

in the Lord

Jesus

and began

to tell

his Iranian

friends

about what

he now

believes

now one

of those

friends has

since reported

back to

the authorities

in Iran

and so

Jonathan

de Groot

was talking

to this

man who's

newly started

trusting in

Jesus

and he was

asking him

do you

realize

the cost

that will

be involved

for you

and the man

said yes

I know

that if I

go back

to Iran

there is a

fair chance

that people

will want

me killed

but he

said

since this

is true

since Jesus

is Lord

he said

it's worth

it

faith is

costly

faith in

Jesus

is worth

it

now that's

the historical

events

around the

incarnation

but let's

think together

for a few

minutes

about the

significance

of the

incarnation

of Jesus

taking on

human flesh

and dwelling

among us

the big

so what

question

why do

you and

I need

the story

of the

birth

of Jesus

Christ

well we

find in

our text

three words

that take

us right

to the

heart of

the gospel

the first

word to

think about

is salvation

we find it

in verse

21

she will

give birth

to a

son

and you

are to

give him

the name

Jesus

because he

will save

his people

from their

sins

are you

discovering

your footnote

the name

Jesus

means

God

saves

here is

the rescuer

here is

the saviour

promised

and what do

we discover

about him

in verse

23

he is

God

the psalm

that we

read

just before

the psalm

that we

sang rather

just before

reading from

Matthew

ends in

this way

psalm 130

let me

remind you

of the

closing two

verses

oh Israel

written to

the people

of God

put your

hope

in the

Lord

for with

the Lord

is unfailing

love

and with

him

is full

redemption

release from

slavery

another way

of talking

about

salvation

and then

it says

he himself

will redeem

Israel

from all

their sins

in the

Old Testament

the Lord

himself

will redeem

Israel

from their

sins

New Testament

what do we

discover

Jesus

will save

his people

from their

sins

what's the

angel saying

the child

in the

manger

is God

the Savior

Jesus

is how

God is

going to

carry out

his

rescue

now

just to

think for

a moment

about Jesus

unique birth

what does

that teach

us that

we need

somebody

we need

the Son

of God

to come

to be

our Savior

it says

to us

we need

a rescuer

who comes

from outside

in order

to save

us

so on the

one hand

we think

about the

virgin birth

it speaks

a word

of judgment

on us

because it

says that

none of us

by ourselves

are good

enough for

a holy

and perfect

God

and that

none of us

by ourselves

have the

ability

to find

our way

back to

God

that left

to ourselves

we would

all

remain

under

the

judgment

of

God

with

no

hope

of

mercy

and

forgiveness

but

the

virgin birth

doesn't

just speak

judgment

to it

it also

speaks

grace

to us

because

who is

the baby

in the

manger

he is

Jesus

the God

man

born in Bethlehem

to die

on the cross

at Calvary

now does it

matter to us

that Jesus

is both

human

and divine

as the

Bible

makes clear

absolutely

it does

he needs

to be

fully

human

to save

us

to save

us

he must

identify

with us

he comes

to be

a perfect

representative

to be

one of

us

he's not

like

Superman

the comic

book hero

he appears

to be

like a man

but he's

actually

from another

planet

he's not

human

at all

that's

not

how

Jesus

came

Jesus

came

fully

God

and

fully

human

and he

needs

to be

fully

human

in order

to identify

with us

also

to obey

the law

for us

we need

somebody

who can

keep

the law

we need

somebody

who can

please

God

we need

someone

who is

faithful

in loving

God

and loving

other

people

it's

not

us

we need

a

representative

Jesus

comes

in his

perfect

obedience

to fully

obey

the law

for us

and

he comes

to suffer

the punishment

for human

sin

in a

human

body

we need

him

as our

perfect

substitute

representative

and sacrifice

he takes

our place

dies

in our

place

so that

we might

know

forgiveness

it matters

that he's

fully human

and it

matters

too

that he's

fully

divine

quoting

from

the

new

city

catechism

because

of his

divine

nature

his

obedience

and

suffering

would be

perfect

and

effective

that what

Jesus

does

is perfect

and effective

satisfying

the law

of God

satisfying

the just

judgment

of God

bearing

the anger

against sin

and defeating

death

in order to

give us

new life

and to

bring us

into

favor

with

God

so we

hear this

word of

salvation

in the

coming

of

Jesus

we also

hear

and it's

connected

we hear

a word

of promise

look at

verse 22

all

this

took

place

to

fulfill

that's a

word

connected

to

promise

isn't it

all

this

took

place

to

fulfill

what

the

Lord

had

said

through

the

prophet

and then

we get

that

quote

from

Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14

chapter

7

verse

14

God

keeps

his

promise

Jesus

comes

as

the

savior

king

that

Isaiah

spoke

of

some

700

years

earlier

now

if we

were to

spend a bit

of time

in Isaiah

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

chapter

7

to 11

the focus

is on

a

child

a

promised

child

who is

the

answer

to the

judgment

that the

people were

under

because of

their

rebellion

against

God

and we

learn some

remarkable

things about

that child

in that

section

so in

chapter

7

as we're

told here

the child

to be

born

is

Emmanuel

God

with us

in Isaiah

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

chapter

9

we discover

that among

the child's

name is

mighty

God

and then

in Isaiah

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11

we discover

that this

child will

rule in

supernatural

power

God's

promise

of

redemption

comes

as

God

himself

comes

as

our

savior

king

in his

son

Jesus

Christ

this

promise

is a

sign

it's a

sign

to Israel

that they

had

endured

much

hardship

that they

had

questions

has

God

forgotten

us

will

God

be

faithful

to

his

promise

and

here's

the

answer

God

does

keep

his

promise

God

delights

to show

love

and

salvation

to

those

who

turn

to

him

and

this

sign

also

stands

as a

promise

to us

when

God

makes

a

promise

he

keeps

it

we

know

from

experience

don't

we

the

pain

of

broken

promises

sometimes

we let

other

people

down

good

intentions

but

we

become

forgetful

or we

lack

the

resources

to

keep

that

promise

and

we

know

the

pain

of

promises

made

to

us

that

are

then

broken

disappointing

maybe

we have

the

question

will

God

be

any

different

maybe

we've

heard

the

phrase

promises

are

only

as

strong

as

the

person

who

makes

them

who

is

it

that

made

this

promise

to

Isaiah

some

700

years

earlier

it's

the

one

who

delivered

on

that

promise

by

giving

us

Jesus

who

is

the

child

in

the

manger

he

is

the

perfect

son

of

God

come

to

be

our

rescuer

come

to

be

a

sign

that

God

is

faithful

that

we

can

trust

him

in

a

world

of

broken

promises

and

disappointment

here

is

one

who

will

never

let

us

down

the

third

word

that

was

to

think

about

connected

to

the

virgin

birth

and

the

coming

of

Jesus

and

connecting

us

to

the

gospel

is

that

of

presence

back

to

verse

23

the

virgin

will

be

with

child

and

will

give

birth

to

a

son

and

they

will

call

him

Emmanuel

which

means

God

with

us

who

is

the

child

in

the

manger

he

is

the

divine

son

of

God

who

has

come

to

be

with

us

has

taken

on

human

nature

in

order

that

he

might

be

with

us

it's

significant

that at

the

beginning

and the

end

of

Matthew's

gospel

you get

this

promise

of

Emmanuel

so here

in chapter

1

verse

23

before

Jesus

comes

into the

world

there is

this

announcement

he will

be

God

with

us

and

then

you

go

right

to

the

very

end

chapter

28

verse

20

just

before

so

Jesus

has

died

on

the

cross

and

he's

resurrected

and

he's

about

to

return

to

the

glory

of

heaven

and

he's

giving

the

commission

to

the

disciples

to

preach

the

good

news

to

all

nations

and

then

he

says

to

them

I

am

with

you

always

to

the

very

end

of

the

beginning

of

the

gospel

end

of

the

gospel

God

is

with

us

in

Jesus

it's

a

rich

promise

we

have

a

family

wedding

this

Christmas

a few

days

after

Christmas

and

thinking

about

marriage

marriage

is a

promise

of

withness

isn't

it

even

in the

vows

that we

take

we

promise

a

husband

and

wife

promise

in

riches