Because He Will Save His People

Matthew 1, 18-25.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about.

! His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph,

! but before they came together,

she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law

and yet 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 conceive and 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 did not consummate their marriage

until she gave birth to a son

and he gave him the name Jesus.

Can you imagine how Joseph must have felt?

What do you mean you're pregnant?

Joseph, I'm telling you,

I haven't been with another man.

I'm telling the truth.

You haven't been with another man

and yet you're pregnant?

Am I missing something?

Did someone do this to you?

No, Joseph.

I told you I had a visitor a few months back.

He was an angel sent from God.

He told me that I would become pregnant by the Spirit of God

and that this child,

are you kidding me, Mary?

Do you expect me to believe

that an angel appeared to you

sent from God?

That you're pregnant by the Spirit of God?

God, how could you do this to me?

I don't even know what to say to you.

We can only imagine how that conversation went.

We get a little bit of a hint.

Joseph was going to break off the engagement,

which was the equivalent of a divorce

back in their culture and time.

He obviously didn't believe Mary.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have even been thinking

about getting a divorce.

But he also truly loved Mary.

Even though he didn't believe her,

he didn't want to expose her to public disgrace.

He didn't want to ruin her life,

even though she had just broken his heart.

And so he was looking at getting a quiet divorce,

keeping it on the down low.

It was an honorable thing to do.

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.

Wow.

What an emotional roller coaster that must have been.

First, he finds out that the young lady

that he has chosen is pregnant.

Then, he gets this news from the angel.

The last thing that he would have ever expected

to happen.

She's telling the truth.

He really is conceived

by the Holy Spirit of God.

Can you imagine Joseph's reaction?

Like, I can't believe this.

She's telling the truth.

Who can I tell this to?

If I tell anybody this news,

they're going to think I'm crazy.

A son conceived from the Holy Spirit of God.

That's amazing.

But what's even more amazing

is this one thing that the angel from God said

about this child to Joseph.

You are to give him the name Jesus.

Jesus, which in the Greek of Matthew's day,

Iesus.

But Iesus was the equivalent of the Hebrew name,

Yeshua.

Yeshua.

Which literally means,

Yahweh saves.

God saves.

You are to give him the name Jesus.

God saves.

Because he will save his people

from their sins.

I'm going to guess that Joseph

was maybe a little surprised

at that last part.

Perhaps like many of the other

Jewish people of his day,

he would have expected the angel to say,

because he will save his people

from their enemies.

Like the Romans.

The angel had said to Mary

that the child to be born

would be a great king.

That he would take up the throne

of his father,

David,

their ancestor,

King David.

It had been centuries

since the Jewish people

enjoyed true freedom

as a sovereign nation.

Like back in the days

of King David.

The Romans had conquered

the land of Israel

and they ruled over it

with an iron fist.

It was from the Roman Empire

that the Jewish people

longed for deliverance.

This is not what the angel

said to Joseph.

You are to call him Jesus.

You are to give him

the name Jesus.

God saves.

Because he will deliver

his people

from their sins.

According to God

and the words

that he spoke

through the prophets

long before Joseph

was born,

there was a greater enemy

than the Romans.

A bigger problem

than national sovereignty.

According to God,

the sins of his people

are an even greater threat.

An even bigger problem.

Sin is not a word

that we use much today

outside of the church.

But in this context,

it refers to the countless ways

that people have turned

away from God.

To the many ways

that we intentionally

ignore God

or disobey

his commands.

Sin generally refers

to the things

that we think

or say

or do

that are contrary

to the good ways

that God has made us for.

Things like selfishness.

pride,

pride,

hatred,

deceit,

rebelling against authority,

immoral behavior,

and the list goes on.

But the overarching problem

of sin

is not just

the ugliness of it

or how it wrecks

our relationships

with each other.

The overarching problem

of sin

is what we deserve

for it

as people

who have turned

our backs

on the God

who created us.

we have essentially

spit in the face

of our maker.

We were under

his authority

at the beginning.

He made us

and therefore

he has the rights

to us

but we rebelled

and humanity

continues to rebel.

the overarching

problem

with our sins

is that they put us

in a dangerous

position

before God.

He is good.

He is just.

God has been saying

it throughout his book.

A day is coming

when he will take

the seat of justice

and once for all

put everything right.

He will ensure

that no one

gets away

with the wrongs

that they have done

whether that be

great evil

or the smallest

of selfish acts.

The ugliness

of sin

will be eradicated

from his world

and that's a problem

for us

because we are all

guilty of sin

against him

and against

one another.

Sin is our

greatest problem.

It is our

greatest enemy

and it's not just

some disease

that we

innocently caught.

We ourselves

are responsible

for every sin

we have committed.

This is what

half the Bible

is about.

We're in deep

trouble with God

and it's our fault

because we

have sinned

against him.

But now listen

to these words

of the angel

again.

She,

Mary,

will give birth

to a son

and you are

to name him

Jesus.

God saves

because he

will save

his people

from

their sins.

This child

in Mary's womb

is going to

rescue his people

from the guilt

that they have

because of

their sins.

Salvation

will come

through the child

born of Mary.

Amazing.

Jesus,

the son of God

came into our

world on a

rescue mission.

It was a

rescue mission

that would cost

him his life.

He would die

on a Roman

cross

and there

receive upon

himself the

justice of

God

for the sins

committed

by all

who would

believe in

him

so that

we could

be forgiven

completely

and let

off the

hook

completely

for every

sin we've

ever committed.

Why would

God make a

deal like

this?

His own

son's death

for our

deliverance.

God's answer

from the pages

of the Bible

is that no

matter how

far from

home we've

run,

ignoring him,

doing what

we know is

wrong,

God's answer

is this,

I love

you and

I want you

to come

home.

For God

so loved

the world

that he

gave his

one and

only son

that whoever

believes in

him shall

not perish

but have

eternal life

for God

did not

send his

son into

the world

to condemn

the world

but to

save the

world

through him

whoever

believes in

him is

not

condemned

but whoever

does not

believe

stands

condemned

already.

if you're

here this

morning

and you

haven't

believed in

Jesus

I want to

encourage you

it's not too

late to

make peace

with God

it's not too

late to open

your heart

to the most

wonderful and

fulfilling

relationship that

we can have

our relationship

with God

if you're

looking for

help on how

to do this

or guidance

you can

feel free to

talk to me

after the

service or

anyone else

here that

you know

and trust

we'd love to

sit with you

and pray with

you

but for those

of us who

have this

hope and

this faith

in Jesus

and who

know him

Christmas is a

special time

it's an

occasion for

sober

reflection

because we

needed a

savior

we needed

salvation

but it's

also an

occasion for

great celebration

because long

ago in

Bethlehem a

child was

born and

he wasn't

just any

child

he was a

child who

would grow up

to do what

no one else

could

to save

his people

from their

sins

let's pray

father in

heaven we

thank you

for sending

your son

Jesus

the ultimate

gift

a gift we

could never

repay

you don't

even want us

to try to

repay because

it cannot be

repaid

a gift of

grace

a gift of

your kindness

and mercy

to us

and I pray

Lord that

you would

just enable

us this week

to celebrate

deeply and

fully

your son

our salvation

your desire

to be

with us

our Christ

and our

king

the one who

will come

and reign

forever

someday

what a

wonderful thing

that you have

done we

just thank you

and we

praise you

for your

awesome goodness

and sending

Jesus to us

in his name

amen

I'll invite the

music team to

come up and

lead us in one

more song

up and

up