Foretold

Welcome! Today we begin a new series on the events surrounding the birth of Christ. Today’s message, “Foretold,” looks at the opening events in Matthew and Luke. But I want to first back up a bit to talk about what it was like to wait for the coming of the Messiah. Interestingly, one of the people who the Bible informs us was waiting for Messiah was the Samaritan woman at the well who meets Jesus in John chapter 4. At the time, she doesn’t know who He is at all, except that He is Jewish. During the conversation Jesus reveals a supernatural ability to know things about the woman, and He also talks about the deep and ancient conflict between Samaritans and Jews about the proper location for worship. Finally the woman replies,

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” – John 4:25

I find this a wonderfully human moment. It feels like a punchline from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. (It actually kind-of is. There is a song deleted from the original musical called When Messiah Comes. It’s fairly irreverent, so I’m not going to play it.) But back to the passage – not only is it a human moment, as the woman expresses her inability to understand Jesus’ explanation about worship with this almost sigh of an expression that “When Messiah comes, He will explain it to us,” it’s also a terribly ironic moment, in that Messiah is the very person she is speaking to!

We too wait for Messiah, in our case, for Him to return. And I have heard the same answer that the Samaritan woman gives in response to a number of hard-to-answer questions about the faith such as at what age a young child is responsible for making a personal commitment to Christ; the question behind the question is what happens if such a child were to die before making such a profession of faith. It’s actually not that bad an answer: When Messiah comes, He will explain everything to us. More specifically, He will do what is good, and we will understand His goodness.

Our culture today remains fixated with the holiday called Christmas, although it generally focuses more on gift giving and promoting good feelings than on the actual birth of Christ. Even fewer think about Christ’s return, and fewer still wait and hope to see the day that it occurs. I think this was also true at the time of Christ’s birth.

But some small number looked expectantly for Christ. The prophets speak repeatedly of what waiting is like. For example, from Isaiah 26:

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You; Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for You. – Isaiah 26:8-9

Those who looked expectantly for Christ did not only see His coming as the point that things would be explained; they also longed for Him because with His coming things would be made right. Because He had not yet come, the faithful suffered. As Isaiah writes later in the chapter:

As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in Your presence, Lord. We were with child, we writhed in labor, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life. – Isaiah 26:17-18

But Isaiah, inspired by the Lord to write these words, follows with this:

But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy—your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. – Isaiah 26:19

Now there were events in the life of Christ in which there was resurrection, but the ultimate fulfillment of this verse is yet to come, when Christ comes, when He comes for the second time, that is. But those who looked for the first coming of Christ, of Messiah, did not understand this. They saw in His coming the rapid fulfillment of all prophecies about Him.

There is a blessedness in waiting, and in hoping. The words are often interchangeable in Hebrew. I think of the passage from Isaiah 40:

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord [wait for the Lord] will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. – Isaiah 40:30-31

I also think of the following passage from Isaiah 64:

Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before You! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to Your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when You did awesome things that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled before You. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. – Isaiah 64:1-4

I think this verse captures well what many who were waiting for Messiah were feeling. Their world was hard, harsh, difficult. They did not have true political freedom. Justice was missing. They hungered for the promised Messiah to come and set things right. They knew that God acts on behalf of those who waited or hoped for Him, and so they waited and they hoped. Do we wait? Do we hope? Do we think about His return?

Lest you think this was just for earlier times, let me remind you of a few New Testament verses:

Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. – I Corinthians 1:7

We are to wait, eagerly, for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed, that is, for His return. Titus also speaks to the topic of waiting for the Lord to come:

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. – Titus 2:11-14

Living godly lives is not an end unto itself. It is to be our response while we what? While we wait. We are to look forward to this day because it means that from that point forward we will be with Him. He is our “blessed hope.” Here is a passage from I Thessalonians:

The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. – I Thessalonians 1:8-10

They turned from idols to God to wait for His Son. For this they were praised. Do you turn from sin to wait expectantly for His coming? And finally, from Revelations:

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. […] He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. – Revelations 22:17,20

This should be our heart cry as well! We should be those who eagerly await the coming of our Messiah. I hope this helps us get into the proper mindset for reading about the first coming of the Son of God, from being with the Father in perfect union with Him, to limiting Himself to an unimaginable degree, putting on flesh and entering the world as a helpless human baby! 

Let us now look at the accounts of Jesus’ coming in the gospels. Interestingly, Matthew writes primarily from the perspective of Joseph, whereas Luke writes mainly from the perspective of Mary. Let’s start with the Luke account.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. – Luke 1:26-29

We are not actually starting at the beginning of Luke; we will look at Elizabeth and Zechariah and the eventual birth of John the Baptist next week. But there we will see that this is not the first angelic visitation in this chapter, but the second. This is remarkable. Angelic visitations of any kind were exceedingly rare, but to have two in such a short time is almost unprecedented. Something big, something major was going on. Now the first visit is to Zechariah, a priest serving at the Temple of the Lord. As unusual as this is, it at least made some degree of sense, as appearing to a priest while serving at the Temple seems like a reasonable way, if you are God, to make your will or plans known. Even more typical might have been making Himself known to a prophet who then speaks the words of the Lord.

But this second visit is even stranger than the first. Where does Gabriel go? To some little Podunk town in a Podunk region with Podunk people? No offense to Fred, but in America this is kind of like proclaiming a major announcement to a nobody teenage daughter of a nobody rural farmer somewhere in the remote mountains of West Virginia. What is going on here? Has the angel lost his mind? We know the answer is “no” because the passage says he was sent there by God. What then is God thinking? What is so special about Mary?  

What do we know at this point about Mary? We know her name, we know she lives in the middle of nowhere, and we know that she is “pledged” to be married to some guy named Joseph. Oh, and we know she is a virgin; she has not been with any man. What can we infer about Mary? She is likely only a teenager. Now there were three steps to a Jewish wedding at that time. First was the engagement, a formal agreement between the fathers of the future bride and groom. Second was the betrothal, a ceremony in which promises were made between the future bride and groom. Finally was the marriage, an event that could occur at any time but was typically around one year later, when the bridegroom came without prior announcement for his bride. Between the betrothal and the marriage, the groom would prepare a place for his bride to live. Often this meant adding on an addition to the family home, a home that the extended family lived in that had sections attached to sections attached to sections. Almost certainly the events of this passage occurred between the betrothal and the marriage.  

In any case, Mary is likely having a normal day. And then, suddenly, the angel appears to her. Perhaps she first thought it was Joseph’s coming to marry her! But instead it is an angel. We are not told anything about the angel’s appearance. But if it is like other angelic and other appearances, it comes with the sudden reminder that God is real, that He sees you, and you are reminded of your sinfulness.

The angel’s words are more bewildering than terrifying. He calls her “Highly favored one” and says the Lord is with her; that is, she is blessed. What is Mary’s response? It is one of being greatly troubled and wondering what kind of greeting this is. Why would she be a highly favored one? Why would she be blessed? Why would the Lord even take notice of her?

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” – Luke 1:30-34

The question I have asked when reading this passage is, why does Mary ask the question she asks? She is going to be with Joseph sooner or later, but probably within a year or so. Once they are together, it is likely she will become pregnant at some point. The phrase “you will conceive” in Greek is in a simple future tense, with what is called indicative mood. This means that it will certainly happen; it is a statement of fact. But it does not imply immediacy. The phrase is vague in terms of when it will happen, just like our future tense in English. Similarly, the other future tense verbs in this passage do not imply immediacy.

I see two possible answers. The first is that the angel says He will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Most High is a name/phrase only really used to describe God. From this title she might conclude that he cannot be the son of Joseph, for although she likely loves Joseph, Joseph is no “Most High.” The second possible explanation is that the angel says that this son will become king, and this makes absolutely no sense to her, for why would any son of Joseph become king of Israel? It also says He will reign as king forever! How can any human do this?

I suspect this description of this son as eternal king may have made her think about the coming Messiah. I am reminded (and perhaps Mary was also reminded) of Nathan the prophet’s relaying of God’s wonderful message to David in 2 Samuel 7. I am going to give his entire prophecy. Here is what the Lord to Nathan, who then told the prophecy to David in its entirety. A little background: David at this point got the idea in his head to build a grand Temple for the Lord to dwell in.

“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build Me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as My dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, “Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?”’

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for My people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over My people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.

“‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord Himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But My love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever.’” – 2 Samuel 7:5-16

Now who does this prophecy refer to? To David’s son, Solomon? Like many prophecies, there is a dual application. In a limited way it does refer to Solomon, although some things do not fit. Was the throne of Solomon’s kingdom established forever? No, not with Solomon as the actual king. In a deeper way, this prophecy applies to Jesus. Was Jesus’ throne established forever? Yes, with Jesus as the actual king. Was Jesus God’s Son? Yes.

What about the “When he does wrong” part? Did Jesus ever actually do wrong? No. The prophecy of Isaiah 53 says that

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. – Isaiah 53:4-5

Did the person Isaiah describes actually do wrong? Was He punished for His own sin? No. He was punished for our sin. But by taking our place, God reckoned the sin as His sin. Only by being without sin Himself was He able to do this. You cannot offer to take someone else’s punishment if you yourself need to be punished. You first need to be punished for your own actions. With Jesus, there were no such sinful actions to punish, so he could do it.

There is some question about this, but I think that people who lived prior to Christ were able to benefit from Christ’s sacrifice if they believed in faith in the hope of the promise of the Messiah to come. The book of Hebrews seems to imply this. We don’t know for sure if Solomon, in faith, turned to the hope of Christ. We don’t really know what happens with Solomon after death. But we do know that he definitely deserved the punishment mentioned in this prophecy. His many non-Israelite wives, his worshiping multiple false gods, his hoarding great wealth, all of these things went against the Law. But there is no sign he was whipped for his sins. Indeed, who could have made the king of Israel do anything?

But if Solomon did in faith turn to the hope of the eternal king to come, then the punishments Jesus took in the events leading up to the cross and the cross itself would have paid for Solomon’s sin as it paid for ours. If this is true, then the prophecy applies both to Jesus and Solomon in the sense that both were “punished” for “their” sins. This is certainly true for us, if we have put our faith and hope in Christ. From God’s perspective we have received our punishment, but it is Christ who has actually received it. But it is because of this that we have eternal life, a part in the eternal kingdom that is to come.

Back to Mary! I haven’t forgotten her. Have you?

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” – Luke 1:30-34

If Mary was thinking about David, and 2 Samuel 7, it makes sense why she asks this question. How can such a Person come from either her or Joseph? Let us continue with the passage.

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. – Luke 1:35-38

I greatly admire Mary’s faith. The angel’s answer to Mary is even more difficult to believe that what he has said previously. There is no precedent in the history of the Jewish people, no precedent in the scriptures, for what the angel says is going to happen. This child will really be the Son of God! Joseph will not be the father! There will be no human father. This is not how biology works. Of course, very old women don’t become mothers either; that’s not how biology works either, the angel reminds us. And so Mary accepts this utterly life-altering news.

This news is not all good news. When Mary actually starts to show, when people know she is pregnant, are they going to believe her when she says an angel spoke to her? Will they believe her when she says it wasn’t any man that made her pregnant, that she is not a sinner? Doesn’t it sound like a ridiculous made-up story made to hide her sin, even to us? What will Joseph think? Mary has been given an extremely difficult path to walk. Yet she tells the angel, “May it be so.” She accepts the angel’s pronouncement that this is in fact a great blessing, a great honor, even though her village, her family, perhaps even Joseph, will see it as a great shame, a scandal. But if it is true – if this son is truly the Son of God, if He really becomes the Messiah, the king that ushers in the eternal kingdom…

In our remaining time, let’s look briefly at the account in Matthew.

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. – Matthew 1:18-19

This is written from Joseph’s perspective. Indeed, it appears that there is in fact a scandal. Mary is showing. The village probably knows. Her family probably knows. Joseph at this point definitely knows. Mary has presented truthfully what the angel said. But who would believe that? It seems like even Joseph may doubt her story. Honestly, who wouldn’t doubt it? It’s unprecedented, miraculous, and it makes no sense. Why Mary? Who is she? 

Under Levitical Law, if Mary were to be publicly accused of infidelity, of breaking the marriage promise, she could be stoned. I am reminded of the woman accused of this very thing in John 8, the situation in which Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” The difference of course is that Mary is innocent. But who would believe her?

Joseph, to his credit, does not go this route. Instead he decided to do things quietly, to get a divorce “quietly.” This would not make the scandal go away, but it would at least somewhat contain it. And Mary (whatever actually happened to her) and Joseph would go their separate ways.  

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.” – Matthew 1:20-21

It is interesting that the angel calls Joseph “son of David.” This is significant, because it reminds Joseph that he is from the line that has been prophesied to produce a future king that will usher in an eternal kingdom. So although in one sense this child is not Joseph’s at all, in another sense, if he marries her, this son will be viewed under law as under the lineage of Joseph, a lineage that comes from David. This makes Jesus’ lineage quite complicated, as in one sense it goes through Mary and in another through Joseph.

But the most immediate and direct message that the angel gives Joseph is that Mary is not lying; she is truly bearing a child who has been conceived through the Holy Spirit, as miraculous and unprecedented as that is. In one sense, this is wonderful news, because it means that Mary has not been unfaithful, nor has she lied. And it means that Joseph can indeed marry her and be with her for the rest of their lives.

But this too is complicated. Joseph too has been given a very difficult path to walk. There is no way that people will not talk! The rumors will not go away; the “scandal” talk will always be there. From an honor-shame perspective, not only will Mary be shamed, so will Joseph. What kind of guy marries a woman who is unfaithful even during the betrothal stage?

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 Immanuel” (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. – Matthew 1:22-25

Jesus, Yeshua, means He who saves. Mary and Joseph, from a worldly perspective, experienced a lot of hardship for having this child and raising him. We will see more of this as the series continues. But the angel said it was a great blessing. And the angel is of course right.

What about us? Sometimes it is hard to follow Jesus. Sometimes we also endure shame (although for us in the west it is nothing like what Mary and Joseph likely experienced). Sometimes we have to give up things for Jesus. But to know Jesus is for us also a great blessing.

Mary accepted her hard road ahead saying “May it be so.” Joseph also did what the angel said to do, even though it was hard. What about us? Returning to our opening discussion, do you wait and hope for Christ’s return? Do you say, “May it be so”?

Mary and Joseph did not hide what the Lord had showed them. They revealed the truth, difficult though it was for many to believe at first, and difficult though it made their lives become. What about you? Do you hide your faith? Do you act like you just live a normal life? You do not. You live a life every bit as miraculous as those of Joseph and Mary. Although Jesus may in some ways make your life difficult, He is also a great blessing, you who are highly favored! I pray that this Christmas season you would be emboldened to let others know of the miracle of Christ in your life.