Due to popular demand (maybe popular is an overstatement) I will be posting my notes from Sundays again along with a link to the podcast. The scriptures and main points from this past Sunday’s message are below. To listen to God Is Immanuel click here.
Matthew 1:18-25
18This 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. 19Because 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. 20But 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. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23″The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” 24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Matthew Establishes Two Facts:
1. Jesus came from us – vs. 1-6, Gal. 4:4
Four foreign women from related to Jesus (comfort to Mary – scandalous birth stories)
- Tamar – Gen 38 (a deceptive Canaanite woman)
- Rahab – Joshua 2, 6 (a Canaanite prostitute)
- Ruth – Ruth 1-4 (a poor Moabite widow)
- Bathsheeba – 2 Sam. 11 (a Hittite conspirator)
2. Jesus came from God – vs. 23, John 1:1,1:14
- The Virgin Birth – Human kind can only produce human kind, not a Savior
Matthew Explains Two Lessons:
1. Jesus is one of us
- Jesus comes from a long line of real people
- Jesus lived a real human life
- Jesus faced real earthly temptations
2. Jesus is God
- Fully God and fully man – We will never be able to full comprehend
Matthew Extends Two Promises:
1. Jesus was with us – He was Immanuel (vs. 23)
2. Jesus is with us – He is Immanuel (Matt. 28:18-20)
Matthew 28:18-20
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
In the first chapter of Matthew we are told that he would be called Immanuel…
…In the last chapter and verse we are reminded that He still is Immanuel.
