Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How Jesus Fulfills Promises | Advent | Matthew 1:18-24

Episode Date: November 30, 2022

Was the birth of Jesus like the nativity scene? Why do the specifics of Jesus's birth matter? Does Jesus's birth fulfill Old Testament prophecies? In today's episode, Jensen describes Jesus birth from Matthew's point of view in Matthew 1:18-24. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Matthew 1:18-24 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Okay, don't get mad at me, but my house has been decorated for Christmas for a very long time, like long before Thanksgiving. And I'm not usually one of the early type, but this year, due to my husband's busy schedule, we could do it on the 14th of November or the 12th of December. So, early it was. And while we were setting up our decorations, we, like many people, unboxed our nativity scene. It's one we got from my husband's family, and it has the cute stables and the manger and a little baby Jesus and all the usual characters. It's really cute. It's the quintessential little scene we have in mind when we think of Jesus' birth.

And in the first gospel in the Bible, Matthew, you'd assume the section of scripture titled the birth of Jesus Christ would take us to that same quintessential scene. But it doesn't, ever. We'll have to wait for later Gospels to explore that scene because the Gospel of Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus Christ has a much different focus. And this is actually what I love about the Gospels. Each is written by a different author, and each author has their own theme they weave throughout the narrative. And so while they all tell of the life and work of Jesus Christ, they also give us a different different new perspective through which we get to see Jesus. So the book of Matthew is written primarily to a Jewish audience, and he chooses to highlight Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old

Testament promises throughout his book. And so Matthew's choice not to focus on the manger and the donkeys and the star isn't because it didn't happen or he didn't think it mattered, but because Matthew is choosing to focus in on the part of the story that highlights one of his main themes. So let's dive into the scripture and see exactly how Matthew does this through his account of the birth of Jesus. Chapter 1, verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. So we start out with a price.

proclamation that this story is about Jesus Christ. Now, you've probably heard that name and title, Jesus Christ, a thousand times in your life. But Matthew uses this name and title to highlight his main theme. See, Jesus is Jesus' name. But Christ is a title that Matthew and others give to Jesus. Christ meaning Messiah, anointed one or king. Before we even get into the narrative, Matthew is purposely drawing our attention to the fact that this newly conceived baby is not just a kid named Jesus, but the long-awaited king of the Old Testament, the Messiah. Now, these first two verses could be confusing to our modern context, because we aren't Jewish, and Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience.

So when he says that they're pledged to be married and hadn't slept together yet, but also refers to Joseph as her husband and thinking about divorcing her, we can get a little confused. So historically, Jewish families would choose a wife for their son, and they would enter a betrothal period. And that's what happened with Mary and Joseph. During this time, they're bound to one another legally and considered husband and wife, though sleeping together was considered immoral during this betrothal period.

So this legally binding contract could only be broken by a formal process of divorce, but they weren't still yet fully married. And this might seem confusing, but it helps us understand what's going on here. See, Mary has been found to be pregnant, and Joseph, not knowing it's the work of the Holy Spirit yet, is going to start that process of divorce. But because he cares for Mary, he wants to do that privately. Because the penalty for Mary, for adultery, could be public stoning. So out of compassion for Mary, Joseph resolves to do this quietly.

And now we know that this divorce ultimately doesn't happen, because Joseph is present in our nativity scenes on our mantles. So let's go back to scripture and continue reading. Verse 20. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David. Do not fear to take Mary as your wife.

For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from the wife. their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name, Emmanuel. There are three important things we could easily skim over in this text that are actually really crucial to Matthew's central theme. So first, when the angel addresses Joseph, the angel calls him son of David. and by doing so Matthew is reminding us that Joseph is a descendant of King David,

meaning that as Jesus's father, Jesus would come from the root of Jesse, in the line of King David, making him eligible to be the long-awaited king. Second, the angel tells Joseph what he is to name this son of his that has been miraculously conceived in Mary. His name is to be Jesus. Now you may or may not know this, but Jesus was actually a common Jewish name that many boys would have been named. See, Jesus is the Greek translation of a Hebrew name Yeshua. Translated other places in the Bible as Joshua. And that name meant Yahweh saves. While many sons of Israel had been named Yeshua as a symbolic hope for Yahweh's promised salvation, the angel tells us that Jesus is to be named

Yeshua, not as symbolic hope, but because he will save his people from their sins. Hope has arrived in the person of Jesus. And third, Matthew gives us a much clearer signpost of Jesus' fulfillment of the Old Testament. Verse 22 tells us that all this took place, Mary conceiving Jesus by the Holy Spirit, Joseph being a son of David, and Jesus being the one to save. so that a verse in Isaiah could be fulfilled. Now, you might be wondering, I thought they were naming him Jesus, but now they're saying his name is going to be Emmanuel. So how does this fulfill anything?

Well, the text that Matthew is drawing from in Isaiah is in response to the failure of a king of Israel. It says that the Lord himself will send a sign. And that sign will be that a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he will be named Emmanuel. And Matthew, is connecting the dots for us telling us that this sign has found its ultimate fulfillment in the virgin conception and birth of Jesus. See, the name Emmanuel means God with us. And like we talked about, Jesus' name means Yahweh saves. So in this one text, Matthew is bringing together two distinct and incredible truths about who this child in Mary's womb really is. See, Jesus is going to save his people.

He is the descendant of David, the king the Israelites have long awaited, and yet he is not just another human king who will fail them like all who have come before. No, the Lord has come to be with his people as the person of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Can you imagine the Jewish audience reading this? This is an incredibly big statement for Matthew to be making. He's telling them, hey guys, this child and Mary's womb is the descendant of David we've been waiting for. He's the king who will save us from all of our sins. But get this, since no human has ever been able to fulfill that promise, God came down to be with us, to fulfill both sides of his covenant, to be both God and the faithful Israelite king who will save his people from their sins through his faithful life. Isn't that incredible?

I don't know about you, but coming off a year in the Torah, hearing about God's covenant with his people, the people's failure, and his promise to be faithful. This section of scripture about the conception of a child in Mary's womb and who that child is is so crazy and credible. I get jazzed about the connections that Matthew makes here for us. Jesus is king. He is the fulfillment of all that is promised in the Old Testament. And at this point, he hasn't even been born yet. And so, in this first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, we have the stage set to see just who this promised king will be. And now we wait in anticipation to see how he will save his people. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks

newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help encourage you in the middle of the work week and bring you deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.