Mat 1:18-25; Jesus to You, “I Am with You Forever.”

Class Outline:

Tuesday November 7, 2023

 

Intro: Matthew is structured on fulfillment of OT.

 

Prophecy formulas in this first section (1-4).

Virgin birth (ISA 7:4).

Out of Egypt I called My son (HOS 11:1).

Murder of the children (JER 31:15).

Called a Nazarene (JDG 13:5?; ISA 11:1?)

A light shines in Galilee (ISA 9:1-2).

 

MAT 1:18

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows:

 

Why this in Matthew? It is not a birth story. The birth is not mentioned.

Matthew is revealing the qualification of Jesus as the Christ.

 

MAT 1:18-23

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US.

 

You (Joseph) call His name Jesus (Yeshua).

They will call Him Immanuel.

 

God with us - the character and mission of Jesus as God with His people.

Hypostatic union (Son of God / Son of Man).

Deliverance (Messiah).

 

MAT 1:1-17 indicates a legal right to the throne, but He could never have been He who was to redeem and save from sin. “Save from sins and God with us” is the qualifier of Savior as well as king.

 

MAT 22:41-45 “What do you think of the Christ, whose Son is He? … If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?”

 

God with us …

Isaiah’s time and now.

 

Clarify Isaiah (who will figure prominently in Matthew’s text):

Book of the King (1-39); Book of the Servant (40-55); Book of the Anointed Conqueror (56-66).

 

Kings of Judah - list.

 

Clarify the kings Ahaz and Hezekiah in Isaiah.

Ahaz is the [click in] thirteenth king after David (all sons) around 730-715 B.C. 

Hezekiah is the son of Ahaz (715-687 B.C.).

 

We have to return to Isa 7 and Ahaz because of the name given to Jesus, Immanuel - God with us. 

 

ISA 7:14

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

 

The sign is to be given to Ahaz, but we are not told of a child being born to a young maiden who will live only a few years before the invasion from the north is thwarted by God.

 

ISA 7:15-16

“He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. 16 For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”

 

What is important here is not what we don’t know but what is plainly revealed. God with us means that the kingdom of Judah will be spared.

 

God with us - protection and providence.

 

And, we see the name again in the next chapter. These are the only places where the name is recorded.

 

ISA 8:8

“Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through,

It will reach even to the neck;

And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

 

This is Assyria, not Israel and Syria. [timeline / map]

Conquered and deported Israel (Northern Kingdom) 721 BC.

Conquered Judah and poised to raze Jerusalem 701 BC.

 

They will come (around 30 years after the promise to Ahaz in 7:14) but they will be broken (defeated) because “God is with us.”

 

ISA 8:10

“Devise a plan (Assyria) but it will be thwarted;

State a proposal, but it will not stand,

For God is with us.”

 

God is with us - the enemy will be shattered.

 

Eventually Judah would not be protected any longer and the unthinkable happened (Destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC by Babylonians).

 

What about “God with us” in our age?

Immanuel comprises the bookends of Matthew’s Gospel.

 

MAT 28:20

“and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”