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On this Christmas Sunday we discover how the name of the Newborn King shows the reason why He was born to a woman, lived as a human, and died like a villain.

Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. According to Jewish culture at the time, 

• Parents arranged the marriage when the children were young, 
• The betrothal period was a legally binding contract, where the man was given legal rights over the young woman, gifts were exchanged (bride price, dowery, and bridegroom’s gift to the bride). The terms “husband” and “wife” were used to refer to these pledged partners. If one died during this period the other would be considered a widow or widower.
• Sexual purity was still expected. Sexual activity with anyone else would have been considered adultery while the ultimate punishment could be stoning (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:23-24), although during the time of Jesus adulterers were more often publicly disgraced.

Right after Mary was told of her pregnancy by an angel, she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth for 3 months.

Now Mary returns to Nazareth with a baby bump and this is not okay with Joseph.

Virgin birth sounds crazy, and it’s an unbelievable claim for most people in our culture too.

The God of the universe, who created everything out of nothing, created people from the microscopic parts of their parents, CHOSE to use the DNA of a woman named Mary, but no human male DNA. Instead, she became pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Of course, since this had never happened in the history of the world, this explanation would have been impossible for any engaged man to believe.

The name JESUS or in Hebrew...Yeshua = Yahweh saves (more than His Name - it’s why He came, and it’s WHO He is!) 

Matthew wants his audience to know why the King had come and why He was given the name Jesus (Yeshua)...Sinners need a Savior

• If it weren’t for the cross we wouldn’t celebrate the manger. If it weren’t for Jesus’ death, we wouldn’t have even known or cared about his birth.

The earliest followers of Jesus didn’t focus on His birth. There is no biblical record that the early Christians celebrating Christmas. Only 2 of the 4 gospel writers even tell the story of His birth - Matthew & Luke for a total of only 40 verses.

• Matthew: 8 verses (Mt 1:18-25)
• Luke: 32 verses of Luke (Lk 1:26-37; 2:1-20)
• The major focus of the New Testament is NOT on the birth of Jesus, but on the death of Jesus, because sinners need a Savior.

This is a quote from Isaiah 7:14, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Note: Matthew believes the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah.

• Jesus wasn’t called “Immanuel”, but Jesus WAS Immanuel - “God with us”!

Matthew certainly does not teach that Mary was a virgin forever (contrary to Catholic tradition). Jesus did have other brothers (Mt 12:46; 13:55). Joseph showed self-control by not being intimate with his own wife, until after Jesus was born. Joseph gave him the name Jesus - Yeshua - Yahweh saves!

Feet to Faith 

• Step Outside and thank the God who Created you & stepped into creation to save you from your sins.
• Join us next week as we continue our study through Matthew 2. Feel free to read it this week!