{"id":160,"date":"2010-12-19T09:00:50","date_gmt":"2010-12-19T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=160"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:09:03","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:09:03","slug":"what-about-this-child-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/19\/what-about-this-child-to-come\/","title":{"rendered":"What about this Child to come?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew 1:18-25<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moses was tending some sheep near a mountain named Horeb.\u00a0 A certain bush caught his attention.\u00a0 It was on fire but it did not burn.\u00a0 Moses decided to investigate this strange sight.\u00a0 When he got closer, a voice called to him from within the bush.\u00a0 It called him by name.\u00a0 Then the Lord told him this.\u00a0 Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.<\/em><\/p>\n

Those words came to mind when I read the words of our text. \u00a0\u00a0In a very real sense, that is true whenever we open this book.\u00a0 For here God speaks to us which makes that place wherever it is a kind of holy place for a time.\u00a0 But even more so on a day like today.\u00a0 Even more so this time in the Church year just days before Christmas. The Holy Spirit invites us to ponder an awesome thing that was about to unfold.\u00a0 So awesome that this time of year, pastors feel \u00a0unequal to the task.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas doesn’t seem to cut it when you consider what God says to us here.\u00a0 Think of the place we now enter.\u00a0 Think of the ground\u00a0 on which we now stand.\u00a0 Matthew tells us: 18 <\/sup>This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about:<\/span><\/p>\n

But Joseph did not know that.\u00a0 And in a way, when it comes to this Child we all begin like Joseph.\u00a0 So that’s where we begin today.<\/p>\n

What about this Child to come?
\n<\/strong>I.\u00a0 Our thinking fails us.
\nII.\u00a0 Only God can make it clear
\nIII. Take Him at his Word.<\/p>\n

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.<\/span> It’s important to understand.\u00a0 Mary was already his wife.\u00a0 They were not engaged. Joseph and Mary were betrothed.\u00a0 There had been a ceremony where they pledged their faithfulness to one another.\u00a0 They were husband and wife while they prepared for that time when they would live together as husband and wife.<\/p>\n

But Mary turns up pregnant. She turns up pregnant before Joseph could have anything to do with her pregnancy. What about this Child to come?<\/strong> Of course here we have an advantage over Joseph. We know why.\u00a0 She had not betrayed her husband.\u00a0 This Child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

But Joseph did not know that.\u00a0 He may have heard something about it from Mary when her pregnancy became known.\u00a0 Maybe she told him about the angel and what he said about the child. Perhaps she begged him to believe that there was no other man.\u00a0 Leaving there, His heart broken, his mind racing, What about this Child to come?<\/strong> With Joseph we see what is true of us.\u00a0 Our way of thinking fails us<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

19 <\/sup>Because 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.<\/span> Joseph’s thinking failed him here.\u00a0 He could not see that there could be any other reason for this child other than the sin of adultery.\u00a0 So as a righteous man, he could not take her as his wife.\u00a0 Instead he would write out a certificate of divorce as the Mosaic law instructed.\u00a0 Yet you can also see why the Lord picked Joseph to be Jesus’ human father.\u00a0 Even though his heart was breaking, he had decided to do this quietly so that perhaps Mary could be spared the disgrace.<\/p>\n

Yet Joseph was wrong about the Child.\u00a0 His thinking had failed him.\u00a0 Our thinking fails us if we let it.\u00a0 A girl turns up pregnant but for a much different reason.\u00a0 What about this child to come?\u00a0 She’s so young, her parents reason.\u00a0 She’s not ready to be a mother..\u00a0 Their thinking fails them as they search the yellow pages for a place that will take the life of that child.<\/p>\n

Our thinking fails us if we let it.\u00a0 When trouble comes into our lives, what does our reason tell us?\u00a0 God must be punishing me or worse yet, there is no God at all.\u00a0 Our thinking fails us if we let it.\u00a0 And what about this Child whose birth we will soon celebrate.\u00a0 What would you think if you were Joseph?\u00a0 What would this world have you think?\u00a0 Nice story but that’s all.\u00a0 What about this child to come<\/strong>?\u00a0 Our thinking fails us.\u00a0 Only God can make it clear<\/strong>. And he does.<\/p>\n

20 <\/sup>But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, \u201cJoseph 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. 21 <\/sup>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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The prophets had told the people to expect the Christ to come from King David’s line.\u00a0 He would be like a shoot that would come from a stump that appeared all but dead. \u00a0Some may have forgotten that promise. Other may have given up on it.\u00a0 But God didn’t. He had his finger on Joseph \u00a0\u00a0He has an angel call out to Him in a dream.: Joseph, Son of David<\/span>…<\/p>\n

But first of all, something needs to be cleared up.\u00a0 God wants Joseph to be there for this Child.\u00a0 So he tells him what’s, what.\u00a0 Take your wife home. Don’t be afraid. She’s not what you think.<\/p>\n

Then comes the truth about this Child.\u00a0 It’s a boy and his name is to be Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 The name Jesus comes from a Hebrew word that means:\u00a0 The Lord saves. Yet there was nothing remarkable about giving a young Jewish boy that name.\u00a0 Yeshua, or Joshua today.\u00a0 But pay attention to the why, the reason for that name.\u00a0 He will save his people from their sins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, God had sent people like\u00a0 Moses or Gideon to rescue his people from their enemies.\u00a0 In our day, fireman and Coast Guardsmen go to rescue people from burning buildings or drowning seas.\u00a0 But this Child had come on a much different rescue mission.\u00a0 And you really can’t appreciate it unless you listen to your conscience tell you about your guilt before God.\u00a0 You can’t really appreciate it unless you look death in the eye and know that one day it will come for you.\u00a0 The angel told Joseph that this Child was coming to rescue us from<\/p>\n

But look what else God makes clear.\u00a0 This time not to Joseph but to you and me through his inspired apostle Matthew.\u00a0 Right in the middle of this account Matthew connects the dots of prophecy for us.\u00a0 He wrote: 22 <\/sup>All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 <\/sup>\u201cThe virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel\u201d\u2014which means, \u201cGod with us.\u201d<\/span> What about this Child to come<\/strong>?\u00a0 What about this Child whose birth we will soon celebrate? What about this Child who would live for us and then die for us?\u00a0 God makes it clear. He is Immanuel. God with us.\u00a0 Martin Luther said it so well:\u00a0 Oh then rejoice, that through his Son, God is with sinners now at one.\u00a0 Made like yourselves of flesh and blood. Your brother is the eternal God<\/em>. \u00a0God made it clear to Joseph and here in his Word he makes it clear to us.<\/p>\n

All too often, Joseph is the forgotten man of Christmas.\u00a0 More than that you won’t find any of Joseph’s words reported in the Bible.\u00a0 Yet without words, Joseph teaches us by his believing example when he had plenty of reason not to.\u00a0 What about this Child to come?<\/strong> I have a friend who is Jewish like Joseph was. He protests: How can God be a man?\u00a0 Well His argument is not with me or Matthew or even the prophets.\u00a0 He needs to follow the example of Joseph.\u00a0 Take God at his Word<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

You see it here.\u00a0 24 <\/sup>When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 <\/sup>But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus<\/span>.\u00a0 \u00a0Joseph’s actions speak loud and clear..\u00a0 Like Mary, he took God at his word<\/strong>.\u00a0 Like Mary, he could not understand how this could be so?\u00a0 Neither can we.\u00a0 But they did not let that get in the way of their faith.\u00a0 For after all, what is faith?\u00a0 It’s not understanding. It is trust.\u00a0 Joseph took Mary home as his wife because he trusted that the Child in her womb was just as the angel said. His Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n

What about you?\u00a0 What about this Child to come?\u00a0\u00a0 Who is he to you?\u00a0 Has he become just part of a quaint scene at Christmas?\u00a0 Do we find ourselves saying I believe \u00a0in Jesus Christ conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary without even a flicker of joy or amazement?\u00a0 Listen to the angel, the prophets and the apostles.\u00a0 Be like Joseph and take God at his Word<\/strong>.\u00a0 For then you will realize how very blessed you are in this Child to come.\u00a0 And you will come to the manger and realize that you are standing on holy ground.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew 1:18-25 Moses was tending some sheep near a mountain named Horeb.\u00a0 A certain bush caught his attention.\u00a0 It was on fire but it did not burn.\u00a0 Moses decided to investigate this strange sight.\u00a0 When he got closer, a voice called to him from within the bush.\u00a0 It called him by name.\u00a0 Then the Lord told him this.\u00a0 Take off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":847,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160\/revisions\/847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}