TOUGH CHOICES
MATTHEW 1:16, 18-25
1519
VIDEO FROM MATTHEW 1:18-25
Vertical Limit Illustration: Father, Son and Daughter climbing in Monument Valley. Daughter has laid in three anchors. Suddenly, two amateur climbers above them fall. Ropes entangled. Two amateurs swinging and wiggling. Dad calls for them to settle down, going to pull out anchors. Wiggling in panic. First anchor pulls free. Dad pleads for son to cut the rope holding dad and the two amateurs. Only way to save son and daughter. Dad pleads with son to cut the rope. Daughter pleads with brother not to cut dad loose. Second anchor blows out of the rock.
Tough choice for son. Agony in his heart and face. Saws the rope with his knife until dad and two amateurs fall to their deaths.
Peaceful scene of valley floor. All over. Suddenly, dad’s body thumps to ground: dead.
·SLIDE #10: Tough choices, at defining moments, reveal who we and determine who we will become.
·SLIDE #1: You are a first time parent, sitting in obstetrician’s office when you first learn that your unborn child has irreparable physical problems, the Doctor asks, “What to do about it?”
·SLIDE #2: Your boss asks you to cover up extra company income to reduce company income taxes—you know it is wrong; but after all, it is your boss.
·SLIDE #3: On a date with the person you are supposed to marry, you are asked to violate your moral convictions—but if you don’t you are scared you might lose him.
·SLIDE 4#: A coworker of the opposite sex asks you to lunch. You have to work with them, but you know they are interested in more than lunch—and you are married.
·SLIDE #5: Your husband has had a series of strokes, now on life support, you’ve been funding hospital bills for the last several months, draining your life savings. Turn it off or not?
In Matthew 1 two teenagers, faced with defining moments, and two tough choices change the course of the world forever.
READ Matthew 1:18: This 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.
Look. No sex. A virgin. She is pregnant. A cloud of suspicion and a cloud of scandal hung ominously over Mary.
In all of history when people see an unwed mother there was only one conclusion.
Except in this case. Another explanation is that the Holy Spirit is creating again.
·SLIDE #6: 1. Here we have A DIVINE/VIRGIN CONCEPTION (Matthew 1:18).
There was no human father. The Bible tells us that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit.
You say, how does that work?
Don’t ask me that! It is like when I teach on Revelation. Come to that verse which says, “The Lord is going to give you a name which no man knows!” Invariably someone will come up and say “What is that name?”
·SLIDE #7: I do know that modern science speaks of “Parthenogenesis.” In Greek means “virgin beginning” or “virgin born.”
In the world of honey bees, unfertilized eggs develop into drones or males.
In 1939 and 1940 rabbits were produced through chemical and temperature influences on rabbit ova. All were sterile and all were female.
Nothing like this comes close to parthenogenesis in the human race.
Christianity’s essential tenant that Jesus Christ is God stands or falls on the fact of the virgin birth.
·SLIDE #8: In Matthew 22:42 Jesus asked the Pharisees a question which has been raised in every generation since then. Jesus said, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
That’s a question which needs to be asked in every age and by every person.
·SLIDE #9: I wish we about knew more about Mary.
Poor family. Probably 14 to 16 years old at marriage. Life expectancy only 35 years.
Probably multiple brothers and sisters, Bible names another sister also named, Mary.
She is committed into John’s care by the dying Christ. The last New Testament glimpse of her is seen as she joined the Apostles in waiting for the outpouring of His Spirit on Pentecost.
Early church history reveals that John took her to Ephesus where she ultimately died. I know, I have been to Ephesus and seen her house on the backside of the mountain.
The best character study of her is seen in Luke 1.
READ and summarize LUKE 1:26-37.
Here is Mary affirming her virginity.
1:35: What an incredible announcement!
Tough choice: 14 years old. All alone. Pregnant—lose Joseph, ostracized by family at very least. Face stoning at very worst. Who is going to believe her?
Mary had absolutely no way under the sun to protect her reputation. I mean, what’s she going to say, “Listen folks, um, this baby is conceived by God…” and they’re going to say, “Sure, Mary, that’s a new one. We’ve heard them all now.” There is no way she can protect her reputation. So the blessed Holy Spirit protected it for her right here in the Word of God.
She apparently had a choice. She had a chance to refuse but didn’t.
Significant what she did not say:
Young 14 to 16 year olds thinking, I don’t have to worry about making the right choices right now. Plenty of time for that later: “My body, my choice.”
This is what is called a “defining moment.”
Most defining moments revolve around tough choices.
Breakfast with Julie this week: What women want is more kisses. “Best thing I ever did was marry you. Best day of my life.”
“Defining moment of my life was when I came back to Baylor.”
·SLIDE #10: Tough choices, at defining moments, reveal who we and determine who we will become.
READ Luke 1:38.
She bore the scandal for as long as she lived.
Read John 8: “We know who our Father is. You don’t.”
Jesus knew what his mother went through. That is one reason he had such a tender heart for people—like the woman caught in the act of adultery which introduces John 8.
·SLIDE #11: What about poor Joseph? What happened here is a shock to Joseph. He couldn’t believe it. Dreaming about wonderful marriage and learns she’s pregnant because she’s been intimate with someone else.
We see here a A STRUGGLING CONFRONTATION (1:18-19).
READ Matthew 1:18-19: This 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. 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.
I wish we knew more about the background of Joseph. He was a carpenter? Craftsman?
Joseph must have been a great father. Can you imagine God depositing His only Son in the home of a dysfunctional father? His parents raised him well.
Can you further imagine what it must have been like to raise a perfect Son? “…No, no, Dad. Do it this way…”
Joseph probably died while Jesus was a teenager. Not around when Jesus begins his ministry at 30. Jesus became the “Man of the House” and knew what it was like to provide for a family.
What does “pledged to be married” mean?
Does that mean that they were engaged? Does it mean that they were going steady? Mary wore Joseph’s ring on a chain around her neck? Or, he gave her his letter jacket?
There were three steps in a Jewish marriage.
·BUILD SLIDE #12A: First, the two families arranged the union.
·BUILD SLIDE #12B: Second, a public announcement was made. At this point, the couple was “pledged”. They were considered legally married even though there was no physical union for a period of approximately 12 months. This was a period of protection to assure the fidelity for both husband and wife. During the engagement period, the relationship could be broken only through death or divorce.
·BUILD SLIDE #12C: Third, at the end of the pledge period the actual wedding took place. The couple was married and began living together. No one knew the wedding day or when the marriage would take place. Surprise!
This wedding custom was the background for Jesus’ teaching about
His return and the parable of the talents—be ready.
Keep yourself “pure” until I come.
Mary’s pregnant during the pledge period. No doubt to Joseph, “Some one else is the father.”
Basically, he had two options.
·SLIDE #13A: 1. Charge her of adultery in public court.
She would be shamed and ruined in terms of reputation. She might be put to death.
·SLIDE #13B: 2. Divorce her privately.
No fanfare. Didn’t even have to write the reason or cause in the paper. She could go away without anyone ever really knowing what happened.
He made his decision to put her away privately and spare her the shame and scorn.
But God had a third option – marry her.
God often shows us that there are more options available than we think.
·SLIDE #14: 3. THE DIVINE CLARIFICATION (Matthew 1:20-21)
READ MATTHEW 1:20-21: But 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. 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.”
“You don’t have to be afraid. It is the baby of God Himself.”
“But a virgin birth! That’s hard to believe.” Don’t be shocked! We should have expected it all along.
·BUILD SLIDE #15A: READ GENESIS 3:15
Notice that it’s a woman’s seed. Her seed. Only one time in all of history did a woman ever have a seed. The seed always comes from the man – but not this time.
·BUILD SLIDE #15B: READ GALATIANS 4:4: “But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman…”
·BUILD SLIDE #15C: READ JEREMIAH 31:22: Fantastic prophecy! A woman “on her own” shall develop (“will surround”) a man!
If there is anything that the Bible is clear to teach, it is that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary.
·BUILD SLIDE #15D: READ MATTHEW 1:20 – “Conceived of the Holy Spirit…”
·BUILD SLIDE #15E: READ MATTHEW 1:16 – “husband of Mary, of whom (feminine) was born Jesus.”
·BUILD SLIDE #15F: READ LUKE 3:23 – “…being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph.”
The Virgin Birth is one of the central tenants of the Christian faith. There are not many.
·BUILD SLIDE #16A: 1. The Virgin birth established that Jesus Christ is God.
·BUILD SLIDE #16B: 2. He died on the cross as a substitute to pay for the sins of the world.
·BUILD SLIDE #16C: 3. The resurrection validates His claims and proves we can live forever.
·BUILD SLIDE #16D: 4. Everyone must personally repent of sin and receive Jesus through faith.
If you get those things straight, you will be right with God and in Heaven when you die.
The supernatural birth of Jesus is the only way to account for the supernatural life that He led.
·BUILD SLIDE #18A: Someone once asked a Christian, “Would you believe me if I told you that over in that hospital was born today a child with no human father? Would you believe me?”
·BUILD SLIDE #18B: “Yes. If he lived like Jesus lived.”
That’s the crux of the entire issue. We expect Jesus to live a life like nobody else ever lived because He had a birth like nobody else ever had.
·SLIDE #17: The power behind this life is what is called the “Hypostatic Union”
God-Man
Inscrutable
·BUILD SLIDE #19A: Why is the virgin birth important to the Christian faith?
·BUILD SLIDE #19B: 1. Because He is God, he has the power and authority to deliver us from sin (Colossians 2:13-15).
Protected from sin nature of man because he had no human father.
·BUILD SLIDE #19C: 2. Because He is a man, we know that he fully understands our experiences and struggled (Hebrews 4:15,16). We can tell Jesus all our thoughts, feelings, and needs. He has been where we are now, and He has the ability to help.
I was sitting in the stands of an outdoor stadium when I was in high school listening to Buckner Fanning, pastor in San Antonio—crusade like Luis Palau.
Told of a man who was struggling with becoming a Christian.
“I want to be saved but I just don’t believe in the miracles and especially in the Virgin Birth.” How would you respond to him?
“Let’s don’t worry about that right now. Let’s talk about your need for Jesus.” Showed the need for Christ because of sin, etc/He got on knees, confessed sins and trusted Christ.
He moved away. Lost contact. Returned about two years later. came by. “Life in Christ is great. You know, I don’t have any trouble with the miracles anymore.” “How about the Virgin Birth?” “No problem at all. I can see how it all fits together.”
Do you have to believe in the Virgin Birth to be saved?”
The thief on the cross never heard of the Virgin Birth and he went to Heaven.
I became a Christian when I was 7 years old and I didn’t have the slightest idea what a virgin was.
Nevertheless, I don’t see how anyone who really understood the issues involved could ever refuse to believe in the Virgin Birth and still claim to be a Christian!
·BUILD SLIDE #20A: 4. SOME EXPANDED SOTEROLOGICAL THINKING (Matthew 1:22-23)
READ MATTHEW 1:22-23: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”– which means, “God with us.”
In Matthew 1 two names of Christ are enunciated which embody the significance of Christianity.
·BUILD SLIDE #20B: “Jesus” = “God saves”
Old legend tells how Jesus became our Savior.
God the Father calls all the hosts of Heaven before Him – He describes man’s lost condition. Someone had to go to Earth t save lost humanity – offer self to redeem mankind.
Abraham – friend of God, father of faithful. “I’ll go. I’ll give myself for them.” No, you had sin when you lived on earth.
Moses – greatest man of Old Testament – Leader during Exodus. “I’ll go and shed my blood for the sin of the world.” No, Moses, I brought you to Heaven, but your sin at Meribah kept you our of the promised land. You can’t go.
David – Sweet singer of Israel – man after God’s own heart – “I’ll go.” No, David, you sinned with Bathsheba. You can’t go.
Jesus came before the throne. “Father, I love them. I’ll go and shed my blood on behalf of their sin.”
The legend says, “All heaven burst out with protest and opposition, ‘No, you can’t go!’”
Jesus: “Yes, I must go. I am the only one perfect and worthy to die for the sins of all the world.”
That’s why He was called “Jesus.” – He came to save His people from their sins.
But another name is enunciated here.
·BUILD SLIDE #20C: “Emmanuel” = “God with us.”
What took place when you got saved?
Most of us grew up with this mindset: Calvary is primarily about God’s provision for our sin. Most of us put a period right there.
This is only ½ the story. If we stop here we stop at the point of irrelevance. How many people run around today saying, “I’ve got to find some answer to my sin!” No one!”
The rest of the truth: At Calvary, God made provision for our sin in order that we might be alone.
We have to keep going, otherwise we conclude that God killed His own Son because He is mad at sin, because He is self-absorbed with holiness.
Truth is, Calvary is to deal with sin for the purpose of not being alone in our relationship with God.
Sin is what keeps us alone—from God and from others.
“If we regard sin in our hearts God will not hear us.”
God’s purpose in creation (Calvary also) so that God would not be alone. Not that God needs us but that He desires us.
“For thy good pleasure we have been created.” He won’t fall out of Heaven if it doesn’t happen, but he will miss something He desires.
·SLIDE #21: 5. AN ADMIRABLE CONSUMMATION (Matthew 1:24-25)
READ MATTHEW 1:24: When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
That was the best nap Joseph ever had. “I’m not just marrying Mary, I’m getting the Son of God thrown in on the deal!” And thus began their married life together.
READ MATTHEW 1:25: But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
·SLIDE #22: Tough choices, at defining moments, reveal who we and determine who we will become.
Things to keep in mind when making a tough choice.
His action revealed four admirable qualities:
·BUILD SLIDE #23A: 1. Righteousness (1:19)
·BUILD SLIDE #23B: 2. Discretion and sensitivity (1:19)
·BUILD SLIDE #23C: 3. Responsiveness to God (1:24)
·BUILD SLIDE #23D: 4. Self-discipline (1:25)
·SLIDE #24: I will close by once again directing our attention to the cross of Christ.
Invitation to come to Christ.