The Miracle of the Virgin Birth
December 19, 2021 Preacher: Ace Davis
Topic: Christmas Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
48:56
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Joseph, Jesus, miracle, verse, Mary, God, Matthew, betrothed, Christ, angel, son, virgin, child, Immanuel, sins, Messiah, important, notice, father, pregnancy
Table of Contents
Introduction
The title of the sermon here this morning is The Miracle of the Virgin Birth. The Christmas story has become all too familiar to many of us. When you hear something over and over again, you can easily become desensitized to it. We all know the saying familiarity breeds contempt. But this morning, I want us to be amazed. I want us to be amazed at the miracle that took place in order to send the Savior who would come and save us from our sins.
You see, this was a miracle. And by miracle, I mean a real miracle. You see, oftentimes we use that word miracle to refer to everyday common realities. We throw that word miracle around a lot. For example, on January 14th, 2018, some of you might know this date. The Vikings were playing the saints NFC divisional playoff game. Case Keenum threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs for the winning touchdown. And the radio announcer said this. Ah, what a miracle finish. No way. Which the other announcer said, are you kidding me? It's a Minneapolis miracle. Stefon Diggs, and the Minnesota Vikings have knocked off the New Orleans Saints. It’s a 61-yard, Minneapolis miracle. It was a simple throw, and a catch for a touchdown. It wasn't a miracle. There was no miracle that took place.
But you can see how we throw that word miracle around and we use it every day in common day events. What is a miracle? Let me give you a couple of definitions of miracle. A miracle is an extraordinary event, manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. There was no divine intervention on that football field that day. Or another definition: an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.
That's a miracle. So often when we think about the Christmas story, because we can relate to a little baby boy, even if he's wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger, we just think of crib. We forget that that event that happened 2000 years ago, is an actual miracle. It's a miracle that took place.
So, what I want to do this morning is show you this miraculous event, so that we don't just go through Christmas thinking that it's just another familiar story. So that we're not familiar with Jesus, but that we're in awe of Jesus and what God did to save us from our sins.
So, we're going to be in Matthew chapter 1 and we're going to be in verses 18 through 25. Let's look at our passage here this morning, beginning of verse 18. Follow along as I read our passage for us.
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.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25)
Now, before we get into our passage here, and these verses that I just read to you, I want you to look back up at verse 1. Look at verse 1, Matthew 1 and verse 1. It says this, "The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah." (Matt 1:1) What Matthew does here in these first 17 verses, is he is setting up for us, for the reader, those in whom he's writing to, for the reader, he's setting up the humanity of Christ. What he does there is he gives a genealogy; you can read through that genealogy there. We won't do it this morning. But I would encourage you to read through that genealogy. What Matthew is doing is he's setting up for us the humanity of Christ. And he shows that through this genealogy, that is traced through Joseph's line, that's the trace through here is Joseph's line, He's showing us that Jesus is fully man.
Luke, if you were to go to Luke, chapter 3, you would see that there's another genealogy there. And that's traced through Mary's line. And these genealogies are given to show that Jesus is a man, fully human. He's fully human, and specifically that He is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham, and to David. In fact, notice what it says there in verse 1, Matthew 1 in verse 1. It says, ”The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.” (Matt 1:1). What Matthew is doing here is he's helping us to understand that this is the fulfillment of the Davidic and the Abrahamic Covenant, the promise that God gave all the way back in Genesis to Abraham. And then in 2 Samuel 7, the Davidic covenant that was given there, the promise that a king would come and reign on your throne forever, David.
Here He is, Jesus. He's the promise -- He's the fulfillment of those covenants. He's who the Jews have been waiting for. What's interesting here is that Matthew, being a Jew himself, is writing to a Jewish audience. And he's telling them that Jesus is the one who is promised to come. He is the Jewish Messiah. He is that man that they have been waiting for. But not only is He the man whom they have been waiting for -- the Promised Messiah, but He is also God. He's God.
And we're going to see this morning how this divine miracle proves that Jesus is God in the flesh. And so, we're going to break this passage down into four points here.
1. The Miraculous Pregnancy
Our first point, this morning, we'll call The Miraculous Pregnancy, The Miraculous Pregnancy.
Look at verse 18 and what it says there. 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. (Matt 1:18) Now, as I said, Matthew is writing his gospel as a Jew to a Jewish audience. And his main purpose in writing this is to show that Jesus is the promised King, that Israel has been waiting for… the Messiah, the King, the Promised One. And he gives us this genealogical record in verses 1 through 17. And then he gives us the birth record, then in verses 18 through 25 he's giving us two accounts here, two records.
Genealogical records were very important to Jews. They kept these close and tight so that they could follow everyone's lineage. And so, this was important to a Jewish audience to see this genealogy. But he gives them not only the record of that, but also the record then of the birth of the Messiah. And what's interesting here is that that word for genealogy there in verse 1, and the word for birth there in verse 18 in the Greek, they are the exact same word. The word is Genesis. The first time Matthew uses Genesis in verse 1, he's referring to the lineage of Jesus. And now in verse 18, he's using it to describe the birth of Christ. We know that Christ has always existed, right? And His birth was not Him being created, but Jesus has always existed. But this account here of His birth, this, this Genesis is Him taking on flesh and the likeness of man.
Hebrews chapter 2 tells us of this, but He is not created like you and I are created. Jesus has always been, he always was, but he took upon himself flesh at the moment of conception.
One commentator says, this is the Spirit's work to take the pre-existent Son and form His inward parts, to knit Him together in His mother's womb, to make Him fearfully and wonderfully human. That's what's going on here, in this account.
And notice how Matthew identifies Jesus in verse 18 there. He doesn't just give us the birth name of Jesus, but he also tells us that this is the birth of Jesus Christ. Notice that. It's the birth of Jesus Christ. This is not the first time that Matthew tells us that Jesus is the Christ. In fact, in verse 1 he tells us that this is the record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Messiah there is the word Christ. In verse 16, he tells us of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah or the Christ.
Then in verse 17, he tells us, and from the deportation to Babylon, to the Messiah, or the Christ, 14 generations. And so, this is the fourth time, beginning in chapter 1, that Matthew now tells us that this is Jesus, the Christ. Now, Christ is not Jesus' last name. Christ means anointed one or Chosen One. It's the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Mashiach, or Messiah, which means that Jesus, this boy that has been born to Mary -- He, Jesus, is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One.
And because He bears the title, Christ, He is the Anointed One who has been sent by God. That's what Israel has been waiting for. They've been waiting for the Messiah to come, and they knew that God was going to send Him to Israel. He was sent by God. How? Well Matthew tells us.
"when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit." (Matt1:18) Now notice how Matthew identifies Mary here. Notice this, that she is the mother of Jesus. If you notice back up in verse 16, look at what it says in verse 16 there. In verse 16 it says, "Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born." (Matt 1:16)
What is fascinating here in this verse, in verse 16, is that if you look at the word "whom", you see that there in your Bible, that word "whom" and the Greek is in the feminine singular form. Here's why this is important. We often use the word "whom" in the English language, right? And when we use the word whom we can use it to refer to men, a man, women, a woman, or multiple people, men and women combined. We use that pronoun "whom" fluidly like that. That's how we use it in the English. But in Greek words are specific. They have specific endings, either with singular or plural endings, or gender specific endings. And this Greek word "whom" in verse 16, is feminine singular. And so who was Jesus born to? Mary. But notice this, not to Joseph. Jesus was born to Mary, Mary is the mother of Jesus, but Jesus had no earthly father.
And the Bible is very accurate, and making sure that the birth account in the birth account, Joseph is never labeled as Jesus' father, never. Why? Who is Jesus' Father? God is. God is His Father, and therefore Jesus is God. It proves His deity, that He is fully man, fully God.
Now, later on at the temple, when Jesus is 12 years old, because Joseph became the adoptive father of Jesus, in a legal sense, we see that Jesus is referred to, or Joseph is referred to as the father of Jesus. Mary, in fact, says there, your father and I have been looking for You. Because He was adopted. And so, in a legal sense, Joseph was the father of Jesus, but here and the birth account, Joseph is never labeled as Jesus' Father, never.
In fact, even if you were to continue on, in Matthew chapter 2, as they flee in verse 13, Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and” (Jesus has already been born. And notice, he doesn't say, take your son, and your wife, he says, take the child and His mother and flee to Egypt. You continue on reading) “remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” (Matt 2:13)
Not your son, but the child. Joseph is never labeled as Jesus’ Father, ever, in this birth account. Because God is His Father. We'll see that Joseph is always identified as Mary's husband. And at this time, back in verse 18, it tells us that Mary and Joseph" (notice) they were betrothed. They were betrothed when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph. Now, what does this mean? What is being betrothed mean? Well, the Jewish custom for a marriage was that it would be arranged early on in life. If a father had a son, and he met another father who had a daughter, and the families got along with each other, the fathers would come together, and they would make an agreement. I wish we did this now. Be a lot easier. Make the agreement early on, fathers come together, we like each other, we're going to make a contractual agreement that my son and your daughter are going to be married. That's Jewish custom.
The fathers would have arranged that marriage and they would enter into then a contractual agreement that the two (the son and the daughter) are going to be married. At this time, the mohar a dowry or a bride price was then paid by the family of the groom, to the father of the bride. And during this time, then, once that contractual agreement was made, and the payment was then made, that boy and that girl were then betrothed. That was the betrothal period.
And legally during this time, although the wedding ceremony had not yet taken place that would happen sometimes up to a year later. The wedding ceremony has not taken place yet but legally, this couple is legally bound to each other to be married. And the only way then, that this couple could end this relationship was through a divorce. This period of time, which could be up to a year was a time of testing. A fidelity, and the couple usually had little if any social contact with one another. But it was during this time then when Mary was betrothed to Joseph, the contractual agreement has already been made, that the two of them are going to be married.
Notice what it says there "before they came together." (Matt 1:18) This phrase implies that it was before they had sexual relations, that she was found to be with child. Mary was pregnant. Now think about Joseph at this time. This is the woman that he's betrothed to-- that he's going to marry. She's it. She's the one. And now she's pregnant. What do you think was going through his mind? If you stopped right here in this verse, you would think, shame on you, Mary. Because it was a shameful thing. For a woman to have relations or to be pregnant, in that betrothal period, before marriage. And it would have been shameful for both of them.
Think about Joseph, the woman in whom I'm to marry, she is now pregnant. How does this happen? But it doesn't stop there. Notice it says she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. This is good news for Joseph. This here is a divine miracle. Something that no one could explain. She was a virgin, betrothed to her husband. She had no relations with any man, and now she's pregnant. And why is the pregnancy of a virgin, so important? Because that child in her womb is the God man. That's why the virgin birth is so important. He's not like any other man. He is the God man.
Listen to what one commentator says. “Because Mary was a virgin. Only God could have been the father of Jesus, making Jesus the one and only God man in all the universe.” This was a miracle pregnancy. It is a miracle in order to bring the Messiah to the world so that He could save His people from their sins. So that's the miraculous pregnancy.
2. The Angelic Proclamation
Let's look at our second point here this morning. Point number two, the angelic proclamation, the angelic proclamation. Look at verse 19. “And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.” (Matt 1:19) Now again, notice here how Joseph is described. It doesn't say Joseph, the father of Mary's child, but it says Joseph her husband, because the father of that child in the womb of Mary is God. Not Joseph or any other man. God is the Father.
And notice what it says there that "Joseph was a righteous man." Now, these two were probably in their, their mid to late teens at this time, both Mary and Joseph. Mid to late teens. And those days a woman could be betrothed as young as 12 years old. I don't have daughters. But some of you might be going whoa...who have daughters. As young as 12 years old, they could be betrothed and then married off at 13. Most scholars believe that Mary and Joseph were in their mid to late teens.
But think about the pain that this must have caused Joseph when he had heard that his wife was pregnant. But as it says here, he was a righteous man. And obviously, he was a mature man. Because it says there, and he was not wanting to disgrace her. Now, obviously, Joseph cared for her, and he cared for her enough to divorce her because of her pregnancy. You see, that was his plan. His plan was, you know what, we're just going to do this quietly. I'll just divorce you, and you move on. But you see, he knew that according to the Old Testament law, her punishment for this could be -- listen to this -- death. Death.
Deuteronomy 22 in verse 23, it says this, “If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.” (Deut 22:23-24)
Joseph could have made a public spectacle of Mary because of her pregnancy. Being a righteous man he does, he decides to divorce her secretly -- which was also allowed during this betrothal period. Remember, they were legally bound to one another. And so the only way that they would be able to end this was through a divorce. And you can see his heart for Mary here --not to publicly disgrace her which he could have. But he obviously loved her. And he cared for her, and he wanted the best for her. And so his plan was divorce. I'll divorce her and I'll do it secretly.
But God stepped in. Look at verse 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.” (Matt 1:20)
Notice how Joseph reacted when the news when he heard the news of Mary's pregnancy. Notice this in the beginning of verse 20. "But when he had considered this" that word "consider" there in the Greek means to process information by thinking about it carefully. Joseph did not react with anger, or haste, or bitterness. He was a righteous man. He was a mature man. And he acted here in a mature manner. Did God choose the right man and the right woman for this task? He did.
Notice this because I don't want you to miss this. Notice, right after Joseph, consider this that Matthew tells us "behold" do you see that word there? "Behold" this here is a marker that is shouting to you and I to pay attention. It's as if Matthew says, and he considered this, now look at this! Watch! Pay attention! Behold! And what does he want us to see here? That God sent an angel to him in a dream. That God intervenes at this time. This angel comes and he has a message from God. Remember, that's all the angels are. They're messengers. They're not to be prayed to. They're not to be worshipped. They are simply messengers for God. That's all angel means.
God sends an angel to Joseph, in a dream. This is not dreams, like you and I have. This is obviously a dream where he understood there is an angel, and God is speaking to me. God gave Joseph this message and he said to him, Look what he said, "Joseph, son of David." (Matt 1:20)
Now why would he say that? Why would the angel say Joseph, son of David? Well, he's reinforcing that Joseph, as the legal adoptive father of Jesus, would constitute the royal line and the right to David's throne for Jesus. Remember, back up in verse 1 -- the record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David. That's why he says "Joseph, son of David", this child in whom you are going to adopt as your own, he is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant through your line, Joseph, son of David.
Then he tells him about his wife, Mary. And he tells him how his wife has become pregnant. "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." (Matt 1:20) Oh, that's how it happened.
One commentator says she did not conceive because she was unfaithful. But because she was faithful. Mary was a faithful woman, a righteous woman who loved the Lord. And God chose to use her. She wasn't an unfaithful woman, she was faithful. And God was gracious to this faithful woman, and God was protecting her.
And so he says to Joseph, you must take her as your wife. This is your task, this is your duty, this is what you are to do. Oh, and by the way, in verse 21, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21) Notice it doesn't say she will bear "you" a son. Notice that. But that "she" will bear a son.
Again, this is helping us to see that this pregnancy and birth is a miracle. It's not because of Joseph. And it's not because of any other man. But this is something that is supernatural. How did it all happen? We don't know. We don't have the mind of God, to understand that whole process and what happened there. But this woman was not pregnant, and then she became pregnant. How? God intervened. It was by the Holy Spirit, conceived in her of the Holy Spirit.
And once this child is born, then, you shall call His name, Jesus. Now, what's interesting is that Jesus was a common name in that time. Many boys were named Jesus. It was the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means Yahweh is Salvation. Why is this name so important? Because Jesus is not like any other boy named Jesus. No other boy named Jesus could save anyone from their sins. But this Jesus, this one in whom you will call Jesus, He will save His people from their sins. And that is why He was sent to save us from our sins.
The gospel
Some of you are here this morning and you are still in your sins. You have not been saved from your sin. Because you have not repented of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. And if you were to die today, you would spend an eternity in hell separated from God. But He calls you today, to come to Jesus, to repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus alone, so that your sin can be paid for so that your sin can be forgiven. And if you come to Christ, and put your faith in Him alone, He will save you. And He calls out to you today to come to Him. And He will give you the greatest gift that you could ever receive -- the greatest gift that you could ever receive in this Christmas season, the gift of eternal life. And He will give that to you, if you will bow your knee and repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ alone. Stop trying to work your way to heaven. It hasn't worked and it never will work. Because you can't get to heaven on your own. It's only through faith in Jesus Christ alone, who, as the angel told Joseph there, will save His people from their sins. Come to Christ -- He offers you salvation today.
Well, we see that there are two commands that were given to Joseph there in verses 20 and 21. Take Mary as your wife, and name the boy, what? Jesus. That's your mission. That's what you're called to do.
3. The Divine Prophecy
Let's look now at our third point here this morning, The Divine Prophecy, The Divine Prophecy. Look at verse 22. Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “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.” (Matt 1:22-23)
It's interesting here, Matthew now breaks away from this proclamation of the angel for a moment to show us that all of this was a part of God's plan. Notice at the beginning of verse 22, "now all this took place". And so we would ask, all the what took place? The virgin conception, and therefore the virgin birth. It's as if Matthew breaks away from this angelic proclamation, because he knows that there are going to be people who doubt this event. And there are still many people who doubt this event, right? Even in our own day, people doubt the virgin birth. How can it be? It's simple - a miracle, but not a miracle in the sense that you throw miracle around a miracle in the sense of what a miracle really is supernatural.
Matthew knows that people are going to doubt this event. And so, Matthew writes this in a way so that none of us would doubt God's miraculous work. Notice that word there, the two words "took place." That's one word in the Greek there. And it's in the perfect tense, meaning this: it is a completed action in the past with continuing results.
Here's what Matthew is saying to us. As Matthew writes this, if you were to look at the Greek construction, here's what he's saying here. Matthew is saying, "it's a fact. Believe it. The virgin birth is a fact." And not only should you believe it, because it happened, but also because God told us that it was going to happen 700 years before it even happened. Is that a miracle? Yes, it is. Only God could do something like that. Only God could tell us 700 years before something happens that it was going to happen. And that's what Matthew was telling us here in verse 23. He's quoting Isaiah 7:14. And he gives us the details there, that the virgin shall be with child. Now, if you know anything about conception, this would shock anyone, right? A virgin will be pregnant with a child? Impossible! Anyone reading Isaiah in the Old Testament would read that and they would go "it can't be. Impossible. A virgin with a child? Nope. Can't happen."
And isn't that what Mary said to the angel in Luke 1:34. We read it this morning. "Mary said to the angel, How can this be since I'm a virgin?" (Luke 1:34) What did the angels say to her? Nothing will be impossible with God. Nothing. It's a miracle, Mary. Because all things are possible with God.
Notice Isaiah prophesies and says, "THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL." Now you might ask, didn't they name him Jesus? Not Immanuel? Yes, they did. But listen to John chapter 1 and verse 1. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)
Who is the Word? Jesus. Let me read that to you again. And insert Jesus in there -- "In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God." And then in verse 14 of John chapter 1, "and the Word became flesh, and Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. And we saw His glory." (John 1:14)
What does Immanuel mean? God with us. Exactly what John just said. Jesus is God. Oh, and by the way, Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. He is Immanuel. And Isaiah is not specifically referring to a name there, but a title -- that this is his title, Immanuel -- He is God with us.
And here's the more amazing thing. Listen to this church. This is even more amazing, not just God with us in the sense that He became a man and took on flesh and came and dwelt among us. But if you are here this morning, and you are a believer in Christ, He is with you right now. In fact, He is in you!
Listen to Galatians 2:20. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives" where? "in me". God with us. God is with me. Right now, at this moment, do you realize that? Emmanuel --God is with you -- church. That's Christ. Christ is Emmanuel, God with us who was conceived by a supernatural act of God in the womb of a virgin. And He is the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied over 700 years before.
Church, it's a divine miracle. It's a miracle. Well, after that pause, Matthew comes back to tell us more about Joseph. He comes to tell us what happened to Joseph, because we would wonder, right? Okay, so this angel came and appeared to Joseph, what happened to Joseph?
4. The Humble Piety
Well, Matthew now tells us and this leads to our fourth and final point, The Humble Piety, The Humble Piety. Look at verse 24. “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus." (Matt 1:24-25)
Joseph, not only as a righteous man, but he's also a humble man. And his humility is seen in his obedience. He's an obedient man. And he trusted the Lord. And he did exactly what God had revealed to him. And he obeyed what the angel had said to him. And what was it that the angel had said? Remember two commands, right? Take Mary as your wife, and call the baby's name Jesus. What did Joseph do? He took Mary as his wife, and he called Him Jesus. He obeyed.
But notice this quickly in verse 25, I want to point this out to you. Notice in verse 25, it says that Joseph "kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son." Notice that word "until" there. Circle that word, highlight that word, underline that word. That's an important word there. One commentator says this, notice the important word "until", which means to be done up to a particular point in time, and then stopping. Implied --Joseph kept her a virgin until she had Jesus. And then after that they were married, and they had normal relations and they produce more children. Mary did not remain a virgin her whole life. In fact, Matthew 13:55 tells us the names of four of Mary's sons, Jesus' brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. And then in verse 56, it tells us that Jesus had sisters. Mary and Joseph had daughters.
And so, Joseph and Mary, they had children after Jesus was born. Why do I bring all of that up? Because they were just normal people like you and I. They were normal people. Just like you and me. They were sinners in need of a Savior. Just like you and I. But they were chosen by God for this special moment.
We don't need to exalt Mary. We don't need to exalt Joseph. They were just normal human beings, like you and I. And God did a divine miracle with the lives of these two people. And He used them to bring the Savior into the world, who would save His people from their sins. Listen, church -- this is a miraculous event that should cause us to be in awe and wonder. Every time we hear this story, church, don't let this become a familiar story to you. Be in awe. Be in wonder of what God did through two ordinary people, so that He could save you and I from our sins. It's a divine miracle. And we should rejoice and praise God for this miracle that He did, so that you and I could be saved.
Father, we thank you for the amazement of Your Word. It's incredible to to see what You did. So that sinners like us could be saved. You used a righteous couple, a couple who believed in You, who had faith in You, and You used them to bring Your Son into the world...He would go to a cross and die for sinners like us. Father, I pray that You would help us to, to realize and recognize this amazing miracle that took place ... that we would be in awe of this every Christmas season. God never let us become familiar with this story. But help us to understand and realize what You did to save us. Father, we thank You for Your son. We thank You for the promise of Your son that was prophesied 700 years before -- and fulfilled through a teenage girl who just sought to be obedient to You. And then through a teenage boy who was righteous and had faith in You and sought to be obedient to You -- and who was obedient to you. God, may we learn from their lives that we would live in obedience to You ... the God who does the impossible... and that we would bring all glory and praise and honor to Your name. Help us to be fixed upon Christ this Christmas season -- to remember that this is what it's all about. It's all about Jesus. May we worship You with our lives, through faith and obedience to You. We pray all of this in Christ's name. Amen.