Advent 21: Mary Did You Know?
Matthew 1:18-25
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
Matthew 1:18-25
The Time of Fulfillment
It is finally happening. In our journey through the Bible, looking forward to Jesus, we are finally stepping into the New Testament. These last five days, we will look at the beginning of each Gospel account in preparation for Christmas.
When you read Matthew’s version of the story, you can’t help but be impressed by how much of the Old Testament he quotes referring to the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. We mentioned this before, but Matthew was Jewish and was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, so it makes sense he would remind them of the Old Testament prophecies. The most exciting part of this is that all of those promises that God made to his people are finally coming true. What an amazing privilege we have to see it all playing out in front of us.
The Righteous Fiancé
We first need to remember that engagement worked a little differently in the New Testament time period than it does today. When we see that Joseph and Mary are engaged, we need to realize that this was a legal agreement that required an actual divorce in order to break up. It was a way more serious commitment back in those days.
As the narrative unfolds, we find that Mary is pregnant, and it isn’t Joseph’s baby. If he wanted to, Joseph could have taken her in front of the courts and had her severely punished. However, he is a righteous man. He seems to really love and care for her. Don’t let it go unnoticed that even before God reveals to him the reality of the situation, and Joseph still thinks he has been betrayed by Mary, he plans to show her grace.
The Forgotten Prophecy
While Joseph thought about what to do with Mary, God sent an angel to give him instructions. We know less about this vision than Mary’s angelic visit in Luke 1. Here, all we know is that an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, telling him what’s going on with Mary.
What the angel tells Joseph is unbelievable and humanly impossible. He tells him that there is no earthly father for Mary’s baby. “That which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” What?! This is such an unbelievable message that it requires an angelic messenger to make it believable.
In Luke’s account, we see Mary’s side of it. Let’s be honest. Mary’s surprise would have to be 1,000 times more surprising than Joseph’s… since we’re actually talking about a baby inside her body. But should it really be a surprise? I mean, we already talked about Isaiah 7:14. Didn’t they know that God prophesied that a virgin would have a baby who would be our Savior?
This is where we need to revisit our conversation about prophecies with more than one fulfillment. I really believe that most Jews believed the prophecy in Isaiah 7 was completely fulfilled with Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Think about it. If they really thought it was still supposed to be fulfilled, wouldn’t every unmarried Jewish girl be thinking, “Fingers crossed, it might be me?” I think so. I mean, when Joe found out about Mary’s pregnancy, shouldn’t his first thought have been, “I wonder if Mary is the fulfillment of the prophecy of the seed of the woman from Genesis 3 and the virgin that Isaiah prophesied about in Isaiah 7?” Okay, that might be an exaggeration… but you get the point. Anyway, I think Mary and Joseph are rightfully surprised because even though we know that God clearly communicated in Isaiah about a virgin birth, it totally wasn’t on their radar. It really is a surprise.
I Love It When a Plan Comes Together
It’s all finally starting to fit in place. We said this before, but now it is even clearer. When Isaiah prophesied about the virgin having a baby, it was always intended to be about Mary having Jesus. Yes, it was also about what happened in Isaiah 8, but that doesn’t take anything away from it really being about Jesus. This is so clear because now we understand the full meaning of the baby being called “Immanuel.” Sure, in Isaiah 8, the baby that was born showed God’s people that he was with them, but when Jesus is born, he actually is God. He truly is God with us.
In addition to being called Immanuel, God tells Joseph he is supposed to name the baby Jesus. But this needs a little explanation since God tells him, “for he will save his people from their sins.”
How does that fit in? Well, the name Jesus comes from the Hebrew name Joshua, which means “Yahweh is salvation.” If Joseph had any doubt his son would be the anointed rescuer, it should be gone now. God tells him that the little baby he was chosen to raise is both the Messiah and God incarnate.
Reflection
As we look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus, we need to remember this is not something easy to believe. We need to intentionally make sure we don’t take all of this for granted. We’ve seen nativity sets our whole lives, but let’s pause today to remember what a huge deal this is. God worked a miracle when Mary became pregnant. It took an angelic vision to convince her and Joseph what was going on, so don’t be surprised if others don’t believe it either.
We need to follow Joseph’s example and respond with faith. We can see from this text that Joseph believed because he “named the baby Jesus.” This was Joseph’s way of saying that this child was the Savior of the world. He was born as a Savior 2,000 years ago, and today remains the only way for people to be saved from their sins.
Let’s talk about it:
- This is the easiest time of the year to talk about Jesus. As you talk to people every day about Christmas, are you just talking about family, food, and presents or are you reminding them of who Jesus really is?
- When life is hard, and we see darkness all around us, how can you find any peace?
- What does it mean for Jesus to really be Immanuel… that is “God with us?”
Free Advent Bible Study
Let’s stand back and marvel at God’s grace and sovereignty, and focus on God this Christmas. May we join with the angels singing, “Glory to God in the highest” (Luke 2:14).
Join this 25-day Advent journey as we worship Christ and celebrate his coming.
Zach Mabry is the worship pastor and one of the main teachers at Snowbird. He also directs our year-round Snowbird Institute program. He has a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as an adjunct professor for Liberty University. Zach is a teaching pastor at Red Oak Church, a local church in the Andrews area.