Matthew 1:18-25 (Advent 4A)

Matthew 1:18-25 (Advent 4A)                            
St. John, Galveston 12/21/25
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

    The message this morning is based on the Gospel reading from Matthew 1. Reference is also made to the Old Testament reading from Isaiah 7, because it is integral to Matthew’s telling of the story of Jesus’ birth. “All of this took place (writes Matthew) to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet (that would be Isaiah): Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”

    It’s important for us to note that Matthew’s Gospel is unique in many respects. First of all, it is the most decidedly Jewish of the four Gospels. In other words, Matthew’s audience, the people he was writing to, were Jewish, not only by birth, but by custom, by religious practice and by devotion.  Consequently, Matthew quotes the Old Testament more than any other writer in the New Testament. Not only does he quote the Old Testament often, he doesn’t elaborate on any of the passages that he quotes. The implication being that, his audience, the Jewish people, would understand the quotation and it’s application in the immediate context.  

    Something else that is unique about Matthew’s Gospel is the way he handles the genealogy of Jesus. Luke, of course, also gives us a genealogy of Jesus. Unlike Luke, however, whose genealogy begins with Jesus and goes back to Adam, Matthew’s genealogy begins with Abraham and ends with Jesus. That may seem like an insignificant point, but it isn’t. The point being, if Matthew could not immediately associate Jesus with Abraham and with King David, his audience, the Jewish people, would tune him out, for the Christ, God’s Messiah, would be of the house and of the lineage of David.

    Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus could almost be called “the Other Christmas Story” because it’s not the one we’re most familiar with, which comes to us from Luke’s Gospel. Luke’s telling of the Christmas story is poetic and because of our familiarity with it, it’s even a bit nostalgic. It has the power to take us back to Christmas’ past as we reflect on Jesus’ birth. “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. Matthew, of course, tells the same story, that is, he narrates the same birth, but he tells it in a different way.  Gone are the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. Gone is the political situation that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in the first place. And yes, gone are the cattle lowing and the lowly manger in which the Son of God first laid His head.  

    For Matthew, the Immanuel prophecy is central to the telling of the story. Some 700 years before Jesus was born, King Ahaz reigned over Judah.  Ahaz was not one of Judah’s good kings. In fact, he made a faithless alliance with the Assyrians because he was fearful of their coming into Judah by force.  As a consequence, the Israelites suffered a century of servitude. Before that servitude began, however, God made a promise to Judah, the promise that we have before us this morning in the OT reading from Isaiah 7. “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.”

    Matthew quoting this same passage serves as a powerful reminder, both to Judah, and to all of us, that despite our tendency to stray from God’s will and His ways and despite our sometimes fearful and faithless actions in life, He remains the God of grace who is always WITH us. He is WITH US because Jesus is God Incarnate, that is, He is God in the flesh, who comes to us to bring us grace and forgiveness into our lives in so many and varied ways.  

    Emmanuel, the Word made flesh, means God with us. He is WITH US  in many ways, but in the reading and in the hearing of God’s Word we are promised His presence. I know this point may seem self evident, but it warrants our reflection for a few moments. There are, in fact, at least a couple of different ways to think of God’s Word. Some see the Bible, for instance, as a book of information. It’s a book of history with various facts about the things that happened in the life and ministry of Jesus.

    While the Bible is a book of facts, being true in all of it’s parts, it is so much more than a book of facts. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews described God’s Word this way, he said, “(It is) living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight.”  

    St. Paul tells us that the Gospel, the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, is “the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.” It was by His Word that God created everything that exists. Indeed, He said, “let there be light and there was light.”  When God’s Word is read or heard it literally accomplishes the things of which it speaks. Why, it even has the power to make the dead alive and to give faith and hope where there is none.  As the Scriptures say, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.”  

    So, where God’s Word is, He is there calling, enlightening, sanctifying and keeping us in the one true faith. Jesus comes to you through His word in a very personal way even today. The promise given through Isaiah, and restated by Matthew, was that Jesus would be called Immanuel, which means God WITH US. Thus Matthew closes out his Gospel with a command and a promise of Jesus. “Teach them all things I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always to very end of the age.”

    Immanuel is here with you this morning giving you His very body and blood too for the forgiveness of your sins. While parts of Christendom continue to argue over what Jesus meant when He said, “take, eat, this is My body, and take, drink, this is My blood,” and while many people see the division over what Jesus meant as trivial and needless haggling over fine theological points, for us, this presence of Jesus in bread and wine, is central to the Gospel itself.

    By giving you His body and blood, Jesus literally brings His birth, His life, His cross, His Resurrection and Ascension to you and He gives them to you as the merits and the promises of your faith. He incorporates you into Him and He into you. In a very real sense, you become one with the Almighty.  

“With Thee, Lord, I am now united;
I live in Thee and Thou in me.
No sorrow fills my soul, delighted.
It finds its only joy in Thee.
Lord, may Thy body and Thy blood
Be for my soul the highest good!”      

    Finally, Immanuel is with us in the acts of kindness and in the words of Law and Gospel that we speak to one another as we live out our lives in Christ. Luther was found of calling this aspect of God being with us “the mutual consolation of the brethren.” So, look around you this morning, my friends.  You are a part of the Body of Christ, the Church. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus is here for you and you are here for one another and for a world of others who need your tender care and service.  Isn’t amazing that God chooses to make Himself known and to be present in a world of sin and death, through people such as us?  

    What better time to make known the love of God for the world than this most holy season of Christmas? “(The virgin) 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 eImmanuel (which means, GOD WITH US.)”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +