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| Matthew 1:18 - 25 |
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Lesson # Matthew 1:18 - 25 Study Material - Matthew, book introduction and outline You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Matt. 1:18-25 18 Now [de] the birth [gennesis] of Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos] was [en] on this wise [houto] : When as [gar] his [autos] mother [meter] Mary [Maria] was espoused [mnesteuo] to Joseph [Ioseph] , before [prin] [e] they [autos] came together [sunerchomai] , she was found [heurisko] with child [en] [gaster] [echo] of [ek] the Holy [hagios] Ghost [pneuma] . 19 Then [de] Joseph [Ioseph] her [autos] husband [aner] , being [on] a just [dikaios] man, and [kai] not [me] willing [thelo] to make [paradeigmatizo] her [autos] a publick example [paradeigmatizo] , was minded [boulomai] to put [apoluo] her [autos] away [apoluo] privily [lathra] . 20 But [de] while he [autos] thought on [enthumeomai] these things [tauta] , behold [idou] , the angel [aggelos] of the Lord [kurios] appeared [phaino] unto him [autos] in [kata] a dream [onar] , saying [lego] , Joseph [Ioseph] , thou son [huios] of David [Dabid] , fear [phobeo] not [me] to take [paralambano] unto thee [sou] Mary [Maria] thy wife [gune] : for [gar] that which is conceived [gennao] in [en] her [autos] is [esti] of [ek] the Holy [hagios] Ghost [pneuma] . 21 And [de] she shall bring forth [tikto] a son [huios] , and [kai] thou shalt call [kaleo] his [autos] name [onoma] JESUS [Iesous] : for [gar] he [autos] shall save [sozo] his [autos] people [laos] from [apo] their [autos] sins [hamartia] . 22 Now [de] all [holos] this [touto] was done [ginomai] , that [hina] it might be fulfilled [pleroo] which [ho] was spoken [rheo] of [hupo] the Lord [kurios] by [dia] the prophet [prophetes] , saying [lego] , 23 Behold [idou] , a virgin [parthenos] shall be with child [en] [gaster] [echo] , and [kai] shall bring forth [tikto] a son [huios] , and [kai] they shall call [kaleo] his [autos] name [onoma] Emmanuel [Emmanouel] , which [hos] being interpreted [methermeneuo] is [esti] , God [theos] with [meta] us [hemon] . 24 Then [de] Joseph [Ioseph] being raised [diegeiro] from [apo] sleep [hupnos] did [poieo] as [hos] the angel [aggelos] of the Lord [kurios] had bidden [prostasso] him [autos] , and [kai] took [paralambano] unto him [autos] his wife [gune] : 25 And [kai] knew [ginosko] her [autos] not [ou] till [heos] [hou] she had brought forth [tikto] her [autos] firstborn [prototokos] son [huios] : and [kai] he called [kaleo] his [autos] name [onoma] JESUS [Iesous] . Matt. 1:18-25 "18 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, desired to put 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 that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 'And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.' 22 Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, 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 arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, 25 and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus." Isa. 7:14 is here fulfilled. Behold a virgin shall be with child. Joseph had just been married and they discovered that Mary was pregnant. Kind of an embarrassing situation in the normal sense. Imagine how the people around them made comments behind their backs. Ya, right. She is pregnant and she is a virgin? Who are we trying to kid. Yet this was the case. Joseph and Mary were very poor. So poor in fact that when they offered their sacrifice, they offered a pigeon, which the Law permitted only for the very poor. So Christ is entering the world under very humble circumstances. Where is his protection? Joseph is a carpenter by trade and apparently there is not that much work available. Poor people lack the resources for the finer things of life, things that make life at least endurable. He has a poor mans horse, a burro, and they can't even find room in the inn. That comes later on. Wealthier folks can afford the inn and better means of travel, restaurants and such. So the conditions of Christ's entrance are humble to say the least. And God the Holy Spirit protects, not only the Christ child, but his parents as well, and everyone who believes in Christ and advance faithfully in their spiritual lives. Joseph, briefly considered divorcing Mary, but he loved her, and was perhaps in a quandary as to what he could do in the situation. God gave him a gracious answer and explanation as to the situation. Mary had not been unfaithful, but was now to become the most important part of Gods plan in all of history up until this time. She was to participate in the fulfillment of the prophecy which Isaiah wrote of centuries ago. Note also that usually when there is to be a child born, it is through the husbands side that all the references are made. Here is an exception. Earlier we saw the genealogy of Christ from Abraham to Joseph, but Joseph was referred to as the husband of the mother of the child. In Luke 3, we will see the genealogy of Christ from Adam through David and his son Nathan down to Mary. Those parents mentioned were Mary's not Joseph's. We have to draw on a lot of scripture to understand why there is an exception here. To find out why the virgin birth was so important. All mankind died because of one mans sin. That man was Adam. All mankind is forgiven from sin because of one man. That man was Christ, the God/man, the unique person of the universe. Adam was created out of the dust of the earth. His human life was created out of nothing and imputed to his soul. Both Adam and Eve perpetuated human biological life through sex. I assume I do not have to explain that concept. But, there is one very important issue when it comes to the perpetuation of mankind at least biologically. All mankind sinned because of one man, Adam. The genetics which are tainted by the sin nature are passed down through the man, not through the woman. Christ did not come from the seed of man, but from the seed of the woman. He was born without the sin nature, just as Adam was created without the sin nature. Adam failed in his life and acquired the sin nature when he died spiritually due to his sin. Man cannot recover from that defect. When man died spiritually as Adam did, he lost his human spirit. He only recovered his human spirit when he believed in Christ, the savior to come. Jesus lived his life through his 30 years without sinning, and an additional 3 ½ years in his ministry, 42 months. In all of this and despite the enormous pressure placed on him, he did not sin. He went to the Cross a perfect sacrifice, without defect, to comply with the will of the Father and present payment for the sins of the world thus paving the way for salvation for all those who choose to believe in him. Christ bought freedom in our behalf and turned around and gave it to us for free. Eve on the other hand grew bored and apathetic in the garden. She did not listen and was therefore fooled by the serpent. She sinned out of ignorance, but Adam sinned knowing full well what he was doing. He made a bad choice, but lucky for you and me, he did make that choice, otherwise you and I probably would not be here now. Joseph believed what he was told and did not have sex with his wife for the duration of her pregnancy. After the birth of Christ, they did of course have a normal relationship with sex and additional children and so forth. Satan would probably have enjoyed them having sexual activity during her pregnancy, so as to confuse the issue of whether it was really the seed of the man or otherwise. But God won out on this issue. Joseph was honorable and in his mature status as a believer, he refrained from his natural desires. Note that both Joseph and Mary were mature believers, but there were still doctrines they did not understand. Even mature believers have things to learn. You can never think of yourself as having arrived at the maximum point of spiritual growth. As you learn more doctrine, you will realize that there is a vast ocean of knowledge which you do not know. Joseph and Mary named the child Jesus as instructed. They obeyed the commands given them. They did not challenge the instructions. They did not think this a hoax of some kind. Joseph believed his wife, and Gods Word given to him. Neither did they become fat headed because of their selection for this blessing. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
