Study Notes

Matthew 1:18-25

Review

Matthew spent the first seventeen verses of his book chronicling the genealogy of Jesus for the Jews to whom he was writing. In those verses, Matthew proved that Jesus had legal claim to the throne of David.

However, his wording of the genealogy became very strange in verse sixteen, when he wrote,

Matt. 1:16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

What his readers were about to learn is that while Joseph was Jesus' father legally, he was not the father biologically. That's what the remainder of chapter one will explain.

1:18 Betrothed

Mary and Joseph were betrothed. The betrothal is a promise of marriage, sort of like being engaged in modern society. However, the bond of the promise made was much stronger than a simple engagement.

In our Thursday night studies of Deuteronomy we will soon arrive at chapter 22, when the engaged woman (v.23) is called a wife (v.24). During the time of betrothal, although the couple is not joined physically, they are bound by a marriage covenant. To break of the engagement would require a decree of divorce.

Before They Came Together

And so Mary and Joseph are betrothed, but not united in physical contact. At this point in their relationship, she was found to be with child - she was pregnant. But she had not committed the sin of adultery or had relations with any man. She was with child by the Holy Spirit.

With Child By The Holy Spirit

What does it mean "to be with child by the Holy Spirit?" The gospel of Luke explains that the angel Gabriel told Mary:

Luke 1:31 "...you will conceive in your womb and bear a son..."

When Mary inquired as to how this would happen, since she was a virgin,

Luke 1:35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God."

Mary, a virgin who had not been with any man, became pregnant. This pregnancy was a supernatural act by the power of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Found To Be WIth Child

Mary's pregnancy might have begun supernaturally, but it progressed as all others do biologically. It was not too many weeks after this that her pregnancy became known - she was found to be with child.

You can only imagine Joseph's reaction to this. He knew she was pregnant, and he knew the baby wasn't his. The two of them might have had a conversation about it, with Mary insisting that the baby was the Son of God. If they did, Joseph didn't believe her. It is also possible that he was told, "Hey Joe, your fiance is pregnant." Either way, it was a bad situation to find himself in.

1:19 Joseph A Righteous Man

Joseph was a righteous man. And righteousness is God's perfect balance of justice and mercy. Justice said that divorce was the thing to do - break the vow of betrothal. But justice also said that if a man find that the woman he is to marry is found not to be a virgin,

Deut. 22:21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death...

That is justice. But being a righteous man meant Joseph was also merciful. He knew he couldn't marry her, but also wanted to show mercy. And so, rather than a public stoning, Joseph would quietly divorce her and send her away somewhere.

1:20 An Angel In A Dream

Without supernatural intervention, Joseph would not have wed Mary. But an angel appeared to him in a dream and reassured him that Mary was still a virgin, and that the wedding should still take place. He told Joseph that the child was God's.

1:21-23 Call His Name Jesus

Joseph was not excluded from the parenting of God's Son. He was to give the child a certain name. (Jewish boys would get their names when they were eight days old, on the day of their circumcision. See Luke 2:21.) The name that the angel told Joseph to give was "Ee-ay-SOOCE," the Greek form the of the Hebrew name "Yeh-ho-SHOO-ah." In English, we say these words as "Jesus" and "Joshua."

However we pronounce them, they mean "YAH-weh is salvation." This is important to understand, because the angel says something very instructional to Joseph:

Matt. 1:21 "...call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Call His name "YAH-weh is salvation" because it is HE who will save HIS people from their sins." In other words, it is YAH-weh - God Himself - who is in Mary's womb, Who would save His people from their sins. The Bible says,

1Tim. 1:15 ...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners

Call His Name Immanuel

Jesus Christ is shown to be God. And Matthew reminds his readers that this was prophesied long ago in the book of Isaiah, when the Lord told King Ahaz,

Is. 7:14 "...the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Im-maw-noo-ALE."

This miracle child's name would be called Im-maw-noo-ALE, meaning, "God with us." This child born of a virgin is God with us.

To Fulfill

In keeping with Matthew's mission, he will continually point out in his gospel how Jesus was fulfilling Old Testament prophesy.

1:24-25 Kept Her A Virgin Until

Mary and Joseph did get married, and after Jesus was born, they had normal marital relations and built their family. Some claim that Mary was a perpetual virgin, but these verses clearly tell us otherwise.

In addition, we will discover in chapter thirteen that Mary and Joseph later had other children, who would be Jesus' half brothers and sisters.

He Called His Name Jesus

When the baby was eight days old, He was taken to the temple, circumcised, and given the name Jesus. This name would one day be the focus of the world. The Bible tells us that:

- we call on the name of Jesus (1Cor. 1:2),

- we assemble in the name of Jesus (1Cor. 5:4),

- we were justified in the name of Jesus (1Cor. 6:11), and...

Phil. 2:10 ...at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW...

1John 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ..

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