City Life Starter

I. The Word: Matthew 1:18-25

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. ²⁰ But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.²¹ And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

²² So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

²⁴ Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, ²⁵ and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.  And he called His name Jesus.

Virgin Birth

Kevin DeYoung, in his article “Is the Virgin Birth Essential?” begins with a question, “With God, all things are possible, or not?”  “Does it really matter?” and concludes with 4 important statement regarding virgin birth:  

1. The virgin birth is essential to Christianity because it has been essential to Christianity.

2. the Gospel writers clearly believed that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived.

3. the virgin birth demonstrates that Jesus was truly human and truly divine.

4. the virgin birth is essential because it means Jesus did not inherit the curse of depravity that clings to Adam’s race. (Read full article here)

The fact of the matter is that those who discredit the virgin birth have argued that it either is obsolete or is comparable to common mythological figures from the past.  Two major issues can be drawn from these arguments.  First, when we discredit the virgin birth, we discredit the eyewitness testimonies of the New Testament.  If we question the eyewitness accounts to be false from one testimony, this causes a domino effect that discredits the rest of the New Testament.  Second, the doctrine of Jesus being fully man and fully God is at stake if Jesus was not born of a virgin.  In turn, it will lead to a downward spiral and portray Jesus as a mythical figure.   

Yeshua

Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Yeshua,” derived from “Yehoshua” or Joshua.  During the time of Jesus, they stop using “Yeho” as reverence to the name of God that led to name evolving to the derivative form “Yeshua.”  It is safe to say that “Yeshua”  was used as “Yehoshua” in the time of Jesus.  It is interesting to know that in Hebrew culture a name is heavily weighted and each has meaning. The name Yeshua (or Yehoshua) means “God is salvation.”  The child Mary bore would be from the Holy Spirit, His name was “Yeshua” (God is salvation), and His mission to “save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21)

Promise Kept

Immanuel, or God with us, is promised by God for the future coming of the Messiah (Isa. 7) and it  was fulfilled in Christ (Matt. 1), and Jesus’ promise as “Immanuel” will be with us forever (Matt. 28).  I want to remind you what Jesus has done for you and I, not only for our salvation and eternal life, but a promise of His presence.  Immanuel, God with us, is with us forever.  JY