20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[i] for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[j]
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. I can imagine this scene was very hard for Joseph and Mary. Imagine Mary trying to explain to Joseph and Joseph trying to believe this was true. It would be pretty devastating to both people. You know I don't imagine this is the life they had planned. I am grateful that they were obedient. I know there must have been times they were disappointing. Disappointing that they were suffering hardships they didn't ask for. I need to remember this next time I feel life hasn't exactly been fair to me. God turned their ashes into beauty. And he can do the same for me.
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John Burnett: 18 Now the birth of Jesus [a]Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been [b]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, planned [c]to send her away secretly. I
found it kind of funny that Joseph didn’t want to disgrace her because
the God of the Universe had blessed her above all women. 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 [d]the Child who has been [e]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for [f]He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this [g]took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name [h]Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph [i]awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. Mary
and Joseph were people just like you and I and God used them to bring
the Savior into this world. God calls us to bring the gospel to the
world. We just celebrated the birth of Christ, and we will celebrate
the resurrection of Christ at Easter, but I look forward to celebrating
the return of Christ. These other two pale in comparison to the joy we
will feel when he returns.
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Allen Michaels: 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged
to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Why is the virgin birth important to the Christian faith? Jesus
the Christ, God’s Son, had to be free from the sinful nature passed on
to all other human beings by Adam. Because Jesus was born of a woman, he
was a human being; but as the Son of God, Jesus was born without any
trace of human sin. Jesus is both human and
full divine.
Because Jesus lived as a man, we know that he fully understands our experiences and struggles (Hebrews 4:15,
16). Because he is God, he has the power and authority to deliver us
from
sin (Colossians 2:13-15). We can tell Jesus all our thoughts, feelings,
and needs. He has been where we are now, and he has the ability to
help.
19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose
her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. Joseph
thought he had only two options: divorce Mary quietly, or have her
stoned to death. But God had a third
option – marry her (1:20-23). God often shows us that there are more
options available than WE think. We just need to stop trying to do
everything ourselves and just listen to God. Only God’s guidance helped
Joseph make the best decision. When our decisions
affect the lives of others, which in some small way are most of the
time, we must always seek God’s wisdom.
20 But
after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream
and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as
your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
The
conception and birth of Jesus the Christ are supernatural events beyond
human logic or reasoning. Because of this, God sent angels to help
certain people understand the
significance of what was happening.
Here’s
some info I found on angels. Angels are spiritual beings created by God
who help carry out his work on earth. They bring God’s messages to
people (Luke 1:26), protect God’s
people (Daniel 6:22), offer encouragement (Genesis 16:7ff), give guidance (Exodus 14:19),
carry out punishment (2 Samuel 24:16), patrol the earth (Zechariah
1:9-14), and fight the forces of evil (2 Kings 6:16-18; Revelation
12:7). Eventually the main role
of angels will be to offer continuous praise to God (Revelation 7:11, 12).
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus
means “the Lord saves.” Jesus came to earth to save us because we can’t
save ourselves from sin and its consequences. No matter how good we
are, we can’t eliminate the
sinful nature present in all of us. Only Jesus can do that. Jesus
didn’t come to help people save themselves; he came to be their Savior
from the power and penalty of sin. Thank Christ for his death on the
cross for your sin, and then ask him to take control
of your life. Your new life begins at that moment.
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
The
angel declared to Joseph that Mary’s child was conceived by the Holy
Spirit and would be a so. This reveals an important truth about Jesus –
he is both God and human. The
infinite unlimited God took on the limitations of humanity so he could
live and die for the salvation of all who would believe in him.
Jesus was to be called Immanuel (“God with us”), as predicted by Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 7:14). Jesus was God in the flesh, thus God was literally among us, “with us.” Through the
Holy Spirit, Christ is present today in the life of every believer.
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took
Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Joseph
went ahead with what he knew was right. Sometimes we avoid doing what
is right because of what others might think. Like Joseph, we must choose
to obey God rather than
seek the approval of others.
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