Matthew 1:18–25
God became human for Us
Jesus was God. He was also completely human. The story of his birth showed how this could be true.
God promised to send the Christ (
Matthew did not tell us all the facts about Jesus’ birth. But we can be sure about two great facts. He told us enough for this. First, a virgin gave birth to Jesus. (Note: A virgin is someone who has never had sex.) Second, Jesus’ strange birth was special. It had special meaning.
Joseph and Mary had agreed to marry. This agreement would be for a year. Then there would be the marriage. (Read more about this at the end of this section.) It was during this year that Joseph found out about something. Mary was going to have a baby. Of course, he thought that she must have had sex with another man.
God’s law demanded action. Joseph wanted to give honour to God in his life. But, he did not act before he had thought about it. Then, he had a very clear dream. He knew that it was from God. An
Joseph acted very bravely. He obeyed God’s message. He married Mary. Some people probably laughed at him. They would think that there had been sex before marriage. Some friends would know that he would not do this. They might think that he was not obeying God’s laws. Other people might accuse Mary. They might say that she was a wicked woman. They might say that she would have sex with any man for money! It is not always easy to obey God!
Matthew explained why this strange event happened. God became a man. He did this to ‘save his people from their
So, in these verses, Matthew suggested a truth. He would explain more about it later.
Questions
- God called Joseph to do a very brave thing. Is there any part of your life where you are like Joseph? What could you learn from this passage to encourage you?
- Christians believe that Mary was a
virgin . They teach that it is true. Why do you think that this is important? (TheNT only mentions the special birth clearly twice.) - We live in a world where people often suffer. They are often sad. What message does this passage give your church to declare? What does it suggest that your church could do about it?
More explanation
Customs of Jewish marriage
There were three periods to a
The second period was the ‘betrothal’. This was an official agreement. It was between the two young people. It meant that the engagement should continue. Up to this time, it could end. After the betrothal, they could not end the agreement. It lasted one year. During this time, people spoke to them as if they were man and wife. But they did not live together. Divorce was the only way to end it. Joseph and Mary were in this period when we first hear about them. The marriage was at the end of the year of betrothal.
Joseph was a good man. This meant that he obeyed God’s
Important truths
Birth by a virgin
Matthew told how a virgin gave birth. People often doubt his account. Even some important teachers of the
There is another explanation. Isaiah may be referring to an event that would happen soon. But he could have been pointing to a much greater event too. Matthew would be writing about the greater event. Whatever Isaiah meant, we can be sure about one thing. It is this. We know that the Bible is true.