Christ is Immanuel

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0:00 So last week we talked about, we talked a little bit about Luke's account of the gospel and we did talk about Mary a little bit. It's fun to imagine, you know, that Mary lives on past the crucifixion and ascension and that at the cross Jesus gives her one of the disciples and said, Count this dude as your son and it's fun to imagine that Mary gets to grow old somewhere. You know, the story of the actual apostles kind of follows on them than the first century

0:34 church and it doesn't really follow Mary but it's encouraging to know that Luke who had followed Paul around through the actual apostles and been on missionary journeys when he gets ready to write the life of Jesus goes back and finds Mary. Most scholars are pretty sure that Mary is the primary source for Luke in the beginning stories and I do imagine that Mary had some kind of supernatural courage, hope and persistence in her story. And last week we talked about this concept that Gabriel gives her that says Jesus will

1:11 sit on the throne of David and this promise that God makes to the people of God Israel through the person David that says I will establish a reign that doesn't end and rules rightly with peace and justice and mercy and that's and so that then when Peter in acts after the ascension and the dispensation of the Holy Spirit when Peter stands up and says

1:43 I can assure you that the patriarch David died and was buried but Jesus who you killed has been raised to life is in evidence of the fact that Jesus sits on this throne of David that Jesus now has inaugurated a reign that does not end. Peter's invitation then at acts and the invitation for us over and over again and a reminder of this that we can now live under the reign of Jesus first. This is why Jesus in Christmas songs is called the King of all kings, the authority over

2:14 all authorities, the Prince of Peace right because he has inaugurated a reign that because he death could not hold him and he wrote in the grave his reign goes on forever and we can live under it now and also look forward to its fulfillment in the days to come. And today I wanted to look a little bit at Matthews the beginning of Matthews account of Christmas and so you know Matthew is the first book in the New Testament this far through

2:50 a paper copy if you're looking at it. I'm in Matthew chapter one verse twenty one. So Matthew first talks about how it took place and Mary's betrothed to Joseph and Mary and then she was found to be with child and Joseph being a dust man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolve the divorce or quietly verse twenty but as he considered these things just a reminder that that when Joseph and Mary are betrothed or engaged everything

3:25 is set at that point. So it's hard to go back and engagement now for us might be you know any length of time and it could be broken off without I mean there would be trauma but it wouldn't be a surprise. A betrothal for Joseph and Mary there's a contract that's been made and Joseph is all that's left is for Joseph to prepare a place for Mary so that when she leads her parent house she has place to stay with Joseph. So it's just like there's a formality left and in that period before the wedding feast

3:59 and the consummation of the marriage Mary is with child and so Joseph is going to it would be very scandalous to divorce her she'd probably not be able to remarry and she not have a husband providing for her in the culture it would be a she'd be in a real bad spot maybe Joseph is hoping by divorcing her quietly she can go to another town and put something together but it's not looking good for Mary. Verse twenty but as he considered these things behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that

4:33 which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit she will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sin and then Matthew says all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet verse twenty two twenty three behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means God with us then when Joseph woke from sleep he did as the angel Lord commanded

5:06 him to his wife but he knew or not so he'd burst to his son and he called his name Jesus it was you know we talked about this a little bit last week that it's conspicuous when you call when you have a firstborn and you don't name him after the dad and so that's why the angel is careful to make sure to tell him what to name them because the name you know God saves Jesus meaning God saves and then Matthew gives us this little note here that comes from Isaiah chapter seven that this birth and this name are to fulfill the cross

5:44 the words spoken by the prophet behold the virgins shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel and so I just want to look a little bit at this idea of Emmanuel because you know we said two weeks ago that we're in this position where we need a Savior and then we said last week that Jesus is the son of David who comes and now Matthew says that or that Jesus is the one who sits on the throne of David and now Matthew says that he's Emmanuel that the one that we need and so I just want to look at where Emmanuel

6:19 comes from Isaiah chapter seven verse 14 is where it comes oh yeah okay Isaiah is speaking to the king of the southern kingdom at this point the people of Israel have split into two kingdoms the north and the south the southern kingdom Judah has Jerusalem and so also the temple it's smaller it's like a tribe and a half maybe two tribes and then the rest of them the 10 tribes

6:51 are in the northern kingdom of Israel Israel has a little bit more wealth but Israel is aligned with an enemy nation and wanting to come conquer Judah and take it over take everything out of temple take their best people root loot all their money the king of Israel is aligned with the largest empire in the region saying we're going to come down and conquer Judah A has is trying to figure out what to do and A has is known for not being a very good guy in the

7:23 scope of Israel meaning he doesn't like to listen to God and God at the time at this time in the history of our people speaks to people through select individuals that we call prophets so God whispers or somehow communicates to Isaiah what he should go say to the king A has and so he does yeah verse 10 again the Lord spoke to A has asked a sign of the Lord your god let it be as deep as shayl or as high as heaven God has been telling A has A has man roll your dice of meat

8:00 I know Israel and the empire are coming to get you but look you are my people I am your god when little Judah defeats Israel and the enemy empire the name of the god of Israel will grow in renown more people will be drawn back to the god of Israel as the god of Israel defeats the enemies of his people A has be cool man and let me be your god and and A has is like dude I do not

8:34 trust you like I don't know you don't have enough money you don't have enough chariots like you don't have enough women whatever it is A has does not want to trust the god of Israel he wants to align with a southern empire get his own alliance and then and then two empires duke it out over the wealth and money and material and property that youth to belong to people of god it is essentially been given away to these former empires A has does not trust god to deliver him

9:07 wants his own system align with his own god goes as far as to say to A has hey man I know it's hard trust me you can't see me like and I you know for me weaknesses strength foolishness is wisdom like I took a group of slaves that made him into a walled and mighty nation like I get it I'm hard I'm like counterintuitive A has so I'll give you a sign like and you know what you name this

9:38 sign so that you can trust me that's what's going on here in Isaiah chapter seven verse 10 through a 10 and 11 but A has said oh man I'm not going to ask for a sign he says I don't want to put the Lord to the test and then he said here then oh house of David is it too little for you to for you to weary men that you would weary my god also therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign

10:11 behold the virgin shall conceive and bear son and shall call his name a man well and goes on at this critical point for A has and Israel god goes to a king who's known to be evil and says let me demonstrate my care and concern for you against the mounting problems of the world let me assure you that you are not alone

10:43 amidst the insurmountable enemies or problems to which you cannot find a solution A has rest in the reality that I am your god and your god has control over the things of the world I know it's hard let me give you a sign A has to do whatever you sign you give me I'm not going to trust you I don't even want to ask for a sign because I don't want to be beholden to you and so then God through Isaiah writes makes a note it says just so you know I'll give you a sign

11:18 this will be the sign that I'm coming through and we're going to call the sign god down with us God amongst us God in with us do you know this is like one of the driving plots of the whole story of scripture it's not the only one like there are a couple of moving parts is any good story has a couple different plot arcs right this but one of the plot arcs of the story is scripture is

11:52 humanity was created meaning humanity lived best its intended use was in close proximity to god and something happens in that first space the garden of Eden where the relationship between god and humanity was broken and ripped apart and separated so god is apart from them and that's an inciting action that drives the story of the plot how will the god make his way back

12:26 to the people and you can follow that that arc through the whole story of scripture and you can see what happens how bad it gets when they're separated at the time of the flood and then it piques again at babble and so god redirects his strategy and says I'll communicate to one person directly I can risk moving down a little bit closer just to one group of people and they'll be a nation and then that falls apart so then he sets up a sacrificial system and says I'll take

12:58 my physical presence put it right down in the group of people and then they'll serve the world and bring everybody to me and then they start hoarding the presence of god and excluding everyone else from him and so he changes again so god says to a has there's coming a day where I'm going to figure out how to get all the way down in and amongst the people we'll call that strategy the manual god with us and god says through isiah to a has written

13:31 in the book preserved for generations lost in closets and temples written by scribes printed presses and in some digital lights so that you would hear the testimony from before that said god promised he knew he had a strategy and a plan that he would find a way to communicate to his people that they could trust him amongst the uh crafting wave of problems in their life

14:05 against the insurmountable odds and the invisible enemies against the chariots and horses against the weapons the people of god could trust him and so when when Matthew is recording the story of christmas he just puts that note in there Matthew you know Matthew was one of the 12 when

14:39 the jesus 12 closest friends probably spent anywhere from a year to three years following jesus around gallily samaria at israel learned a lot but but before he came to jesus he went all the way through jewish school so he had memorized large sections of the bible so when he heard the story of the angel coming to joseph and heard the name he was supposed to be given he pulls that promise from god all the way back to my zia out of his memory and puts it back in the book so

15:10 that you and i don't miss it that jesus was not a fluke but according to plan it makes me wonder like what might a has have done differently if he had been willing or had the capacity to trust that god would provide i think that's why i was talking to the kids about

15:43 maria the way i was talking about it because i think you would have made choices more like maria can a has would have made choices more like maria if he had trusted god like a has it would have required a has to trust god to say israel and these empires are mounting an army against us we're little two tribe juda but we're little two tribe juda with the god of creation and life the god of abraham isak and jake up so in them in the face

16:18 of chariot and warfare wheel trust in our god in the face of insurmountable it would have required sincere courage trust persistence patience you wouldn't have been able to dictate the strategy or have control of how things would happen he'd have to be patient in his persistent hopeful courageous posture i think a has israel i think israel and the empire i also think we can learn

16:53 a lot from him i mean i'm sure you do not have armies coming against you but maybe there are challenges in life christmas is this promise that god has solved uh the riddle of scripture that he has figured out how to be with you

17:26 christmas is the deep like assurance that whatever the odds or challenges or problems however unlikely confusing however counterintuitive the place you find yourself in life is you are not there alone

17:59 whatever corner you're backed in whatever questions you have whatever difficulties you encounter whatever enemies you have met christmas is the assurance that you are not alone Paul man got it you know Paul's like he says he's the um he brew of Hebrews

18:35 i love that that that that he and i think what he means by that is like he ran down first century israel's strategy for holiness all the way to the senate and he kept all the rules he was like zealous for the temple and the tithing and the stabbas and the holiness laws and the purity laws he knew it all and did it all and so i think that's why when Paul encounters jesus on the damascus road he then spends a period of years unwinding what it means

19:09 that jesus came to him integrating that with his thinking and then like almost erupts into this fury of announcing the gospel all throughout asa minor because it's so transformative for someone who has been steeped in work righteousness for so long to realize that god has solved all the problems that all the hard questions are answered that when you live under the reign of jesus that everything is set to right for you and will be and so i love the way he gets to in roman's

19:47 chapter eight verse 31 he has a couple of places like in the Galatians we just refer to the spirit it's just like he's going off in here in roman's chapter a verse 31 he does it again it's like what shall we say then to these things if god is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him

20:19 graciously give us all things who shall bring any charge against god's elect it is god who justifies who is that who condemns you christ jesus is the one who died more than that who's raised from the dead who's at the right hand of god who indeed is interceding for us so then who shall separate us from the love of christ so trial tribulation distress persecution

20:52 or famine or nakedness or danger or sword no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for i am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor death nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of god in christ jesus our lord not like paul saying this is it y'all

21:26 we ride this out he's saying like god has figured it out he has resolved the plot line of the story of scripture and restored his presence to you in this space on this side of the grave you'll experience it in fits and starts but paul is consistently encouraging us kind of backening us in to the deeper reality than the immediate experience of our lives then the

21:57 then the visibility of the chariots not in against us from the problems of the world to say you have been united with god through the person of christ so that nothing can separate you you will not be alone neither height nor depth neither life nor death can separate you from the love of god in christ jesus christmas inaugurates something wholly different that humanity had been waiting for forever and once christmas came humanity will never be the same

22:30 that the great story of our lives of our existence turns on the experience of christmas and launches into forever with the love of god so the question then this christmas season's advent season for you might be similar to the one we have for a has how might your choices in life turn on the reality that god is with you

23:06 how might you handle the questions and challenges the fears the enemies the difficult places of your life what does courage look like for you what does trust and persistent hope look like for you where are you like tempted to make a deal where you can control outcomes and strategies rather than

23:43 giving them up to the ones who seize all strategies to their end the ones who accomplish this all this plan and set his plans for your favor that's my prayer this week is like how do i live with courage and hope and trust and patience or how do i give up my schemes and strategies to you and trust in your provision for my life

24:13 these here is this like long awaited fulfillment of the promise that says god is with you we can trust him let me pray that we would be those people today hey lord thank you and thank you it's such a small little word for the cosmic accomplishment of the incarnation

24:43 and christmas but we do we we thank you in every way that we know how lord and we ask that you open us up to deeper faithfulness courage trust persevere in patience directed at you teach us how to how to live with the reality that you are with us when we come up against all challenges in life in jesus and we pray