Christmas Eve - 12-24-08

The Church Season of Christmas,
Christmas Eve,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 24, 2008)
One Year Series

“THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST”

Readings: Matthew 1:18-21

Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 1st chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses.

Matthew 1:18-21 (NIV)

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 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. 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” 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 had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.”(v.18) On this evening of blessed expectation these words recorded by St. Matthew give answer to countless questions which mankind has asked for centuries. “How could [One who is]infinite reside in a womb? How could He that contains all, be carried as yet unborn, by a woman?"(Chrysostom) It is unfathomable to our minds, that the Virgin Mary held in her womb what the whole world, the whole universe, could not contain. Yet so many years ago on this very night the unimaginable became reality, the Father sent His Son, the infinite had became incarnate, and now the timeless was born in human time. And in human time Joseph became aware that his betrothed was with child, through “the Holy Spirit.” (v. 18) Of course Mary the mother of God knew this for “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Lk. 1:26-28) Upon learning that she would become pregnant and bear the Son of God, Mary asked, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”(Lk. 1:34-35)

Joseph the one betrothed to Mary found her to be with child, and so he being a righteous man sought to the right thing by divorcing her. Ironically Joseph in trying to do the righteous thing by divorcing Mary quietly, would have done the wrong thing. For here in the womb of his betrothed was the Son of God, conceived by the voice of the Holy Spirit. Probably not exactly the way Joseph had envisioned his children to be conceived, but quite frankly that birth was inconceivable. But Jesus, “was appropriately born contrary to the law of human nature because He was beyond nature.”(p. 13 Ancient Christian Commentary Vol. I-a, Mt. 1:18) Christ was with the Father and the Holy Spirit from infinity and so He was with the Father when all of King David’s Fathers were begotten. Now Joseph the Son of David hears news of the son who had begotten him.

For the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were in the Garden when God breathed onto dirt and Adam became man. And God saw that there was no helper fit for Adam so He created Eve. And though they were created by the voice of God, they did not listen to it, so their sin and doubt caused them to be cast from that Garden of peace. But even as Adam and Eve were ushered out of paradise because of their sin, they were given the promise that Eve’s offspring would crush the ancient serpents head. And so the sons of Adam were Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, David and his son Solomon, and the house of David whose linage of sons lead down to Joseph. A long family lineage that included murders, adulterers, Gentiles, and sinners. But Christ came not to be the son of these Father’s. Rather Christ the son, the child of Bethlehem chose to adopt the people of His family, Christ was the one for whom they had looked to save them from their sin. In the birth of Christ, infinite compassion, mercy, and forgiveness was born just as foretold by prophets and angels who had said, “He will save his people from their sins.”(v. 21) He was the one born to be named Jesus, and He was the one of whom Isaiah spoke who would be called Immanuel, “God with us.”(v.23) The Christ child was born to save His fathers and their people.

Joseph was “a righteous man and did not want to expose [Mary] her to public disgrace.”(v.19) We here tonight perceive ourselves as a righteous family of God, yet the sin in our lives is a public disgrace. Truth be told, truth be confessed we are of the same sinful lineage as the Father’s whom the Christ child came to save. So fear not, the child of Mary, who is the infinite God became man and He came to save you too. And now, as St. Paul proclaimed, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”(Gal. 3:26-27) In that baby born of Mary, “the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, [so] that we might receive the full rights of sons.”(Gal. 4:4-5) That baby who came to us knew the course of history, and of the future. That baby would one day learn to walk, and that baby one day walked to the cross to give you forgiveness for all your sins. This Christ child was born to save His sons and their people.

On this the holiest of holy nights, you may cast your eyes upon the manger, you may look with favor upon that child named Jesus, you may hear His voice spoken to you from the cross. Know that this child came for you. Know that the child is here for you tonight in His true body and true blood. Know that the child of Bethlehem conquers your sin and He gives you innocence which you could never gain by your own actions. For this child born of Mary came to save, “His people from their sin.” This Christ child was born to save all the people of this world.

We are His people. By His death and resurrection we have been made children of the Christ child. This Christ child, Immanuel, “God with us” gives us a new birth in His promise, that for all eternity it will most certainly be....us with God. AMEN.

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