Pastor Scott Andrews | December 21, 2025
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Christmas 2025: Matthew 1 & 2
I have some important questions for us to consider this Sunday before Christmas. Now, we know why Jesus came – we talked about that last week. He was born at Christmas ultimately to go to the cross on Easter – to seek and save the lost. But here’s a question, how important was it that the birth of Jesus happen exactly as it did? We know the story, it’s a quaint one – but could it have happened another way? Think of it this way – was it necessary Jesus be born how and where He was? Couldn’t He have been born in Jerusalem, the religious capital of the world, or in Rome, the political capital of the world? Wouldn’t He have gotten more press that way?
Couldn’t He have been born to a Caesar or a king instead of a carpenter, conceived by a queen instead of a young, unmarried girl? Couldn’t He have been born in a more modern era, when the news of His birth would have made its way around the world immediately, through modern technology and social media? I have lots of questions – why was He born this way? Did His birth communicate something of the nature and purpose of His coming?
Perhaps you know the answers to some or all of these questions, but they are incredibly important. And since it’s His birthday, is it okay if we talk about Jesus today. Here’s my premise: if Jesus was not born the way He was, to whom and where He was, He could not have been the Christ. There would have been no angels heralding His birth. The Christmas story was not just necessary for the Easter story – it was necessary for the birth of Jesus, or else He wasn’t the Christ.
Here’s what I mean. The gospel of Matthew was written primarily to the Jews, and it contains more fulfilled prophecies regarding the life of Christ, to include His birth, than any other gospel writer – in fact, more than the other three gospels combined. And understand, Jesus had to fulfill every one of those prophecies – or He couldn’t be the Christ. But the fact that He did not only proves His messiahship – His fulfilling the prophecies were beyond the possibility of mere chance. We can celebrate Christmas because Jesus was miraculously – not only by the incarnation – but by the prophecies fulfilled, He was miraculously the Christ. Let’s look at Matthew chapters 1 and 2.
You see, Matthew’s purpose was to prove beyond any shadow of doubt Jesus was the One – He was the Christ for whom they had waited. The One for whom all creation waited since the Garden of Eden. In the chapters, Matthew proves it with an amazing array of fulfilled prophecies in the coming of Jesus, the King. In these two chapters, we see:
- The Genealogy of the King (1:1-17)
- The Birth of the King (1:18-25)
- The Worship of the King (2:1-12)
- The Protection of the King (2:13-23)
Not to worry, I’m not going to try to cover two whole chapters of Matthew. I just want us to look at each of those sections by zeroing in on the fulfillment of prophecy each one provides – demonstrating Jesus had to fulfill these prophecies in order to be the Christ – and that He did – proving He was the promised coming One – that He was Immanuel, God with us.
Let’s start with the genealogy of Jesus since Matthew does. How does this genealogy prove Jesus was who Matthew claimed Him to be? If He was the Messiah, the promised King to come, there were certain qualifications He needed to fulfill.
First, quite simply, He had to be a Jew. God had promised Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant, that through him, that is, through his seed, all the nations of the world would be blessed. Of course, we understand that to mean there would be a descendent of Abraham who would bless, not just the nation of Israel, but all the nations of the world. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Later, Moses said in Deuteronomy 18, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” From early on, the Jews understood the Messiah would come from their own number. And here, we see Matthew traces Jesus’ ancestry back to Abraham himself.
But not only that, we also know from Genesis 49 the Messiah would also be a descendent of Judah – that the scepter and staff would not depart from Him. So, verse 2 tells us Jesus was from the tribe of Judah.
Finally, He also had to be a descendent of David. II Samuel 7:16 says, “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” God had promised One would come who would sit on David’s throne forever. The later prophets clearly understood that to mean the Messiah would be of the Davidic line. Here, we see Matthew clearly demonstrate Jesus was a descendent of David.
All that was necessary for the Messiah – to be a descendent of Abraham, Judah, and David. Jesus was. That was Matthew’s intent in this genealogy – to demonstrate Jesus met the necessary Old Testament criteria – He had the right pedigree.
Which brings us to the second point, the Birth of the King in verses 18ff. Again, Matthew just spent the first 17 verses reciting the genealogy from Abraham to Jesus, showing He was descended through Joseph, a son of David, and as such, had a legal right to the throne of David. But, he gets to the end of the genealogy and gave us a hint there was something different about His birth. You expect him to say, “Joseph was the father of Jesus,” but he doesn’t. Instead, he says, “Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born.” That’s a little odd. So, who was the father of Jesus? We’ll talk about that in a moment, but for now, Matthew turns his attention to the birth of Jesus, and tells us, this is how it came about.
We see Jesus’ mother was a girl named Mary, and she was pledged to be married to Joseph. We know very little about these two. It’s likely Mary was from Nazareth, probably from a poor family. We know from other passages she had a sister named Salome and a relative, probably a cousin, named Elizabeth. And we know she was a godly, humble, young woman. But we know even less about Joseph. Matthew tells us in chapter 13 he was a carpenter. At this time in history, carpenters used saws and chisels, hammers and nails, awls and planes. They made small household furniture, yokes and plows. We know, he too was from Nazareth, a small town in Galilee lying halfway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea.
So, these two, a carpenter, perhaps a young man, and a young virgin, are engaged to be married. No doubt they are experiencing some of the happiest days of their lives – they could hardly wait till their wedding day. Now, I think most of you are aware of the marriage customs of the Jews at this time. There were three different things to keep in mind: the promise to marry, the betrothal, and the wedding.
First understand, there was a difference between the promise to marry and a betrothal. A promise of marriage might mean an engagement without anything definite. There could be a number of engagements broken off. It was the second step, the betrothal that was binding and considered final. There was an actual ceremony to enter into this period. The families of the bride and groom met as well as others to serve as witnesses. The prospective groom would give the young woman either a gold ring, or something of value, or simply a document in which he promised to marry her. Then he would say to her, “See by this ring you are set apart for me, according to the law of Moses and of Israel.” You see, betrothal was a public event. Everyone knew about it.
But…the betrothal should not confused with the wedding. Usually at least a whole year would pass between the betrothal and the actual wedding. During this time, they would live apart – betrothed, committed to one another in a binding ceremony, but not quite married.
Finally, the wedding day came. On that day, the bride and the groom would be spectacularly dressed – as much as finances would allow. Then the groom would go get his bride. There was then a grand wedding procession to their new house, if indeed they were to move from their parents’ home. A wedding feast would follow, sometimes lasting a whole week. And of course, the marriage would then be consummated physically.
Most of you know that Joseph and Mary were in their betrothal period. They had gone through a public ceremony and the binding promises had been made. So binding that to break it off was equivalent to divorce. That’s why verse 19 calls Joseph her husband, and, while they were betrothed, they lived in separate houses, and of course, had no physical relationship – she couldn’t be pregnant, unless she was unfaithful.
So, it was during this time a significant problem occurred – after all, there was no hiding it – Mary was found to be with child – she was expecting. Now, the text tells us she was found with child through the Holy Spirit – but, of course, Joseph didn’t know that. All he knew was the child wasn’t his. What then should he do? Well, the law of Moses and the culture of the day were clear on the question. He should expose her which would, in OT times, result in stoning, and in his day, at least, would have resulted in public disgrace. She would have been shunned – viewed as a harlot.
And this option was open to Joseph – in fact, we could say it was expected. But, we read these words in verse 19, “And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.” There were at this time some rabbinical interpretations of a couple of OT passages which allowed for public divorce without stoning – in fact, stoning for adultery was rare in NT times. Instead, divorce was the rule, and you could do it privately before two witnesses. And so, while Joseph felt it necessary to divorce her, he did not feel it necessary to publicly expose her to ridicule, to effectively cut her off from society. But, as he was considering divorce, he received some different instructions. Look at verses 20-23.
Joseph was facing perhaps the most difficult time of his life. His betrothed, the one chosen to be his wife, was found to be with child. He had to be crushed as he considered the different possibilities open to him. No doubt he thought his life would forever be changed by these events – and yet he had no idea how right he was.
It was at this time an angel appeared to him in a dream, probably Gabriel since he had appeared to Mary earlier in Luke 1 and shared some stunning news with him. He says, yes Joseph, it is true your betrothed, your beloved Mary, is pregnant. But that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Will you let that sink in a minute. I can imagine there have been all kinds of excuses given when young girls are found to be pregnant. I can’t be, it’s not possible, I didn’t know, I’ve just been putting on a little weight. But this one had to take the cake – pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Luke gives a little more detail. He records the appearance of Gabriel to Mary, who said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Somehow, the Holy Spirit made Mary pregnant. I don’t know how, but truly, what happened here was miraculous – it had never happened before, and it’s never happened since. Despite what you’ve heard, virgin women don’t have babies. Despite what you’ve heard about Mary’s own immaculate conception, which is nowhere in the Bible, this was a one-time event – a miraculous event – a virgin giving birth.
Matthew goes on to tell us, and this is important, all this happened to fulfill what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet – “The virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son.” A virgin – one who had never known a man – would give birth. And Mary did through the Holy Spirit. Matthew is continuing to build his case – Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies – and there is no way anyone could have orchestrated these events.
Further, this was to be a special son – the Son of God – He would be called, Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” It amazes me to hear people say the Bible never said Jesus was God. Isaiah said it 700 years before Jesus was born. Matthew here affirms Jesus was God with us. That’s what the incarnation was all about – it was God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, taking on human flesh through the virgin Mary.
And why? The angel reveals the truth to Joseph in verse 21, “you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The name Jesus is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Joshua, which means, the Lord saves. We see here the purpose of the incarnation was the salvation of humankind.
The virgin birth – you’ve perhaps heard it referred to as one of the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith – meaning, it’s not negotiable. Why? Several reasons:
- First, and most obvious, the Bible says so. And if this report isn’t reliable, how can we trust anything we read about Jesus?
- Second, Jesus could not have been the natural son of Joseph, because Joseph was in the line of Jeconiah, and no descendant of Jeconiah would ever sit on David’s throne. And yet, while Jesus is in the royal line of David, the virgin birth takes care of the problem of Jeconiah.
- Third, if Jesus had natural parents, He was a mere man, like you and me. If He was not the Son of God through the Holy Spirit, if He was just a man, how could He possibly bear the sins of the world?
- Jesus did not have a natural earthly father, so some suggest He didn’t inherit the sin nature. Rather, He had a supernatural heavenly Father, so He inherited a divine nature instead – a perfect nature – One that could become the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Listen, if Jesus had a natural father, there would be no hope for you and me. This was an absolutely necessary fulfillment of prophecy.
Which brings us to our third point, the worship of the King, as Matthew keeps sprinkling in Old Testament prophecies which are being fulfilled in these stories. There can be no doubt – Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah, the King of the Jews. You know the story, but let’s take a quick look at the magi in Matthew 2. The first thing we should do is take a close look to see what really happened and what did not. You see, over time, a lot of legend has arisen regarding this visit. Undoubtedly, your nativity sets have three kings present. But, we three kings of orient are, were neither three, nor kings, nor named, nor rode camels, nor present at the manger scene. Let’s take a moment to see what really happened.
The first thing to notice is when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a star appeared. Despite all attempts to identify the star, all we see is it “went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.” The best explanation is it was not a natural star, it was a supernatural star, perhaps even the glory of God. He gave this unusual star, whatever it was, to lead the magi to Jesus. Now, who were the magi and how many were there? It is thought the number comes from the number of gifts given – gold, frankincense and myrrh. But it’s more likely this was a large delegation, which was more in keeping with travel of the day – three kings carrying costly gifts would not have made such a journey alone. And if you stop to think about it, how would their presence in Jerusalem have caused such a stir if there were just three? Most feel this was a big group that arrived, which troubled all Jerusalem.
Second, who were they? Again, not kings. The magi were modern day magicians, interpreters of dreams, astrologers, and scientists. They were the educated class of the day and were likely from Persia (former Babylon). Interesting, historians tell us they were responsible for crowning kings in Persia. They were king-makers and while they didn’t make Jesus King, they did acknowledge He was the King of the Jews. It’s why Matthew records the story.
So, these magi came riding into town. As I said earlier, the magi didn’t visit Jesus when He was in the manger. Coming from the east, the trip would have taken some time. Further, the text tells us they came to the house where Jesus was. And when Herod determined when the star first appeared, he would later give the order to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem under the age of two. So, it was apparently some time after the birth of Christ the magi appeared, up to two years.
When Herod heard this group of foreign travelers had arrived and were asking to see a new baby king, he and all Jerusalem were troubled. So, he called together the chief priests and scribes – those who were supposed to be the religious leaders of the people, and asked them, where is the Christ, the one promised, to be born? They immediately knew the answer, quoting Micah 5:2, which said that He would be born in Bethlehem. So, don’t miss it, Matthew subtly drops in another OT prophecy fulfilled by Jesus at His birth. I’ve been saying all along, there’s no way He could have orchestrated being born in Bethlehem – after all, His parents were from Nazareth. God orchestrated a worldwide census to get these parents to Bethlehem.
Having ascertained when the star first appeared, Herod called the magi, sent them to Bethlehem. He asked them to report back to him, under the pretense of wanting to go and worship the new king. Of course, his desire was to eliminate Him, as we’ll see in our last point. So, that’s what happened, but notice, the worship of the King. Worship here means to exalt, honor or pay homage to another. These king-makers exalted or honored this baby as their king.
Look at verse 11, “And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.” These gifts represented who the Christ was, and what He came to do. I don’t know if the magi understood the significance of the gifts, but we can see it. Gold speaks of His royalty; frankincense (which was commonly used in sacrificial offerings) speaks of His deity; myrrh, commonly used in embalming dead bodies) points to His death.
Bringing us quickly to our last point – the protection of the King, in the second part of chapter 2. You know this very sad story, but there are more fulfilled prophecies. Matthew is proving beyond any doubt Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah – the King of the Jews.
We see evil King Herod, a usurper of the throne of David, sought to destroy the infant Jesus in His paranoid jealousy of the rightful King. But notice, three times God intervened to foil Herod’s plan: first, in a dream with the magi, then in a dream telling Joseph to take the child and flee to Egypt, and third, in a dream when He told Joseph it was safe to return. You see, even in a sin-cursed world, nothing could foil God’s plan to redeem humankind. Further, three times in this store, we see OT prophecies being fulfilled.
The first is found in verse 15. After fleeing to Egypt, we read, “He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my Son.” The prophet was Hosea, and Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1. The picture is this: Israel had been unfaithful to God, forsaking the Lord and following other gods. But God’s love for them remained true. After all, He had called them out of Egypt, referring to the Exodus, to be His people. He would remain faithful, and would call them back to Himself, despite their unfaithfulness. Ultimately, He would call them back through His Son. As God had once brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to be His chosen nation, He now brought out His greater Son to be the Messiah.
The second prophecy fulfilled in this story is found in verses 17 and 18, “Then what had been spoken thought Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.’”
This is a difficult passage. When Jeremiah first gave this prophecy, he was referring to the coming captivity of the Jews, specifically the southern kingdom of Judah taken captive to Babylon. When the children are carried off, Jeremiah says the mothers, descendants of Rachel, would not be comforted from their weeping, because their children are no more – they would be gone – carried away to captivity.
But here, Matthew applies the passage to this event – saying Rachel’s descendants, future mothers, would not be comforted because their children were no more – they had been slaughtered by Herod. Based on the size of Bethlehem at this time, it’s estimated there were perhaps a couple dozen boys put to death. And yet, as awful as it was, God foresaw and prophesied, through Jeremiah, these horrible events. And Herod became the unsuspecting pawn to carry out a prophecy about the rightful King.
The third prophecy is found at the end of verse 22 and 23, “Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” We know from Luke’s gospel Joseph and Mary were originally from Nazareth. For some reason, after the child was born, they chose to remain in Bethlehem. However, after the flight to Egypt, when they were returning, they heard Archelaus was ruling over Judea in his father’s place. Archelaus was already known for his cruelty, so Joseph didn’t want to return to Bethlehem. After being warned by God in yet another dream, he traveled to his hometown of Nazareth, which we now know was all part of God’s plan. Now, to be clear, this one is tough because there is no direct quote from the Old Testament which corresponds to this prophecy.
Couple of ideas are offered. The first is this prophecy was given by prophets other than those we have in the OT which are no longer available to us. Understand, there were more prophets who lived in Israel than just these in the OT. So, it is suggested there was some well-known prophecy which said the Messiah would be a Nazarene. While possible, I prefer the next explanation, which goes like this.
At this time, to be called a Nazarene was a term of derision. It was used to describe someone who was rough and rude. That’s why Nathaniel, who was from Cana a few miles to the south of Nazareth, asked Philip about Jesus, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” And yet, Jesus did come from Nazareth, and became a man who was despised and rejected, forsaken by men, just as many OT prophecies said He would. It became His title, Jesus, the Nazarene. Later, an attorney named Tertullus, spoke derisively of Paul before the Roman governor Felix, saying he was a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Don’t miss it, Jesus, the Nazarene, was a title of reproach, but for us, it is a title we bear gladly – we are of the sect of the Nazarene.
Now, I want you to notice something about these three prophecies – all three of them hint to the opposition Jesus would encounter during His life. From the time He was a baby, they were trying to kill Him. And that rejection of Jesus the Nazarene has gone on throughout history. To be named with the Nazarene is to invite opposition and persecution. But we can expect it – Jesus said it would come. Paul said it would come, His disciples experienced it, the church throughout history has faced it. Let it come, and may we be found faithful in the face of adversity.
Now, all this brings us to our conclusion. And I want to ask you a question: how many of those prophecies do you suppose Joseph and Mary knew they were fulfilling? Do you think they ever knew this side of heaven? The point is, there was purpose in these events. And even though they didn’t know what those purposes were, God was in charge, faithfully fulfilling His prophesied plans in Jesus’ life. There can be no doubting it – the One whose birth we celebrate this week is none other than Immanuel, God with us.