Focal Passage: Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18-25
It really is about the Name: When I read Isaiah 7:14 I am always intrigued by the way different people approach this amazing promise given by the prophet Isaiah.
Many skeptics see this as a desperate attempt of the prophet to bring hope to the people of God when they were facing annihilation by the Assyrian armies.
When you consider that Isaiah’s son’s name had the meaning of “running toward destruction,” then one must really stand and take notice of a child being born that declares through His very name, “God is with us.” Can the birth and naming of a child turn around or defeat a pursuing army?
We have countless accounts of God delivering His people from their enemies when their backs were up against a wall (or a sea). Zechariah 4:6 says, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.”
God was sending a strong message through His prophet to Zerubbabel that the power and presence of God’s spirit is everything. The message of Isaiah to God’s people was that the presence of God makes all the difference and a child named Immanuel will be a game changer.
For anyone who asks if a name is really all that important, I would point them to the angel’s words to Zechariah in verse 10, “For who scorns the day of small things?” For God’s people, the simple name Immanuel promises that God is with us.
The Lord saves: We are reminded in Matthew 1:18-21 of the sovereign grace and goodness of God toward humanity. From the beginning of all things God has been doing the work of salvation for all who call on His name.
This passage takes us to that moment in history when God came to a man named Joseph and revealed to him that his young wife who was pregnant was carrying the Son of God. Joseph is told that there has been a supernatural conception and that God has placed this child within her through the Holy Spirit.
This incredible act of God gave us Jesus the sinless lamb of God that would redeem us from our sins. People have asked me if it is critical to take the Scripture as historical.
The overly simplistic response is that if the first Adam (in Genesis) wasn’t real, then we have a serious problem with Jesus (the second Adam), who saves us from our sin. Romans 5:15 states, “For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift overflowed to the many by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.” This amazing narrative was planned by God from the beginning. Jesus, the Lord saves.
An obedient righteous man: In Matthew 1:22-25 we get to experience a normal everyday man respond to God in obedience. In verses 19-21 we see that Joseph wanted to divorce Mary quietly so as not to disgrace her. Joseph had to trust the message that was delivered to him and then actively respond in obedience.
We see a man that loves God, loves his wife. He did what the angel told him and married her and was not intimate with her so that the sinless Jesus could save the people from their sins. B&R — Johnson is senior pastor of East Maryville Baptist Church, Maryville.


