December 11, 2025
Key Verse 21: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
The world is constantly changing. The economic situation is deteriorating, trade wars are raging between nations, and military conflicts seem endless. We are bombarded with bad news incessantly. This situation makes us pessimistic. But today I want to share some good news that will give us joy and confidence.
1. Joseph's God-Pleasing Decision (18–19)
After Matthew presented the genealogy of Jesus, he now recounts Jesus' birth:
"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph but not yet married, she conceived by the Holy Spirit, although he had not slept with her." (18)
At that time, marriage consisted of two steps: betrothal and marriage. The betrothal was considered a marriage contract between a man and a woman and lasted about a year. The wedding was celebrated by the groom bringing the bride home, and the wedding feast took place.
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but they were not yet married. The two lived in Nazareth, a small, insignificant town in Galilee. Mary had not had any sexual relations up to that point and had remained chaste. Nevertheless, she became pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Her betrothed, Joseph, was a carpenter in Nazareth. Joseph is described as a devout man.
Why does the author of this book describe Joseph as a devout man? Some might imagine a pious man as someone who acts and thinks according to the law.
How does Joseph react when he learns that his fiancée is pregnant?
He considers what the reason for her pregnancy could be. He hasn't yet married her, nor has he brought her home. It's clear that she isn't pregnant by him. He's also quite certain that she isn't pregnant by another man, because he knows she is a devout young woman.
What should he do with her now? He cannot marry her in good conscience. Nor does he want to expose her as an adulteress. He decides to secretly divorce her so that Mary can have a second chance.
He probably prays to God and asks for a solution. And he intends to secretly break off the engagement. In doing so, he wants to place Mary in God's care.
This story teaches us how to look at and solve a problem of unclear origin. We shouldn't jump to conclusions about the cause but rather ask God for help and approach the problem mercifully and constructively. God will surely help us.
Joseph's behavior shows us that he is a pious and merciful man. Outwardly, he is a poor, uneducated, and simple carpenter. Yet he understands God's heart and lives in God's presence. He is not like the legal experts who are quick to judge and condemn others. He lives according to God's will. Therefore, he is God-fearing and merciful. Although he does not know the exact reason for Mary's pregnancy, he does not condemn her as an adulteress and doesn’t want to shame her. He wants to secretly break off his betrothal so that she can have a second chance. This will be the best decision for Mary, for he is pious and merciful. God chose this Joseph to be the biological father of Christ.
2. The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus (20–25)
Our God lives! He does not abandon Joseph. He sends him his angel. The angel appears to him in a dream and says, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (20–21)
Although everyone considers Joseph to be just a poor, uneducated carpenter, the angel calls out to him, “Joseph, son of David!”
This shows us that God does not value a person’s wealth, social status, or education, but rather our relationship with God and Christ.
God has promised David that he would send one of his descendants as the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:11–14; 1 Chronicles 17:11–13). Everyone forgot God’s promise. But God did not. He keeps his promise and says to Joseph, “Joseph, son of David!”
And we who believe in Jesus Christ are spiritual descendants of David. Even if we were poor and insignificant, we should value our relationship with Christ more highly than wealth or human recognition, for God greatly values us and calls us his children. When we have this perspective, God blesses us as his children and uses us preciously in his work of redemption.
We should not judge people superficially according to worldly standards. We should see them through God's eyes and highly value this recognition from God. If we are God's children, we are divine princesses and princes. If we embrace this truth wholeheartedly, we will experience the wonderful kingdom of God.
We should not judge people superficially according to worldly standards. We should see them through God's eyes and highly value this recognition from God.
Verse 20 reads, “While Joseph was still considering 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, for what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,’ which means ‘God with us.’” (20–23)
The angel explains to Joseph that Mary has conceived through the Holy Spirit.
Many people hesitate to believe in Mary’s conception through the Holy Spirit because the virgin birth of Christ contradicts their scientific understanding.
But the first thing we can say because of Mary's pregnancy is that God is the almighty Creator.
The angel of God speaks to Joseph: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, for what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”
From a human perspective, it is impossible for a virgin to become pregnant without the involvement of a man. But for God, nothing is impossible. He created heaven and earth out of nothing. When we remember God's omnipotence, we know that nothing is impossible for Him. God says that Mary became pregnant through the Holy Spirit. When God works through His Spirit, everything is possible. Because Joseph thinks of almighty God, all his doubts vanished like smoke in the wind. Our everyday worries also disappear when we think of almighty God.
We believe in God. This means that we believe in both God's existence and His omnipotence. If we only believe in God's existence, our faith would be half-hearted or even dead. Faith in God's existence and his omnipotence is true faith. Through his omnipotence, God sent Jesus Christ into the world through a virgin. Through his omnipotence, God also raised Christ from the dead. Thanks to his omnipotence, we can be certain that God will also raise us from the dead and grant us the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we need not worry about our future, for almighty God has prepared the best for us.
In faith in almighty God, we should gratefully welcome Jesus Christ into our hearts. May God grant you faith in almighty God and his Christ.
Secondly, through Mary's pregnancy, we can recognize the merciful God.
God is not only almighty but also merciful. That is why he sent Christ to redeem us from sin. Thus spoke the angel of God: “You shall name this child Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (21b).
In faith in almighty God, we should gratefully receive Jesus Christ into our hearts. May God grant you faith in almighty God and his Christ.
All Israelites, from Abraham to the contemporaries of Christ, needed God's forgiveness and redemption because they had often been unfaithful to Him. Abraham, for example, needed God's grace because he had sold his wife Sarah to Pharaoh (Genesis 12:14–16). But God was merciful to him; He forgave him his sin, protected Sarah from Pharaoh, and returned her to Abraham.
Although David is highly regarded as the greatest king of Israel, he too committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of his loyal soldier Uriah, and murdered Uriah to cover up his guilt (2 Samuel 11). But God forgave him his sin. Through Bathsheba, David fathered Solomon, and Solomon is one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ. All the physical ancestors of Jesus Christ were thus burdened with sin. But God forgave them and used them as ancestors of Christ.
Not only the Israelites, but all people need God's grace, forgiveness, and redemption, for all have sinned and are lost. But God is gracious to us all. He sent us Jesus Christ to forgive and redeem us. We remember the angel's greeting to Mary: "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28). Mary was truly blessed.
We, too, are blessed, for God has forgiven us and is with us. Our God is not with us because we are sinless. He is with us because He has fully atoned for our sins through the blood of Christ.
Our Jesus is the gracious God. He humbled Himself, came into the world as a man, took all our guilt upon Himself, and died on the cross. That is why the Apostle John said, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Our God is full of grace. He forgives us all our mistakes and sins and remembers them no more. He lovingly accepts us as His children and gives us the Holy Spirit, eternal life, and the Kingdom of Heaven. This is true grace. We should gratefully accept His grace.
Third, we are to recognize God's faithfulness through Mary's pregnancy.
The Israelites had dreamed of a glorious kingdom under David and his successors. But the reigns of David and Solomon did not last long. Afterward, an endless period of disappointment began, for their successors were mostly bad or even evil. Thus, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah perished. And the Israelites, as a stateless and defenseless people, suffered greatly. God's promise to David and Abraham was forgotten. They considered it empty words.
But we should remember God's word in 1 Samuel 8:7. God hesitated to place a human king over Israel precisely because they wanted to trust a human king more than God. Thus, Israel and Judah perished because of their misguided trust.
Humans are unfaithful. But our God is absolutely faithful. He announced to Joseph through his angel, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son…’” (22–23).
Despite humanity’s unfaithfulness, God has kept his promise and sent Jesus Christ to redeem us.
We should thank and praise God for his faithfulness. God will surely fulfill his promises to us. He has promised to guide us on the right path, raise us from the dead, and lead us into the kingdom of heaven. We can trust him completely.
Fourth: God in Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
The angel said to Joseph, “He will be called Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us” (23b). This name signifies that God is with us in Jesus. Through Jesus Christ, we receive many blessings from God: forgiveness, eternal life, resurrection, the kingdom of heaven, and much more. But God’s greatest blessing is that God is with us in Jesus Christ.
We recall the story of the Exodus from Egypt. When the Israelites left Egypt, they repeatedly sinned against God. Then God spoke to them, “I will send an angel ahead of you to drive out the Canaanites and Amorites… and I will bring you into a land flowing with milk and honey. But I myself will not go with you, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 33:2–3)
Suppose God had said something similar to us: “I want to give you eternal life, the kingdom of heaven, and great success in this world. But I don’t want to be with you because you have little interest in me as something external.”
How would we react? Many would say, “Yes, that would be wonderful!”
But God’s greatest blessing is that God is with us. If God is not with us, all the blessings of the world are of no use to us. But when God is with us, the kingdom of God is wherever we are. Even where we suffer greatly, the kingdom of God is there too. We thank God that in Jesus he became our Immanuel God, God with us.
Let us summarize the meaning of Christ’s birth. His birth means, first, that our God is almighty; second, that God is a gracious God; third, that God is faithful; and fourth, that God is with us.
May this God richly bless us all in Jesus Christ!