Sunday Devotional: Matthew 1:21

And she will give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus; for he himself will save his people from their sins.

If you’re familiar with the Christmas story, you know the background to this verse: Joseph’s wife, Mary, is pregnant, but the child is not Joseph’s. Since they are betrothed, Joseph seeks to do what is honorable and have Mary sent away secretly, so as not to bring undue disgrace upon her. He didn’t have to do this; under the Law, he could have had her stoned as an adulteress. But instead, he chose to be merciful to her, and salvage what was left of her reputation. But then Joseph is visited by an angel, who informs him that the child is, in fact, from the Holy Spirit. In light of this, Joseph should have no fear of taking Mary as his wife, and raising the child as their own.

The angel goes on to reveal the purpose of this special child: he is to be the promised Messiah, the long-awaited Savior, foretold by the Prophets, and foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament. But this Savior would not come to take the throne, to unseat Caesar, to defeat Israel’s enemies.

Over the past few devotionals, we’ve looked at the opening chapters of Judges and seen the pattern of Israel’s wandering. They disobey God, run after idols, and get into trouble with their enemies. A cry for help goes up, and God raises someone to save them. Israel give thanks to God, experiences a time of peace, and then starts to wander. Again, the nation falls into sin, suffers, cries out for help, and the Lord raises up a savior. What the angel was telling Joseph in Matthew 1 is that this time, things were going to be different. Not only has Israel wandered, but the whole human race is in need of salvation. And God isn’t going to raise someone up from among the people to deal with their problems. This time, God was going to enter into His own creation, by means of Joseph’s wife. He himself was coming to save Israel, and many others–as many as He would call His own (Revelation 7:9 speaks of people from “every tribe, nation, and tongue”–not just Israel). And He was coming not just to restore their fortunes and bring them temporal peace. He wasn’t coming to deal with their issues, but to deal with THE issue: sin.

The fundamental problem with Israel, and with mankind as a whole is a broken relationship with God. We have sinned, and in our sin, and our enjoyment of our sin, we have declared ourselves to be God’s enemies. We are justly condemned by God because we have rebelled against Him. If we are to be right with God, we don’t need new friends, to live in a different area, or to try to be good. Nothing we do can ever make us right with God because we have that sinful, rebellious heart. What we need is a change of heart. Our rebellious desires need to be replaced with godly desires. Our hatred for God and all He represents needs to be replaced with a love for God and a fervent desire to please Him. While we can’t do this for ourselves, Jesus can do it for us. That’s what his birth, life, death, and resurrection was ultimately about: living the life we can’t live, and offering himself as a substitute for his people, taking the death penalty they deserve, that they might have life and righteousness through him.

Is this life something you know? Is it something you desire, but have never known how to obtain it? I pray this Christmas, if you don’t know the Savior, that you will come to know him. And if you know him, that you’ll draw close to him as you worship and remember the greatest gift mankind has ever received.

Have a blessed Christmas!