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By Prophet Bards Foretold 2: Virgin Born

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INTRODUCTION

Scripture is quite clear that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. But what was the point? Why is this important?

THE TEXT

“Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:22–23). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We learn from the scriptural narrative in several places that our Lord’s mother was a true virgin. In the gospel of Luke, we are told that the angel Gabriel was sent with a message to a virgin named Mary (Luke 1:27). She is called a virgin twice in that one verse (parthenos). When the angel tells her that she will conceive a child who will have a never-ending kingdom, she asks a most reasonable question. How can she conceive when she does not know a man (Luke 1:34)? In short, how can she become a mother as she is a virgin? Gabriel replies that the thing will happen as the result of a miracle wrought by the Holy Ghost (Luke 1:35).

In our text, when Joseph found out that Mary was “with child,” he drew the natural and obvious conclusion, which was that Mary must not be a virgin. But because he was a righteous man, resolved to put her away quietly. But an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to be afraid to marry her because her pregnancy was the result of a miracle. The name to be given to the child was Jesus, because He was going to save His people from their sins. Remember this. And then the thing is summed up by our text. The prophet Isaiah had predicted this when he prophesied that a virgin would conceive a child, and bear a son, and that son would be called Emmanuel. Matthew adds the gloss that Emmanuel means “God with us.”  

YOUNG WOMAN OR VIRGIN?

The prophecy is found in Isaiah 7, and the context is this. In the days of Ahaz, the king of Syria and the king of the northern kingdom of Israel came up against Jerusalem. They could not prevail against the city (Is. 7:1), but the heart of the king was still badly shaken, along with the hearts of the people (Is. 7: 2). They trembled like trees in a stiff wind. But God in His kindness sent the prophet Isaiah to give a word of encouragement to the king (Is. 7:3-9). Within one lifetime, the powers that the king was so worried about would be out of the picture. Don’t worry about them. Ahaz—not a man of faith—was apparently still troubled, and so God graciously tells him to ask for a sign (Is. 7:10-11). But Ahaz still holds back (Is 7:12), although he made it sound pious. And so Isaiah insists upon giving him a sign anyway, and the words of our prophecy are taken from that sign (Is. 7:14-16).

There are two layers to this sign. In the Hebrew, the word for virgin here is almah, which can mean virgin, but it can also mean young woman. The meaning is not exclusively virgin. A young woman will conceive and bear a son, and before that son has grown to the maturity that can refuse evil and choose evil—within just a few years—the kings that Ahaz was so worried about would no longer a threat. That was the sign. The young woman concerned was herself a prophetess (Is. 8:3), and she was married to Isaiah. And the prophet went to the prophetess, and she conceived a son. His name was Mahershalalhashbaz, and the prophecy of the previous chapter was in the first instance fulfilled in him (Is. 8:4). Damascus and Samaria would be a spent force before young Maher (let us call him) could say mama or papa.

PROPHECY & TYPE

So this was an explicit prophecy, for the benefit of Ahaz, but it was also a type . . . for the benefit of all the sons of men. Let us not be like Ahaz, and disbelieve the sign. In addition to being the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prediction, the prophetess was also a type. She was a type of Mary, and Mary was the antitype. And here is where it gets interesting.

Isaiah’s ministry was around 700 B.C. The Septuagint, the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, was translated several centuries before Christ. And in the LXX, the word almah in Isaiah 7:14 is rendered as parthenos, and parthenos means virgin, only virgin, and nothing but virgin. There was therefore a widespread expectation among the Jews that there was an aspect of this prophecy that was yet to be fulfilled, and that expectation was not the result of interactions with Christians—because they would not arrive for a century or two more. 

WHY HIS NAME WAS EMMANUEL

Everything in the gospel comes down to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who was this Jesus, and what did this Jesus do? He was God in the flesh, and He died on the cross as a perfect atoning sacrifice for the sins of all His people. The person and work of Christ. 

The virgin birth is important to the identity of Jesus. Our text in Matthew links the virgin birth to the fact that the one so born was going to be called Emmanuel. The sacrificial body of Christ had to be spotless in order for it to be any good as a sacrifice, as we shall see in a moment. But it also had to be spotless in order for the most holy Word of God to be united to it. How can a holy God become a true man without also becoming a false and sinful man. Because sin is passed down covenantally through the fathers, the problem was solved through the virgin birth.     

WHY HIS NAME WAS JESUS

The angel of the Lord told Joseph in his dream that the baby was to be named Jesus. The reason for this is that He was going to save His people from their sins. Jesus means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation.” But in order to accomplish that salvation, He had to be a sacrifice, He had to be a spotless sacrifice, and He had to be a representative sacrifice. 

A sacrifice: “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

A spotless sacrifice: “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

A representative sacrifice: “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many” (Romans 5:15).

The birth of the baby Jesus was truly remarkable. In that day, on that day, your salvation and mine was born into the world.

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Rachel’s Tears (Shadows of Bethlehem #2) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

The hallmark of Christmas is joy. Ear to ear grins. Hot chocolate mustaches. Gleeful shouts as presents are unwrapped. But your joy, true joy, is given to you by the grief of the Man of sorrows. The story of Christ’s birth, which brought glad tidings and peace on earth, is swiftly followed by a grisly tale of the ravenous wolf of sin.

THE TEXT

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Matthew 2:16-18

TYRANNICAL BRUTES

The slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem is staggering. Herod stands in a long line of brutes who use their throne to slaughter the innocent. Pharaoh killed the Hebrew infants. Saul deputized Doeg (an Edomite like Herod) slaughtered the priests in Nob for helping David. Nebuchadnezzar starved the Jews of Jerusalem (during the two year siege, circa 587BC), and then as he marched them off to exile he brutally slaughtered many of them (Cf. Lam. 2:19-22, Ps 137:8-9, 2 Ki. 25:20-21).

The thing which set Herod off was the wise men refusing to cooperate with his design to destroy the Christ-child. Herod had been informed that Bethlehem was prophesied to be the birthplace of the new davidic king (Micah 5:2), and he knew that the star had appeared less than two years before, implying the baby was no older than that. Caesar Augustus is said to have stated that he’d rather be one of Herod’s swine than one of his sons. Herod’s brutality was well-known. But in the slaughter of Bethlehem’s sons, his wicked wrath is put on full and gruesome display.

Adam & Eve submitted to the Serpent, and reduced mankind to the level of brute. The first tyrant bludgeoned his brother. Man’s depravity always leads to murder. It leads to devouring others. The coming of Christ the King is good news, and this is put in stark relief when contrasted with the reign of Man in bondage to sin and Satan. Herod is the City of Man. He is a mirror held up to us to see the depravity of the human heart. But in Christ, the Kingdom of God has come upon us

WEEPING EXILES

Matthew tells us that this slaughter was a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah 31:15, “Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.”

When the Babylonians took the Jews into exile, they released Jeremiah at Ramah: “Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon (Jer 40:1).” Jeremiah then is taken down to Egypt by a remnant of Jewish leaders (Jer. 42-43). Meanwhile, Jerusalem’s young men in particular were being cruelly slaughtered at Riblah (Jer. 52:27). There are echoes of Jeremiah in the story of Joseph whisking his wife and son down to Egypt (in fulfillment of another prophecy, Cf. Mt. 2:15), while Herod’s henchmen slaughter Bethlehem’s boys.

This is the context for Jeremiah’s prophecy. His prophecy had a two-fold fulfillment; first in the events that shortly followed his prophecy. But these events themselves become a type of the slaughter of Bethlehem’s sons. Both Nebuchadnezzar & Herod are non-davidic kings slaughtering the sons of Israel. A theme we’ll revisit in a future sermon. For now, it suits our purpose to simply make mention of it.

Though Israel dwells in the land the Lord promised her, it is clear that they are still in exile, still under siege, still in need of the deliverance of the Messiah. Bethlehem’s mothers mourned once more, for their sons were cut down, and would not grow up like plants around their tables (Ps. 144:12). The deuteronomic blessings were not to be found. Only the curses. They sowed in tears once more (Ps. 126). Ramah once more heard cries of grief & untimely death.

BENONI

Jeremiah’s mention of Rachel takes us further back into the story of redemption: “And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day (Gen. 35:16-20).”

As Rachel was expiring from childbirth she named her son Benoni: son of my sorrows. And then Jacob’s cherished wife dies. Jacob had worked under Laban’s tyrannical demands for fourteen years in order to claim Rachel as his bride. She’d been barren for long years before bringing forth his beloved son Joseph. And now his bride perished in anguished sorrow. Jacob buried her in Bethlehem (Ramah is relatively nearby to Bethlehem). Rachel had prayed, “Give me children or I die” and it was in bringing forth her second son that she died. This baby boy was both a son of sorrow and a son of his father’s right hand.

One other thread is worth tracing here. Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin, but instead of reigning at Yahweh’s right hand, he becomes a son of grief, while David becomes a true son of the right hand (Ps. 110:1). The Benjamites were famous slingers, but when a giant threatens Israel and her Benjamite king, a funny thing that happens. David (of Judah) deftly wields the sling to kill Goliath. David is a better Benjamite than Saul.

Herod is the king of the Jews who slaughters and devours his people, akin to Saul. Meanwhile, Jesus is, of course, a new David, a son of David come to lay down His life and give Himself as food for His people.

NEW COVENANT GLORY

Rachel’s weeping gives birth to a Son of the right hand. This world is full of sorrows, but the coming of Christ was the death knell for all sorrow and all suffering. The misery of God’s people was great. Their weeping was heard afar off. But now a Savior had been born in Bethlehem. He would take all their griefs and sorrows upon & unto Himself. All the tears which all of God’s people have sown, will turn into shouts of joy.

Jeremiah not only describes Rachel’s weeping over the death of Judah, he invites her to dry her tears (Jer. 31:16), comforting her with a revelation of new life. New life through a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). But this new covenant would be bought with innocent blood. Jesus, the only son who survived Herod’s slaughter of Bethlehem’s boys, would still be slaughtered by another Herod. So He would, in all ways, be acquainted with our grief, share in our suffering, and die as one of us.

Weeping may endure for the night. But the morning brings joy. And now, in Christ, the eternal day has dawned. David’s throne is filled. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. The sun of righteousness arises, with healing in His wings. This is the comfort for your every sorrow. This is the grace for all your sins. This is the Good News of Great Joy which is for all people. Christ is born in Bethlehem.

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A Theology of Stuff (Advent Grab Bag #2) (King’s Cross)

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INTRODUCTION

One of the more puzzling lines in the Definition of Chalcedon is where it says, “as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the virgin, the God-bearer.” What does it mean to confess that Mary is the “God-bearer?” We should note that this title is carefully qualified by the phrase “as regards his manhood,” which comes immediately after in the original Greek. But there is a very important point being underlined about the personal nature of our salvation. The One born in Bethlehem is the Logos/the eternal Word of the Father who embraced His creation for us men and for our salvation. 

The Text: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made…” (Jn. 1:1-14)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

“In the beginning” intentionally echoes Genesis 1, but the word “arxe” also means “preeminence, first, chief, principle, power,” and it’s immediately obvious that this “arxe” refers to something even “before” the beginning of Genesis 1, when the Word was with God and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1). That Word of God was in the beginning of Creation also, and that same Word made all things (Jn. 1:2-3). He is the source of all life and light, and He is the kind of light that darkness cannot comprehend or approach at all (Jn. 1:4-5, cf. Js. 1:17, 1 Tim. 6:16). 

John was sent from God as a witness of that Light, the true Light who gives light and life to all men (Jn. 1:6-9). He was in the world and made manifest by His creation but unrecognized because of sin (Jn. 1:10, cf. Rom. 1:19-20). So He came to His own, but even His own people rejected Him (Jn. 1:11). But to those who received Him and believed in Him, He made them sons of God by the power of God (Jn. 1:12-13). And this was accomplished by the Word becoming flesh to reveal the glory of the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14). 

CHRISTOLOGY AS SOTERIOLOGY

Donald Fairbairn has pointed out that in the early church the focus on the Trinity and Christology was not unrelated to soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). For example, since Christ is the “only begotten of the Father,” salvation means being born again not of blood or the will of man but by the power of God (Jn. 1:12-14). What Christ has by nature in the Godhead (Eternal Son), He has become man in order to share with us in salvation (sons by adoption). As John Piper has put it, “God is the gospel.”

And we see this particularly highlighted in John: “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (Jn. 6:57). “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the father: and I lay down my life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:15). “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me… And will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter… the Spirit of truth… at that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (Jn. 14:11, 16-17, 20). Who was born of Mary? The Eternal Son, the Word who is God. As the hymn says, “Christ our God to earth descendeth.” Why does this matter? Because the very same life that Christ shares with the Father by nature, He came to share with His people by His Spirit. 

UNION WITH CHRIST

The Definition of Chalcedon is clear that the divine and human natures come together in Christ “without confusion,” and so the Creator-creature distinction remains fixed. But precisely because Christ holds those natures together “without division, without separation,” by the power of the Spirit, that same Spirit is able to unite us in fellowship with the Father in Christ. This is no mysticism or merging of natures; this is a true covenant union in Christ. This is the power by which mere fallen creatures, become children of God, born not of blood nor the will of man, but the will of God, which is all grace. This is why the New Testament talks so much about our salvation “in Christ” (Rom. 6, Eph. 1, Col. 2, etc.).

APPLICATIONS

The Goodness of Stuff: Christmas celebrates God’s union with His creation. The Word who made all things became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. How did we behold the glory of the Father? In the flesh of Jesus Christ, in the stuff that He made. Christ made all things and made us to make things and enjoy all things as part of our enjoyment of Him. Sin distorts this, causing us to suppress God’s glory in creation and to idolize creation, but the answer is not to disdain creation or ignore it. The answer is to see every bit of creation as a burning bush, where we may see His glory and taste and see His goodness and worship Him. 

So Christmas rightly celebrates the stuff that Christ made and the stuff He came to restore to its rightful glory. All of creation groans with the weight of our sin, but the heavens still declare the glory of God. And so we make our houses sparkle like the heavens with lights. And if Christ has given us bread and wine to remember Him and feed on Him and enjoy His life, all food has been given to enjoy as His gifts: steak and fudge and wine and eggnog and gifts. But think of all these gifts as tokens of the infinitely greater Giver.  

Fellowship with the Father: Mary was an ordinary woman of extraordinary faith, and as such, she pictures what Christ intends to do by His Spirit. He intends to live in us, to share true fellowship with us: “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1 Jn. 1:3-4). This jyful fellowship is only maintained by confession of sin and the cleansing blood of Christ (1 Jn. 1:7-9). 

Christ is re-making a race of men and women, who are more masculine, more feminine, more truly human: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). The center of this glory is in the Word read and preached, but it is that same Word that created all things and shines in all He has made. So see Him there, know Him, and love Him more.

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