Matthew 1:18-25
December 21, 2025
Every spring the National Football League conducts a draft in which approximately 225 college players are chosen by the 32 professional teams over seven rounds. It is a big event, held over 3 days, with thousands of people who attend. One of the fun moments every year is to see who will be the last player selected. Just like when you were in elementary school, being picked last often means you are not among the best players, you just might be average. That player is even given the nickname, “Mr. Irrelevant,” because he probably won’t play and he may not even make the team. While that might sound mean, it’s all done in fun as that player is invited to Disneyworld, a golf tournament, and he is even given a trophy. And some of those players have gone on to have successful pro football careers.
But in a small town 2000 years ago, a poor couple – Mary & Joseph, gave birth to Mr. Irrelevant – their Son, Jesus. I say that because in the eyes of the world, this Jewish nobody would be the last kind of person ever chosen or drafted to be a King. Most people thought He was destined to follow in His father’s footsteps – learn how to be a carpenter, live poor in a small town, and die a forgotten no-name. Even the prophet Isaiah said that this Savior, “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” While He might not have appeared to be special on the outside, we know through our Gospel lesson for today that this was no ordinary child. Matthew tells us that by the power of the Holy Spirit, God was born in that manger. Suddenly Mr. Irrelevant becomes Mr. Exclusive, as no other child in all the earth was like this One.
God the Father knew exactly what He was doing as His Son was the only one who could be the exclusive King the world desperately needed, born to save the world from sin. Mary and Joseph did not even have to come up with a name for their son, as God decided that for them and sent an angel to tell Joseph, “You are to give your Son the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” The name “Jesus” means “the Lord saves” and his name certainly highlights the most important mission of His life: to save us from our sin and to restore our relationship with God.
That all sounds wonderful, but several months before Jesus was born, His earthly father, Joseph, faced a very difficult and troubling situation. He is told that his fiancé, Mary, is pregnant, and he knows he is not responsible. I’m sure this hurt Joseph deeply as he believed that his fiancé had not been faithful to him. The law, according to Deuteronomy 22, was very clear on this subject. An engaged woman was to be treated the same as a married woman, and if a woman was guilty of adultery, she was to be stoned to death. Mary says her pregnancy is from God, but I’m sure Joseph struggled even more with that explanation. After all, such an outrageous claim certainly deserves a skeptical response and I don’t think any man in Joseph’s shoes would have reacted any differently to that explanation. While Joseph did believe Mary that she was pregnant, he just did not believe that she was pregnant with the Christ Child by the Holy Spirit. But Joseph loved Mary and he did not want to hurt or embarrass her. He didn’t want her to die, so he decides to quietly break off the engagement.
Just imagine what was going through his mind. Mary was asking him to believe that her child was miraculously conceived. And even if he was, why would God (the creator of the world) choose an obscure peasant girl to give birth to the Savior of the world? Wasn’t the Savior supposed to be a warrior king or a conquering hero? Where does a baby fit into all this, and why the tiny town of Bethlehem?
Immersed in these sad and confusing thoughts, Joseph then falls into a troubled sleep, and while he’s sleeping, he has a dream. In the dream an angel informs him that Mary is telling the truth. Not only has she been faithful to him, but she has been faithful to God. He is told to go ahead and take Mary as his wife right away, because the child she would bear was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and he was to give the baby the name, “Jesus.”
This is the time of the year that we hear a lot about the flu virus and other viruses that are being spread around, but there is one virus that is truly worse than the flu, and that is the virus of sin that infects 100% of humanity. The symptoms of the virus are everywhere: alcohol addiction, divorce, child neglect, lying, stealing, racism, family arguments, and the worship of money. Unless the sin virus is cured it will increasingly wreck our lives and separate us from God forever.
But the good news is that a cure has been found from the sin virus. God sent it through a baby, His Son, Jesus, born in a Bethlehem manger. How do you get the cure? You simply claim this Jesus by faith as your Lord and Savior. However, Satan is not happy about this at all, because the cure is free and available to everyone. Therefore, in order to keep us from the cure, Satan will suggest that we don’t need to be saved by God. Satan reminds us of our “good deeds” at this time of the year, such as “You give financially to different charities, you haven’t broken any laws (other than speeding from time to time), you work hard, you volunteer, so who needs Jesus? Your hard work will save you, your good deeds will get you into heaven.” But the Bible says that is not true, there is nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven.
I heard a story about a man who had a conversation with his daughter who came home from college for Christmas break and she announced that she had been enlightened by a religion course at school. She told her parents, “I’m not interested in a God who saves me; I’m more attracted to a God who identifies with me.” Her father then said to her, “Let me ask you a question. Imagine yourself on the top floor of your dorm at school and the dorm building catches on fire. The stairs are blocked and it is too high for you to jump out of a window. When the fire fighters arrive and climb their ladders to your window, at that point do you want those fire fighters to save you or to just identify with you?”
Our God became a human being, as our text tells us another name given to that child was “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” He experienced every emotion we experience – loneliness, anger, joy, laughter, and temptation – so He clearly identifies with us; but His purpose in becoming one of us was to die on a cross in our place for our sins in order to save us. This baby was the only baby in history born for the purpose of dying.
God’s plan to save us was truly brilliant in its simplicity. God would live among us and reveal Himself to a small group of common folk, who would tell others what God had done in their lives. They, in turn, would tell others what they had experienced, and as the story of God’s coming is told over and over again, humanity would be won. Not with dramatic signs and wonders that would leave people unable to resist God, but with gentle love – the love of a baby. Mary and Joseph put aside their own desires by showing extraordinary love and trust, as God entered into human existence in Jesus. No wonder our homes are lit up and music fills the air.
My prayer for you this week is that you will catch the real Christmas spirit, which is a lot more than just some seasonal joy and charity. The real Christmas spirit is based on two important convictions: 1) This Jesus, born in Bethlehem, clearly identifies with us. He is Immanuel, God with us. 2) This Jesus is the Son of God, who sacrificed His perfect life to save you, because you are not irrelevant, God knows you personally by name. Your life has meaning and purpose. If these 2 truths cause you to be generous in some special ways, such as giving to someone in need or giving more of your time to be in worship, then you have the real Christmas spirit. All that Jesus came to do is summarized in those 2 names: “Jesus – the Lord saves” and “Immanuel – God with us.” When you know and understand that, then you are truly ready for Christmas.
