Matthew 1:22 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 1:22

Comments

The quotation is from Isaiah 7:14: ’God with us’. This is such a rich a title and so monumental and stupendous a claim. The second person of the Trinity is come and he is with us in the most profound way: he has taken our nature and although he is the eternal Son of God, he is with us as a true man sharing our sorrows, our temptations, our mortality. This teaching is effectively exclusive to Christianity. A few sects teach it, but that is because they are heresies which started with Biblical truth. He was not just as a prophet, speaking on behalf of God; that view of him is quite common. He does not just bring revelation from God to man; he comes as God to dwell among us. He came to atone for sinners, to take that weight of punishment due to them; he took it in concentrated form, an eternal punishment compressed into a few hours. God is just and holy and he cannot abide sin, or overlook it, and so everyone is doomed to everlasting punishment demanded by his justice. There is no way of salvation which man can provide for himself. But God is also merciful. This is what the old writers called the problem of the Godhead. It is not a real problem for God, for he knows what he will do, but it is a difficulty of infinite proportions which only he can overcome. How can he be holy and just, and at the same time loving and kind? How is the great problem to be solved? God has solved it himself. The Son of God became man and in our nature died for us. There is one God, and yet we are taught he consists of three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three persons are equally God and they act in concert. It was the second person of the Trinity who came to be our scapegoat, our sin bearer.Yet in the 20^th and 21^st century some say that this scheme is too clever to have been thought up by the ancient prophets, and that Christ’s message was more vague. This brilliant scheme, they say, was invented by Paul, a man with a great mind. They do this doctrine some credit, but they suggest the absurd idea that it was an afterthought: Paul invented it, they claim. But no, it goes back to the start of the Bible. A descendant of the woman (Genesis 3:15), would bruise the serpent’s head. Further promises were made to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his descendant. Some still have the nine lessons of the Church of England, most of which are prophecies from the Old Testament which speak of these things; nothing could be clearer. This is the plain teaching of Isaiah 53. It was never invented by Paul. This is the backbone of the whole Bible.

Application

Other objectives of Christ’s coming are as follows:

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1. To show the disaster of human nature and hatred of God. So great a person, doing such wonderful things, living a life of such compassion has come into our world, yet because he preached repentance, he was rejected. He was not just a preacher, but the one fulfilling all Old Testament prophecies, yet he was rejected by leading clergy of his day.

2. His coming shows only he could save us. God is with us to be our sin bearer, but that alone will not get me to heaven. It would still be hopeless. I may have my sins washed away but I still do not deserve heaven without righteousness that I can call my own. One had to come who was so perfect that he earned heaven for each one of us.

3. It shows his incomparable humility. God is with us accepting the buffeting, the pressure of those who hated and opposed him. His disciple studied him at close quarters. They could detect in him no greed, no selfishness, no wrong thoughts, no temper – yes, he showed indignation at hypocrisy of the Pharisees, but that was righteous indignation. He worked so hard for others. He obeyed the Father: the first and only man to be perfect through unrelenting pressure, and who never cracked. He came to show God’s love in a more general sense: healing, weeping over Jerusalem. Some foolishly criticise the indignation and wrath of God – what a violent, cruel God! Don’t let God ever be called cruel, when he comes to plead and to suffer. It is vital that Christ sends away all who reject him.

4. The incarnation shows us the objective of salvation is a personal relationship. ‘Look,’ he says, ‘I have entered into human form. Even now, I have come to know you and you to know me.’ We would not grasp this if Christ had not come. I deal especially with those I know, and only remotely with others at a distance. Some do not see this and think, ‘If I pray, God just helps me in my life,’ but no, you come to relate to him in a very personal way. He wept over Jerusalem to show us his compassion in a tangible way that we can understand.

5. He came show that this is by grace. The way he came shows he deals with those who humble themselves. Salvation is free; we must receive it as a free gift. He came with a lowly birth; he chose lowly disciples, he healed the weak, he invited little children, and told adults to come as children, and not to swagger up to him and say how great they are. ‘I am come for sinners’, he said. Salvation cannot be earned. His cradle was a stall, and he lived on earth with the poor and mean and lowly, with people who see themselves as needy.

6. He came to authenticate his word in the Old Testament, and to fulfil it, to show that no word of God can fail.

7. He came to inaugurate his church. The Old Testament church was a mixture of saints and sinners. Was the New Testament church founded by apostles? Yes, but not by them alone, else we would say it was established by man. Christ had to come. Paradise had to be regained, and peace with God restored. The sum of all human knowledge does not compare with this claim: God with us. If you humble yourself, repent, believe in the cross, in his offering of righteousness, then God will be with you.

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Questions

Liberals say that the Hebrew and Greek words for ‘virgin’ mean young woman, and therefore scoff at the idea that we read so much into this. Matthew, they say, was clutching at straws when he built so much on a word and used this text in Isaiah to prove a supernatural conception. But although the word does truly refer to a sexually mature young woman, it is never of a married woman. The use of the word assumes the standard of morality that was taught to Israel, which made it an outrage for any woman to commit fornication to come to the married state not a virgin, and was punishable with death (Deuteronomy 22:13-21). Besides, it is obvious from the context of Isaiah 7 that Ahaz was told to ask for a supernatural sign, and it would have been no sign for a woman to have a son in the normal manner. Matthew is quite clear that Mary had not known Joseph when she was found to be pregnant. Luther offered a great sum to anyone who found such a use of it of a married woman.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Matthew 1:22 Commentary and Bible Study