Pastor's corner - The Savior of the World Has Arrived!

In the gospel of Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 thru 25, the birth of Jesus Christ is recorded. Mary, a young virgin, was engaged to Joseph but when he discovered that Mary had become pregnant he was shocked. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit had divinely impregnated Mary with the Savior of the world (Luke 1:35). Joseph, not knowing about this, thought that Mary had cheated on him with another man. Joseph was a man of integrity and knew the law of divorce (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), so he decided not to humiliate her but to secretly release her from her marriage promise to him.

The angel Gabriel had previously told Mary that she would become the mother of God’s Savior to the world (Luke 1:28-34) which would be a fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14. In the Luke passage she was referred to as a virgin (the Greek word “parthenos” means a young virgin). The angel told Mary that she was “endowed with grace” and that the “Lord is with you” in this divine calling. Her pregnancy would fulfill the Davidic Covenant found in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 and Isaiah 9:6-7. Mary wondered greatly over this revelation (Luke 1:34-38).

These miraculous events tell us that the Savior, Jesus Christ, was first of all royalty since He was a direct descendant of king David (Matthew 1:1, 6, 12). Second the virgin birth provided a way for Jesus to be sinless at birth since he did not have a human father and Adam’s original sin would therefore not be passed to Him (1 Peter 1:19 and 2:22 with 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Thirdly, her song reveals her understanding that Jesus was true humanity in the flesh yet He was also perfect undiminished deity as Mighty God in the flesh (John 1:34, 49, Isaiah 9:6, and Psalms 2:7, 12). We refer to Him as the God-man because He is perfect, sinless humanity united with undiminished deity.

When Mary began to grasp this incredible miracle that had happened to her she sang the greatest song of praise ever recorded (Luke 1:46-56).

The elements of her song reflects her great understanding of the Old Testament promises.

Mary understood the pairing of soul and spirit (Luke 1:46-47 with Psalms 77:2-3, Isaiah 26:9).

She believed in a personal Savior (Luke 1:47 with Psalm 24:5, 25:5, Micah 7:7), that God vindicates His faithful servants like her (Luke 1:48, Psalm 18:20,24), that God is Holy (Luke 1:49 with Psalm 103:17), that God opposes the arrogant person and gives grace to the humble (Luke 1:51 with Psalm 138:6), God’s victory in the angelic conflict over Satan (Luke 1:51-53 with Psalm 89:10), that Israel was God’s servant priest nation (Luke 1:54 with Isaiah 41:8-9, 44:1, 21, and 45:4), and that God was fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant (Luke 1:55 with Genesis 12:1-3, 17:1-22).

Joseph’s intentions to divorce Mary secretly were overruled by the faithfulness of God (Matthew 1:20-21) as Joseph was told that the Savior would deliver His people from their sins. The name Jesus (“Jesous” in Greek) means salvation as does the name “YeHowshu” from the Hebrew word “Yasha,” which means to deliver, and “Yaweh” is the name of the God of our salvation. With all these things in mind, have a Merry Christmas because the Savior of the world has arrived!

Ron McMurray,

Sheriff’s Chaplain