Jesus' Birth as told by Matthew                                                             Lesson 6

Matthew 1

The Birth of Jesus Christ – Matthew 1: 18-25

 ¹⁸This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

 ²⁰But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

 ²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

 ²⁴When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. ²⁵But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

• Pledged to be married
• Jewish engagement was much more binding than in today’s world. While there was no sexual relationship, the engagement could only be broken through divorce.
• Divorce her quietly.
• Deuteronomy 22:25-27, Perhaps Joseph felt this would be an excuse to allow Mary to live and for him to be divorced from her.
• Conceived from the Holy Spirit
• Emphasis on the virgin birth
• Agrees with Luke 1:35