Sermon series: "LET’S TALK ABOUT JESUS"

Subject: JESUS--IMMANUEL-GOD WITH US

Matthew 1:18-23
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

Jesus Christ--GOD WITH US!
Isaiah proclaims: "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name IMMANUEL." (Isaiah 7:14)
The word IMMANUEL is a Hebrew word, and means literally GOD WITH US. Matthew doubtless understands it as denoting that the Messiah was really "GOD WITH US," or that the divine nature was united with the human. He does not affirm that this was its meaning when used in reference to the child to whom it was first applied, but this is its signification as applicable to the Messiah.
When first used by Isaiah, it denoted simply that the birth of the child was a sign that God was with the Jews to deliver them. The Hebrews often incorporated the name of Jehovah, or God, into their proper names. Thus, Isaiah means "the salvation of Jehovah"; Eleazer, "help of God"; Eli, "my God". But Matthew evidently intends more than was denoted by the simple use of such names.
He had just given an account of the miraculous conception of Jesus; of His being begotten by the Holy Spirit. God was therefore His Father. He was divine as well as human. His appropriate name, therefore, was "GOD WITH US."
And though the mere use of such a name would not prove that He had a divine nature, yet as Matthew uses it, and meant evidently to

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apply it, it does prove that Jesus was more than a man; that he was God as well as man. And it is this which gives glory to the plan of redemption. It is this which is the wonder of angels. It is this which makes the plan so vast, so grand, so full of instruction and comfort to Christians. It is this which sheds such peace and joy into the sinner’s heart; which gives him such security of salvation, and which renders the condescension of God in the work of redemption so great and His character so lovely.
GOD WITH US...in the person of Jesus Christ! In our previous lessons, we have studied the various New Testament passages that present Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God, whose existence was eternal with the Father, and who was God in human form.
In our study today, we want to explore the various events in the life of Christ that give evidence that Jesus was truly God. To do this, we are going to examine the various miracles of the New Testament gospels that were performed in the public ministry of Jesus. Of course, His birth was a supernatural birth in that the conception was a direct work of the Holy Spirit.
Before us in the gospels is a supernatural Person who is represented as having a supernatural birth, character, deeds, claims, and resurrection.
Modernists allow that this remarkable Man had the gift of healing, but all His cures were only "faith cures," and not in any way supernatural.
But all efforts to explain Christ’s miracles as the product of the action of unknown natural laws break down in the presence of acts such as giving sight to the blind and raising the dead, which forcefully imply an exercise of creative power by One who transcends the ordinary powers of nature.
Agnostics and rationalists have tried to explain the miracles of the New Testament as natural phenomena. What cannot be denied, however, is the fact that the supernatural pervades the gospel records.
Christ came into the world, not only as God’s personal representative on earth, but as God Himself manifest in flesh, and therefore appeared as a miracle in human form. But if one accepts the miracles of His birth, sinlessness, and resurrection, then any other miracle is possible. Further, the character and claims or Christ perfectly agree, His miraculous labors are bound up inseparably with His life; and labors and life harmonize completely. He proclaimed truth. His moral perfection and spiritual greatness make Him pre-eminent among the holiest of men.

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Because Christ was authoritative as a teacher (Matthew 7:28,29) and sinless as a man, His miracles not only formed an integral part of His teaching but were proofs both of His authority as God’s sent One and of His sinlessness. Because of who He was, He could not but perform miracles. Thus, as one Bible scholar writes: "Christ’s life and doctrine form one series of pillars, His miracles another, upon which the dome of the Christian Church is lifted towards heaven.
Christ’s miracles, then, implied an exercise of creative power as God and were His Father’s way of authenticating the divinity of His Son’s mission among men.
As Jesus Christ prepares to go to the cross; He has a very interesting discussion with Philip. In John 14:6-11, we read: "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you are not just My words. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work. BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THAT I AM IN THE FATHER AND THE FATHER IS IN ME: OR AT LEAST BELIEVE ON THE EVIDENCE OF THE MIRACLES THEMSELVES."
(John 14:6-11)
In John 10:38, Jesus said: "But if I do it, even though you do not believe Me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father."
One of the amazing things about the miracles of Jesus is that He never worked a miracle on His own behalf! Perhaps the finding of the coin in the fish’s mouth is the only exception of His rule of using His supernatural power for His own need (Matthew 17:27).
Neither extreme hunger in the wilderness nor the intense suffering in Gethsemane or on the cross could drive Him to work a miracle for His own relief when the glory of God could not be promoted by it. A league of angels waited to obey His command, but He did not solicit their help (Matthew 16:53). He provided ample food for the hungry that followed Him, yet would not transform stones into bread to satisfy His own hunger. (Matthew 4:1-4; Mark 6:34, 41)
As He was dying of extreme thirst, no water miraculously appeared to slake His thirst.

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Christ never paraded His supernatural power. His miracles were never wrought for display, or even to prove His claims. He rejected such use as a temptation and always refused to perform a miracle to satisfy the demands of unbelief. Christ never performed a miracle to create a sensation or to win adherents. He did not make every sick person well. While He refused none who sought His aid, many were not healed. He passed by a great multitude and selected only one for healing. Thus, in all of His cures, there was no ulterior motive. They were all of a beneficent character, harmonious with His life and teaching. We cannot remove the miracles from the gospels without wrecking them, as the merciful works of Jesus were woven into the very texture of His character and His claims.
The methods Jesus employed in His miracles indicate that He could heal with or without external means. Sometimes He laid His hands on the needy or touched them. At other times, He healed without any contact with the sufferers. His word and will were sufficient. Christ’s healing acts were never tentative.
In the gospel narratives there is no trace of a failure or of a relapse of any one healed. Another feature of Christ’s miracles is that they were signs, not universal, but a testimony of His deity (Matthew 8:4). They were "the insignia of His God-Manhood"--the evidence of His divine commission.
"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said: ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.’" (John 3:1-2)
So, from the Scriptures we have considered thus far, Jesus invites us to examine the miracles (signs, works) which He did, for in these, there is sufficient evidence that in truth, GOD IS WITH US...His name is Immanuel.
We have already considered the miracle of His birth, so let’s consider the event of His baptism in the Jordan River. Here is Mark’s record: "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased." (Mark 1:9-11)
Three aspects of the sign are distinguishable--opened heavens, the descending Spirit, the Voice of heaven.
While Jesus ascended from the water, still praying (Luke 3:31), the heavens opened or,

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to use Mark’s more graphic statement, were "rent asunder." This forcible expression appears to be connected with the heavens stretched out as a curtain (Psalm 104:2).
Opened heavens symbolized divine favor. When Stephen had finished his message just before they picked up stones to kill him, the Bible says: "When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." (Acts 7:54-56)
Out of the opened heavens came the Holy Spirit and descended upon Christ. Twice over we are told that "He abode on Him." This was to be an abiding enduement--no transient experience. In some supernatural way, the Spirit came upon Christ in bodily shape as a dove.
In Scripture, the dove is the symbol of peace (Genesis 8:11), and as a bird, it is noted for its remarkable quietness, tenderness, purity, and love--which qualities Jesus perfectly personified in the days of His flesh.
The descent of the Spirit "as it were a dove in bodily form," implied the gift of supernatural power and wisdom necessary for the accomplishment of a God-given task. Thereafter, Jesus was full of this unction without measure (John 3:34).
Then there was the mysterious Voice speaking from heaven and uttering a benediction upon Jesus. By divine proclamation, God announced the presence of the King and set His seal upon the years He had lived. As Mary’s Son, He had been misunderstood by some, rejected by others, but as God’s Son, He had brought nothing but pleasure to His Father’s heart. The mind of the Father rested with infinite content in the Son.
Jesus’ baptism inaugurated His ministry and began the Messianic Age.
Jesus’ baptism intensively combined several elements of weighty-prophetic-symbolic significance. His own baptism by John is one of the most certainly verified occurrences of His life. John’s ministry bridged the Old Testament and the New in two ways: by epitomizing the prophetic tradition under the Old Testament and by preaching repentance looking forward toward the New. In receiving John’s baptism, the Lord’s identity began to be recognized in a preliminary way. He was marked out to His forerunner, who before knew Him not; and that forerunner in his turn marked Him out to the world, which also in another sense as yet knew Him not. When Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan

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to be baptized by John, John tried to deter Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You." Jesus insisted that "it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." This interaction between John and Jesus contained a weighty moment: John protested that Jesus was no fit candidate for the baptism of repentance, and Jesus insisted upon identifying with sinners "to fulfill all righteousness." Jesus baptism was not to signify repentance of His own sins, but His compassionate identification with the consequences of sin in human history.
With the rending of the heavens, the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, and the Voice from heaven giving divine benediction of the Father--surely we can say, GOD IS WITH US in the person of Jesus Christ.
In John’s gospel, he records for us another wonderful sign that proves that Jesus Christ was God in human form. Near the conclusion of John’s gospel, he writes: "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30-31)
Here is the record of the miracle at Cana: "On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." And they filled them up to the brim. And He said unto them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast." And they took it.
When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!

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This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him" (John 2:1-11).
Having won a decisive victory over Satan in the wilderness, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and commenced His supernatural ministry.
The wilderness temptation over, Jesus and His disciples attend the celebration of a wedding. Mary, the mother of Jesus was present and the story indicates that by her concern for the shortage of wine, no doubt she had something to do with the wedding arrangements. One of the Coptic gospels from Egypt tells us that Mary was a sister of the bridegroom’s mother. Other ancient writings suggest that the bridegroom was no other than John himself.
In Palestine a wedding was a really notable occasion. It was the Jewish law that the wedding of a virgin should take place on a Wednesday. Another interesting fact about the wedding in Christ’s time...it lasted for far more than one day! And the newly-married couple did not go away for their honeymoon; they stayed at home; and for a week they kept open house!
Back to the wedding! For a Jewish feast wine was essential. "Without wine," said the Rabbis, "there is no joy." It was not that people were drunken, but in the East wine was an essential. Drunkenness was in fact a great disgrace, and they actually drank their wine in a mixture composed of two parts of wine to three parts of water.
At any time the failure of provisions would have been a problem, for hospitality in the East is a sacred duty, but for the provisions to fail at a wedding would be a terrible shame for the bride and the bridegroom. That indeed would have been a humiliation. So Mary came to Jesus to tell Him that it was so. The Authorized Version translation of Jesus’ reply makes it sound very discourteous. But in the original language, Jesus’ reply would be: "Don’t worry; you don’t quite understand what is going on; leave things to Me, and I will settle them in My own way."
Remember! He is Immanuel...GOD WITH US! The water pots in the feast chamber were empty, and at the command of Jesus the pots were filled to the brim with water. Instantly, the water was transformed into wine of such excellent quality as to call forth high praise from the master of the feast, who called it "the best wine." He who would not work a miracle in the wilderness to meet His own need, here performed a miracle to supply a luxury for wedding guests!

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Our Lord, it must be observed, did not touch one of the vessels. The servants poured water into them and then poured out wine, and such a real transmutation was effected by divine power and revealed our Lord’s sway over the fruits of the earth. Actually, the miracle at Cana involved a speeding up process which required actual creative power. He was the One who ordained the fruitfulness of the vine and gave it power to drink in the rain and dew, assimilating the drops so as to form the juice of the grape.. Now, in a moment, He willed the instant chemical changes whereby the water became like old wine mellowed with keeping!
The two-fold results of this first miracle are stated. First of all, it "manifested forth His glory." The miracle exhibited the fact that the exercise of creative power essentially belonged to deity. Here was illustrated the glory of His beneficent grace. Moses commenced his ministry in Egypt with a miracle of judgment--water was turned into blood, a curse was brought upon one of the common necessities of life.
In Christ’s first miracle, water was turned into wine--the addition of sweetness and joy to the common relationship of life! The Cana miracle then was symbolic, a sign, pointing to the contrast between the Old dispensation and the new, and to the work of Christ as a transforming, enriching, and glorifying of the natural, through divine grace and power.
The other result of the miracle was that His disciples believed on Him. They were, of course, already believers. The demonstration of their Lord’s power established faith in His deity. That first miracle proved to them His power to work every miracle. If He could turn water into wine by His will, then He could do anything and everything.
Remember! There were six stone waterpots; and at the command of Christ, the water in them turned to wine! Now according to the Jews, seven is the number which is absolute and complete and perfect; six is the number which is incomplete, unfinished, and imperfect. So, the six stone waterpots stand for all the imperfections of the law. Jesus came to do away with the imperfections of the law, and to put in their place the new wine of the gospel of His grace. Jesus, by His coming, turned the imperfection of the law into the perfection of grace! Jesus turned water into wine in Cana, but He also wants to come into our lives and bring a new quality of life which is like turning water into wine!
Without Jesus life is dull, and stale and flat, but when Jesus comes into life, life becomes vivid and sparkling and exciting.
He is life!