Do Not Be Afraid! This Gift Is For You! Mt1:18-25

Christmas Eve, The Nativity of Our Lord         24-December-2025
Sermon Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon Theme: “Do Not Be Afraid - This Gift Is For You!” by Rev. Nathan J. Rusert

Mat 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."
I.N.R.I. Christmas history that starts with a divorce. Matthew’s historical narrative of Jesus’ birth doesn’t seem to glitter and shine like Luke’s record.
        Divorce is painful, bitter, we mourn - a one flesh union has been torn asunder. The death of a marriage is the death of love, joy, and hope a husband and wife shared in each other. Divorce tears families apart. We run from one family to the next pushing presents trying to pretend our children aren’t scarred by dad and mom fracturing their childhood. Love lost hate rises to point fingers to shift blame. It’s not my fault it was that woman, or that man. God it’s Your fault - You gave that person to me! Or maybe we use the excuse - the devil made me do it! It is the same lie whispered from fallen shame filled Adam and his wife. “I have no sin!” “Not my fault!” A lie we love for we are captives of the father of lies, the murderer of marriages, the dealer of death - the devil - a rebellious angel of light whose pride puffed him up to rebel against his God and Creator.
      Listen! (Vs.18-19) Joseph was just. He knew God’s Holy Ten Commandments. Sex outside of the life-long commitment of marriage adulterated God’s precious gift of creating mankind male or female. Fornication and adultery only bows to the false idol of our feelings, desires, and sin captured thinking. It only deserved disgrace, shame, and death.  
      Joseph also knew that our Creator is mercy. In mercy he’d bear the shame of Mary’s unplanned pregnancy. He’d return the dowry and protect Mary’s honor in Nazareth. People would talk, but he’d lift no finger of blame to defend his own good name. He had often sung and prayed, Psa 130:3-4 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? (4) But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. Out of the depths of a broken heart he cries out to the Triune God in prayer.
    Christmas history began with a divorce. The Heavenly Bridegroom created us in His image. Man would not be complete without woman in the lifelong gift of marriage - a living reflection of Christ’s love for His Church. Only after the first husband and first wife were married by God and blessed to be fruitful and multiply - does our Creator proclaim now all creation is “very good.”

       Then one of the chief angels of light rebelled - he wanted to dethrone his Creator - to be in charge - his own god. Satan failed and was cast to earth with the fallen angels who joined his lie. The devil couldn’t capture the highest heaven, so he’d capture the physical creation by leading mankind away from it’s loving God and His life sustaining Word.  
     His lie caught the hearts of our first parents. They shut their ears to their Creator’s Word. Looking inward they spurned God’s love and care for them. Trusting what they saw, thought, felt, and desired - they choose their own wisdom to be their own gods. Satan’s lie only filled them with shame, guilt, death as they ran towards darkness enslaved by Satan. They divorced their Creator breaking God’s heart by adulterating themselves to the devil and his lie.
     They tried to cover their sin and its shame, but fig leaves couldn’t stop God’s all seeing eye. Running with the devil their freedom was only a path of corruption leading to death and hell. All was lost.
      Listen! (Vs.20) To brokenhearted Joseph the Lord God sends a preacher - an angel. He calls Joseph by name. He reminds him of his birthright - “son of David.” The blood of a king courses in his veins and in Mary’s who is also a descendant of David’s line.
      “Do not be afraid!” Fear is natural for a sinner standing in the presence of our Holy God as He preaches through His messenger. "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.” Mary hasn’t been unfaithful. She believed the promise preached to her. The Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, breathed life anew in her virgin womb. The eternally only begotten Son of the Father, humbled Himself becoming a human zygote, embryo, fetus, and soon to be born a Baby FOR YOU!
          Adam’s sin tore him from God and his wife. Running with Satan his heart grew cold. Spiritually he was dead. Then the Preacher came seeking the lost - “Where are you?” “What have you done?” His conscience woke up as he tried to shift the blame. The Preacher took no excuses. Instead He turned to the devil still in his serpent-ish costume cursed and declared war on him and all evil. Enmity - hatred will exist between the devil’s legions and those who cling to God’s Promise of the Head Crusher born of a Virgin Mother alone. Satan and sin has brought pain to childbirth and struggle to marriage, thorns and thistles to our fields, sweat to feed our families, and dusty death to us children of Adam.  
         Hope lives in God’s merciful love. Adam honors his wife naming her “Eve” the mother of all living. From the woman alone - the Virgin- the Promised Male Seed - the Head Crusher of Satan would be born. In the fulness of history and time God’s Promise is fulfilled. (Vs.21)
     A new Joshua leads us out of the sin’s wilderness into the Promised Land of daily and rich forgiveness in Christ’s Church. A Son will be born of the Virgin Mary. Joseph adopts Him as his own by naming Him - Jesus. Yeshua - the Lord Is Salvation. Jesus is born the God/Man is come to save His people from their sins. Who are His people? Not perfect - they are real crushed despairing sinners. Confessing their sins as they lay them on the Lamb of God. Jesus alone bears our iniquities, transgressions, corruption, evil, and all our sin.
     This is no mere dream of Joseph. (Vs.22-23) Joseph will not trust an angel preaching to him in a dream - not apart from the written Word of God. The Lord God promised the sinful house of David - “Behold!” Look and see God’s gift FOR YOU! Virgin Mary is the new Eve - she bears the Son. Immanuel- God with us! Our God is now bone of our bones, and flesh of our flesh - He takes our humanity into Himself - that He might share His holiness, righteousness, His Father’s House with you!
       The fulness of the Godhead dwells in the Baby born of the Virgin Mary. God cries as He breathes the air He created. God nurses at Mary’s breast. God soils His diapers. God lays in a manger to sleep. Man’s divorce from God is healed - not by force - by love - by the gift of Jesus FOR YOU!
       By the power of the Holy Spirit in God’s Word preached and written - Joseph believes. (Vs.24-25) How about you? What do you fear this Christmas eve? Divorce? Debt? Disease? Grief? Loneliness? Your captivity to drunkenness? Porn? Drugs? The truth that you are a real sinner? Death? Wake up from your sleep! You have heard God’s promise spoken, sung, and reenacted by our children tonight. It isn’t a child’s story - but it is real history that will make you a child - a child of your Heavenly Father.
         Christmas began with a divorce. It burst forth in the heavenly Bridegroom the God/Man assuming our humanity into God to be born a Baby of the Virgin Mary. His perfect life lived as your Brother covers all your sin. He paid all your sinful hellish debts owed to Justice on Calvary. He rested in your grave. He took up His life again - to save you. Here in His Church God is with us gifting you with His cross won - empty tomb certified forgiveness, life, and salvation. Washed, proclaimed, preached, and fed to sinners who cling to His infant hands. He is Jesus! He is the sinner’s Jesus! He is yours! Let Him save you! Mat 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." Amen.