Matthew 1:18-25 - Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus focuses on the relational drama between Mary and Joseph receiving unthinkable news: the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. This is far from an incidental reality--it is the key to the idea that Jesus is "Emmanuel" or "God with us" in the deepest sense. It is also the key to the idea that Jesus is able to save us from our sins. It’s the best news imaginable. A sermon by Cameron Heger. [Part 2 of the series "Advent According to Matthew"]
Questions for discussion: 1) Why do you suppose God chose to bring about the birth of Jesus in such an emotionally fraught way for Joseph and Mary? 2) How does Jesus’s genuine humanity especially qualify him to be our judge and savior? 3) How does Jesus’s genuine divinity change the meaning of God being “with us” from how it was before the incarnation of Jesus? 4) Why is salvation from sin such a deep and urgent need for Jesus to meet? 5) Do you think of God as “with” you in your day-to-day life? What would change if you did?
