In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

This evening we read the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, and then we read of the fulfillment. To the New Testament Christian, this is fairly simple. Sure, it is an amazing prophecy, but matching the prophecy with the fulfillment is easy. We know how to interpret the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 because of the words before us tonight. Though many learned professors get it wrong, the inspired account of St. Matthew certainly gets it right. Isaiah 7:14 foretells the virgin birth of Christ. That is the only fulfillment. The Bible makes it plain. Scripture interprets itself! Tonight, let us study the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy:

Let's take these words verse by verse, realizing that these words are inspired by God, and therefore, absolutely trustworthy. It says, {18} This 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. Here's how God's Son was conceived and born. Before Joseph and Mary were married, they were "pledged" in a legal process called "betrothal." Betrothal meant much more than today's engagement. Betrothal was a marriage contract that was legally binding. Mary and Joseph were betrothed to marry one another. They were legally bound, but could not live together or sleep together as husband and wife until their wedding day. The Bible is very modest in this description here. Mary and Joseph did not "sleep together" and yet, Mary had become pregnant. She was "with child through the Holy Spirit." As you might imagine, this quickly became a problem for Joseph! Let's read on.

{19} Because 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. Just imagine what Joseph must have been thinking! He knew that he had not had any "relations" with Mary, and yet she was pregnant. He could only conclude that she had been unfaithful to him. Yet, he was "betrothed" to her legally. He did not want to marry someone who had been unfaithful to him, so he was going to "divorce" her, and legally end the betrothal. Yet, Joseph was going to do this "quietly" because he "did not want to expose her to public disgrace." He didn't want to embarrass her or expose her to needless shame. Joseph did not fly off in a jealous rage and call for her to be stoned to death, which was the Old Testament penalty for such unfaithfulness. He loved Mary, and wanted to deal with her in the kindest possible way. So, Joseph is thinking about this...

{20} But 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. God knew what Joseph was thinking, so he sent an angel to clear it all up. The angel told Joseph that the baby was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit, as we confess in the Creed. It sounds so simple to us, but this must have been very difficult for poor Joseph! Not only was this a miraculous conception, it was a miracle that Joseph believed it! This was an awful lot to swallow. Never before had such a thing happened, that a girl became pregnant without having any relations with a man. Never after this would it happen either! This was a lot to believe! And yet, we confess this truth in the Creeds each week, almost without thinking about it, I'm afraid. The angel went on.

{21} She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Here is the real gist of the message. The virgin Mary would give birth to a son. Joseph was to see that this baby was named, "JESUS." The name Jesus was common back then. It was like the name Joshua. It means "The LORD saves." In other boys with that name, it would mean that God saves. But in this baby boy, the name would mean that this very Jesus "will save his people from their sins." This baby Jesus will grow up to save his people from their sins. Here we have the gospel.

Jesus didn't come to permit sin, but to take it away. He didn't come to tolerate sin, but to save us from its consequences. So many people have this all wrong, so many who claim to be Christian, that this bears repeating. Jesus did not come to say that our sins are okay with God, but to pay for them. He came to live a pure and holy life for us, and to die on the cross to atone for our sins, and the sins of the whole world. The way to heaven is by believing in Jesus. That's why we say, "Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved!" This name is all-important when it comes to our salvation. Scripture says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

So, we have learned that the virgin Mary would give birth to a son, God's Son, and he would save us all from sin. Joseph would serve as legal foster father for the Son of God.

{22} All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. This is talking about the prophet Isaiah, and his prediction from God in chapter 7, verse 14, that the virgin would give birth to Immanuel. Matthew, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes that the prophecy was fulfilled in Mary and Jesus. May God give us, and others, the humility and faith to accept what Scripture says. We can be absolutely certain about the meaning of Isaiah 7:14 because of these words of the New Testament.

Today, it has become common to waver about everything. People waver about religion and God. They waver about the way of salvation. They waver about who Jesus is and what he came to do. They waver about Isaiah 7:14. It is not good to be so wishy-washy when God's Word speaks clearly. When God's Word speaks clearly, we should speak clearly. Here we need to say, "This is what the Lord says" as the prophets and apostles did. And let the chips fall where they may.

Matthew quotes the prophet Isaiah: {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." Isaiah had foretold the virgin birth of Immanuel. And here we are reminded that the Hebrew term, "Immanuel" means "God with us." This does not mean that God is just with us in a general way. No, this term means that God is with us in the person of Jesus Christ. It means that Jesus is "God with us" in the flesh. He is the God-man. He is true God and true man in one person. He is "God with us" in person.

He had to be true God and true man to save us. As true man, he lived under the law and humbled himself to die on the cross for us. As true God, he lived perfectly, and his death was a sufficient ransom for all of our sins, and the sins of the whole world. Don't be wishy-washy about the gospel. Don't say, "I hope I'm forgiven," or "I think I'm forgiven." Say, "I know that I'm forgiven through Christ!" We are certain that Jesus has won our forgiveness. Be certain about the gospel, because God's Word teaches it clearly.

Be certain about Isaiah's prophecy too. He was talking about the virgin Mary and God's Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. That prophecy was given 700 years in advance! Isn't that amazing! Through Isaiah, God said that the virgin would give birth to Immanuel. And then, it happened, that first Christmas. In this season of Advent, marvel at all of the Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus. The Old Testament believers watched and waited for his coming. We picture them singing, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!" And then he came. He came and ransomed them, and he ransomed us too. How thankful we should be that the virgin did give birth to Immanuel, because Immanuel saved us from sin! But we know him better by his other name: Jesus. And we know for sure that Jesus is our Savior from sin. Amen.