Matthew 1:21
“She (Mary) will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
Springford Baptist Church KNOWING JOY
December 11, 2022.
Contained in this single verse is the reason for JOY that we celebrate at Christmas.
The name “Jesus” means “The Lord saves”.
Every one of us sins and is affected by sin in our world and Jesus came to save us from that. This truth is the greatest cause for JOY ever.
It is one thing to identify a problem and then another thing entirely to fix it.
A young family moved into their new home and were really looking forward to spending Christmas there together. They got all the furniture arranged and had the fridge stocked with food. They put up their tree and had all their favourite decorations displayed. Their beds were so comfortable to sink into at night and they had their clothes carefully hung in their closets and folded in their dresser drawers. The family room was set up and the TV was connected. Everything appeared to be in place, but there was one problem. When they went into the kitchen and turned on the tap at the sink there was no water. It was the same in the bathroom. This really was a problem. They could not get along without fresh water. They would need fresh water for drinking and for cooking. They would need fresh water to wash their dishes. They would need fresh water to wash their hands and to take a bath or shower. No where in their house could they get any water.
What would you do if you were in this situation? You have recognized that there is a problem. Something needs to be done about it! As the youngest member of this family exclaimed, “We can’t live like this.” And indeed they could not.
Identifying the problem is only the beginning. The next step is crucial. It is finding a way to solve the problem.
The Dad in this young family thought that perhaps he could fix the problem himself rather than phone a plumber. That did not go well. He created quite a mess when he tried to figure out the pipes and really wasn’t sure what he was doing.
The Mom decided that in the meantime they would go to her parents to shower and they would just eat take out food. But this did not address the problem of having no water.
They had so looked forward to moving into their new home but this issue of no water was taking the joy out of their move altogether.
Finally, they decided to call a plumber who did know what to do to fix the problem and they felt that they had been saved from their growing disaster. They could now celebrate Christmas together and really enjoy their new home!
As we have considered the plight of this young family, we may have wondered, Why didn’t they call a plumber sooner. Why would they try to fix the problem themselves or avoid dealing with it?
These are very good questions and can be applied to various circumstances in our lives where we know there is a problem.
These are questions that we can apply to the problem of sin. Some people may choose not to talk about sin these days, but even if not talked about sin is a significant problem in our world. Sin is when we know what is the right thing to do and we choose to do the wrong thing. This can be in thoughts or words or actions. It infects each of us and ultimately it infects our whole world.
Sin is what causes bullying at school. Sin is what causes racism. Sin is what causes broken relationships in families and amongst friends. Sin is what has caused war in our world. Sin separates us from our God who loves us so completely. This is a serious problem that needs to be fixed. Who can fix it? Is there anyone who can fix the huge problem of sin?
We know this is not something we can fix ourselves. If we try, we just end up making a mess of things like the Dad trying to fix the plumbing by himself when he really did not know what he was doing.
Who then can fix this persistent problem of sin? Who can save us from sin? This is where the good news of great joy comes in our Scripture today, “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.” (Matthew 1:21)
Jesus lives up to His Name and does exactly this, He saves His people, He saves us from our sins!
Jesus is indisputably our reason for JOY at Christmas!!
We can KNOW JOY when we know Jesus.
Recognize with me that this is JOY that does not depend on circumstances. Whatever is happening in our lives, we can know the JOY of belonging to Jesus and trusting Him to save us from our sins.
If you ask someone what they hope for in life, many will say to live a happy life and for their family to be safe and healthy and happy. This might seem like the best that any of us could hope for.
The Christmas story reminds us that there is much more that we can hope for. The birth of Jesus is God entering our world to fix the problem of sin. This signals JOY that is uncontained. God in His immense love did not sit by and watch people continue to struggle with sin with no way to fix the problem themselves.
We can think of sin separating us from God and Jesus came to be the bridge that brings us back to God who wants to save us from our sin and wants us to know Him and how much He loves us.
When we encounter God and know Him and His love for us in what He has done by sending Jesus, we have every reason for JOY!
Thank You God that knowing You by knowing Your Son Jesus makes KNOWING JOY possible for anyone!