(Matthew 1 - continued)

19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly.

Why is Joseph called a righteous man?

I believe what we call righteous and what GOD calls righteous are two different things. I tend to think of righteous as keeping the Law, obeying the Ten Commandments, and being morally good.

Apparently, that is not what GOD means by being righteous. Joseph could have followed the Law and divorced Mary, and I would have called him righteous because he followed the Law.

It is difficult to imagine Joseph's dilemma seeing Mary pregnant.

I am always amused when I hear about a seminar on "Biblical Dating". It always amazes me, because there was not any dating during biblical times. I do not know exactly what they are teaching or from where they are getting their research.

Joseph must have been overwhelmingly SHOCKED, horribly DISAPPOINTED, and [I am sorry to those who would disagree with me] a little ANGRY.

This is one of those rare times in human beings when we see total Agape Love. What kind of love is that?

Joseph's love was Agape Love.

By the way, is there any doubt that God chose the right man to raise His Son? There is not any doubt.

At this point, Joseph knew that he had two options, as follows:

1. To divorce Mary publicly. The elders of the city conducted the public divorces in the open and at the city gates. This public display assured full knowledge for everybody to know about a woman's adultery against her husband. In this case, Mary would have been put to open shame, and if punished as an adulterer, she would have been stoned to death.
2. To divorce Mary privately [ Joseph's only other apparent option]. This legal procedure would be conducted quietly, where no body would know about it.

In this case, Joseph decided to proceed with the second option — to divorce Mary quietly. However, Joseph thought that he only had two valid options. He was about to learn that:

20 But when he had considered this, behold

I love this. From where do you think that word behold came? That was from Joseph's testimony; and it meant:

The angel comes to Joseph and he calls him son of David. Joseph knew he was a son of David; all the Israelites knew their genealogies. So why does the angel call him son of David?

In this passage, I believe we are going to see that God was very intent on making Joseph part of this family. Joseph was not going to be biologically related to Jesus. However, I believe God wanted Joseph to be part of that family; part of the process to be Jesus' human father.

An angel of the Lord calls Joseph son of David to remind him, Yes, you are the son of David. The Messiah is going to be the son of David, and you, Joseph, are going to be:

So the angel of the Lord says Do not be afraid. You can marry her, because Holy Spirit has conceived the Child in Mary.

Both Matthew and Luke are clear that Jesus of Nazareth was born of a virgin.

Remember: The virgin birth of Messiah is not an optional doctrine.

Amazing to me today is how many [so-called] Christian seminary students, Bible scholars, and Protestant ministers do not believe in the virgin birth. How can this be?

I am always very reluctant to give Satan more credit than he should have, but no doubt, Satan has a part in this one.

Satan knew [at least] from the Garden of Eden that there would be a virgin birth. Unlike man who is sometimes slow when reading the Bible, Satan is fast. And although he does not have Holy Spirit to interpret the Scriptures for him, Satan is highly intelligent. When God mentioned:

Satan knew exactly what that was to be; he knew there would be a virgin birth.

In Isaiah 7, God said:

Satan knew what was coming.

Satan enacted two plans to prevent God's work of the virgin birth, as follows:

That was what happened in Genesis 6:1-4 when the sons of God were cohabiting with the daughters of men. The sons of God were demons (fallen angels) who were cohabiting with human women, and they were producing a race.

I believe that Satan was trying to corrupt the gene pool so there could not be a virgin birth. Ultimately, he probably knew this plan would not work. He was correct.

This was Satan's plan that he unfolded masterfully. I believe he created all of the myths, legends, and fables about individuals who were born of virgins, including the legends and fables of heroes who were half-god, half-man. Satan's intention was that when the real virgin birth happened, people would consider it and say Oh, that is just another legend.

There is no doubt that Satan had a master plan and it continues to unfold today. Consider a large population of Christian seminary students, Bible scholars, and Protestant ministers that have decided the virgin birth was not a real event. They say Oh, we believe in the virgin birth typologically, meaning it is true mythologically. What is that supposed to mean?

Them saying that really means:

In addition, another theologian group has gathered together to determine that only two to three percent of the Gospels (the first four books of the Bible, which describe the earthly life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus) is true.

Obviously, Satan's plan has worked. The apostle Paul tells us:

Okay, if they do not believe the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, then they should just admit I do not believe the basic doctrines of biblical Christianity. But they should not be patronizing.

Also, if what these individuals are saying is true, then the Bible is full of lies. Again, if they chose not to believe the Word of God in its entirety, including the Virgin Birth and the Gospels of Messiah Jesus, then that is their own business; however, they should not claim to be born again Christians — biblical believers.

For one thing, if they really believe that there was not a virgin birth, then they must answer the following question:

Many of them will say Joseph or some will say a Roman soldier, which are nothing more than inexcusable slander toward Mary.

Application: Paul clearly tells us:

The problem is, obviously, theological. Know that Joseph was a good man, however, he too had a sin nature. And if Jesus of Nazareth had been born of Joseph [or, of any other man], He would have inherited that man's sin nature.

So what? If Jesus of Nazareth would have had a sin nature, then He could not have been our sin substitute. Therefore, He could not have paid the penalty for our sin. Why? He would have had His own sin with which to deal.

Okay, Jesus of Nazareth did not have a human father, so He did not inherit the sin nature from a man. However, He did have a human mother. Verse 18 says:

So how was it that Jesus of Nazareth was born with no sin nature since He did have a human mother, who was a sinner?

We have to ask that question, because we cannot say Jesus of Nazareth was born with a sin nature and then He overcame it. The Bible is clear:

The Roman Catholics have tried to address this issue by saying that Mary did not have a sin nature, that she was sinless. That is why they call the Immaculate Conception [of Mary].

I do not condemn them for thinking that, because I understand what they are trying to do. They were looking at this and they said Jesus of Nazareth did not have a human father, but He did have a human mother. Since Jesus of Nazareth did not have a sin nature, then Mary must not have had a sin nature; therefore, Mary was sinless. However, the problem is that Mary was a sinner, because Mary's mother had a sin nature and she was a sinner.

That is the problem with the theory of the Immaculate Conception; if they say that Mary did not have a sin nature, then they must ask What about Mary's mother? Did she have a sin nature? And what about her mother? And her mother…? One would have to keep the ancestry of women all the way back to Eve [including Eve] as not having a sin nature. All of them would have to have been sinless. We know that was not true.

Saying that Mary was sinless does not solve the situation.

Mary was righteous and she was godly, but she was a sinner. The text says that Jesus came to save His people from their sins; and Mary said:

How could Jesus of Nazareth have a human mother and not have a sin nature? It seems that God somehow blocked that sin nature from coming from Mary down to Jesus.

Alternatively, it could be something else; geneticists made a discovery in recent years that might shed light on this.

Geneticists have examined Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), which is that little, twisted ladder that is located in every cell in our bodies and that has information encoded about us. DNA is unique to every human being. However, recently it was found that there is something very unusual about the DNA in women. There is a part in that DNA that is the same from woman to woman.

If this is true, it may be very significant for our understanding of how Jesus of Nazareth was born with a sin nature, especially if we remember what happened just after the creation. Let us combine this discovery about DNA with what we do know is true.

When did God separate Eve from Adam?

It must have been that God separated Eve out of Adam to protect part of her DNA, so that when they fell there would be that part of her DNA that was uncorrupted.

We know that the descendants of Eve had a sin nature. Why? The descendants of Eve all had human fathers.

Let us say theoretically/hypothetically:

Meaning:

I do not know if all that is true or not; I cannot think of any other possibility other than:

Apparently, that is what happened when Jesus of Nazareth was born. It could explain why Mary was a sinner and Jesus was not. Why was Mary a sinner? Mary had a human father. Why was Jesus of Nazareth not a sinner? He was Mary's son, but Jesus of Nazareth did not inherit that sin nature from a human, biological father who would have had a sin nature. Holy Spirit conceived Jesus in Mary; Holy Spirit was the Father of Jesus.

God made provision for sin at:

• The Crucifixion and Death of Messiah on the Cross

But we go back before then to:

• The Killing of the Animal in the Garden of Eden

Maybe it was before then to:

• The Creation of Adam and Separating Eve Out of Adam

We have to keep going back to:

• The Eternal Counsel of the Godhead

As far back as we want to go, God knew you and I were going to sin, and He made provision for it.

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