There is no greater joy in the mob, than to condemn sin in
others, particularly a public sin. The
mob is not interested in redemption; nor is it interested in forgiveness. The mob claims interest only in justice. But more often, the mob is only really interested
in vengeance and humiliation. If this
were an old west movie, and the town’s people were chasing some criminal, it
might be more tolerable. But when the
mob is a religious one, the first goal is to make everyone aware of the sin of
its target. The second goal is to see
that the sinner is punished appropriately for what they have done. The mob holds itself guiltless no matter the
truth. The mob holds itself as arbiter
of the will of God. The mob believes its
actions are only just and deserved, and perhaps it even has a point. But this is not the story of our God, or the
story of His plan, for His plan redeems that which does not deserve
redemption. Our God forgives that which
should not be forgiven. Our God
transforms the life of the guilty sinner into one of passionate love for others
that makes obedience not only possible, but the lowest rung upon which to
measure success.
Our modern Christians too often equate with the mob. Our American idealism understands frontier
justice, even if we personally do not participate in it. We look on public sinners like Anthony Weiner
and decide that his repeated behaviors are proof that he is not really sorry,
and will do it again, the minute he has a chance. Getting caught appears to be the only thing
he is sorry for, as many a sinner will be in “the day of punishment at the end
of all things”. If mob justice were to
arise, even our modern Christian churches would somehow sympathize. We do not appreciate those with sexual
sins. We appreciate even less the ones
who get caught and parade their weaknesses in public. And when the sinner impacts the life of a
child, our tolerance completely vanishes, and only our sense of justice
emerges. And so even where there is no
pitchforks and lanterns on the streets, there is still an equal sentiment in
the hearts of those watching the news in their living rooms, who call
themselves followers of Jesus.
So what is the just punishment for sexting with anyone, let
alone a minor, from a religious perspective?
The quick answer is a pending trip to the fires of hell, but that seems
rather far off, and not immediate enough to satiate the crowd here. In Biblical times there was no concept of
sexting. Photography itself would take
many centuries to appear. And electronic
transmission of images in an instant across thousands of miles was just
conceptually unheard of in the days of Jesus.
But exposing oneself to others in person was something they have had
since before the flood. And women who
did not turn away from such exposure but rather turned towards it with thoughts
of their own, is also something that has existed since before the flood. So while the methods may differ, the sexual
sins are based largely on the same inner thoughts and outer actions.
For a member of the right religion (the Jewish faith) to
find herself pregnant prior to marriage was a pretty terrific and dangerous sin
for her. Since the Jewish faith was very
much a male dominated society, the penalties for the men seemed to have largely
dissipated, but the penalities for the women in such conditions were as sharp
as they ever were. The woman would be
stoned. Now for your average woman who
was not officially known as a prostitute, options were limited. A fiancée such as Mary was, engaged to a good
man like Joseph, had few if any. From
the mob’s point of view, if Mary was caught cheating on Joseph, stoning would
be in her future. If however, Mary and
Joseph just jumped the gun a little on the wedding date, and got pregnant a bit
earlier than was planned, this could be forgiven as long as neither party was
cheating in any of this.
But Matthew had a problem.
Matthew was writing his gospel from a very traditional Hebrew
perspective. His audience would care
very much about the conditions of the birth of Jesus. They may have accepted His ancestry as being
from the lineage of David and Abraham. But
there were a lot of questions swirling around the birth of Jesus Himself. Was Mary a slut or not? Joseph was obviously a good devout man, but
the Pharisees made a ton of innuendo about Mary being a full-on-slut, caught
with her pants down so to speak, and Jesus being born a bastard at best. How could a bastard ever be the Messiah? The penalties were clear, and the mob was
ready to pounce. This was the mindset of
the audience that Matthew was determined to share the Gospel with. Matthew must unite Old and New
Testaments. If He could not, the one or
the other was a lie. Could God lie?
Matthew lays out the conditions of birth picking up in
chapter one and verse 18 saying … “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this
wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” Matthew dives right in from his audience’s
perspective, the problem was clear. Mary
was engaged to Joseph. But before the
two of them could come together as husband and wife (in effect before Joseph
“knew” Mary in ancient terms). Mary was
found to be with child of the Holy Ghost.
Mary was pregnant. Mary was
showing. It’s not like Mary could go
around her home town advertising that the Holy Spirit had come to her
explaining all this in advance. Who
would believe her? Who would believe any
girl who claimed to not only have heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, but was
getting pregnant from the Holy Spirit?
That was crazy town talk. So she
kept silent. The gospel was shared with
Mary, but fear kept it locked up inside, until the evidence of the gospel could
not be overlooked.
Matthew continues in verse 19 saying … “Then Joseph her
husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away privily.” The
problem continues. While Mary knew the
gospel of the Messiah was now developing in her womb, not even her fiancée knew
it. Joseph could see the evidence of
pregnancy. Joseph could see the evidence
of her unfaithfulness. Mary must have
cheated on him as that was the only way this condition could have emerged. Some men would have led the mob with
pitchforks and stones. Some men would
have slinked away and let the mob do its own justice unable to watch the
outcome. But Joseph was of a mind to
forgive Mary, preserve her life, but put her away, and never trust her again. Joseph would preserve the life of mother and
child that was not his, but the life he had planned was over. This was to be private pain for Joseph,
private distrust, private betrayal. He
must take responsibility for this sin he did not commit with the outside mob,
but the life that was destroyed on the inside was his.
Matthew continues in verse 20 stating … “But while he
thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” The Gospel was now declared by an Angel of
God in a dream to Joseph. There was no
arguing. There was no doubts. Mary had not deceived or betrayed him, Mary
was faithful to Joseph. This baby was
conceived by the Holy Spirit. But wait a
minute. If no man was the father, that
left only one choice for who was the father.
It had to be the Father God. If
the Father God was the father, then this son would be a Son of His. Joseph would be raising God as his own
son. The life Joseph had thought to
preserve was now the only life that could preserve his own. The forgiveness Joseph was of a mind to grant
Mary and her baby, could only be granted by the baby to Joseph. The responsibility was enormous. He was not equipped to raise God. What do you even call God?
Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “And she shall bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people
from their sins.” There it is. There is the Gospel in a single
sentence. Call Him Jesus. The Mission of this Messiah, of the only and
true Messiah, will not be the
ascendency of His own power. It will not be a mission of condemnation
for those who are plainly guilty.
Instead, this Jesus, will save His people from their sins. It remains so today. We are not called only to forgiveness. We are not called only to grace. We are called to be transformed by a love
that creates passion in us for others and none for ourselves. We are called to be saved from our sins,
freed from them, freed from our slavery to them. We are not saved from the devil. We are saved from ourselves. We are saved from the creatures we have
become. Salvation is salvation from
us. This is the mission of the Messiah,
of our Messiah, and of theirs. There is
no mob in this message. There is no
justice in it, only mercy, for mercy has outdone justice due to love. And none are immune from it. Even those caught in repeated sin, horrific
sin, public sin. All can be saved from
who they are. All they need is Jesus.
These were the conditions of birth. This is how Jesus came to be. These are the facts of it. But how does this tie back to what was
foretold? Matthew continues in verse 22
saying … “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of
the Lord by the prophet, saying, [verse 23] Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us.”
These are not just the words of Matthew spoken after they have occurred.
The God of our scriptures was the same
God from before the arrival of Jesus.
Matthew quotes the very prophet Isaiah to his audience. Isaiah was given the foresight to prophecy
these words centuries before they would be fulfilled. But they were fulfilled in Jesus. This Gospel of the Hebrews will be a series
of prophecies of Old fulfilled in the New, fulfilled in embodiment of Jesus
Christ.
The audience of Matthew might be willing to argue with
Matthew. They may not like his words, or
his former profession. But Isaiah was
revered. Isaiah was sacrosanct. No one dare argue with Isaiah, and Isaiah
said it would occur just like it has occurred.
The Pharisees were wrong. The
leaders of the right religion were wrong.
Isaiah had said it, and it occurred. Mary was not a slut, she was honored and her
virginity intact at conception. God is
with us. God, the very God of the entire
Old Testament was with us. Here with
us. How could it get any better than this? And the religious leaders of the right religion
pissed it away. They did not only
squander the opportunity. They attempted
and succeeded (for a moment) at cutting it short by killing the very author of
their own religion. This is what control
does to a Jesus who asks us to abandon it to Himself.
But this condition was not just to be documented for
conception, Isaiah words were to last for the entire pregnancy and carry even
more weight. Matthew continues in verse
24 saying … “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord
had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: [verse 25] And knew her not till
she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” Joseph did as the Angel instructed. He not only forgave Mary who needed no
forgiveness, he embraced her as his wife as a full partner in the life he had
envisioned. But he also preserved her
virginity until AFTER the birth of Jesus.
Only then did He come to “know” Mary as her husband. Mary was not a slut. Nor was she some sort of aberrant depiction
of the goddess Diana, or some moon goddess, or some picture of perpetual
virginity. She was his wife. After a virgin birth, she was his partner,
and the object of his sexual expression.
And they had other children who were siblings of Jesus. They were a family. A human family tasked with raising God among
them.
There would be no mob mentality to deal with “sins” that
were not even sins. The judgment of
humanity is not judgment at all, it is only condemnation of what they cannot
understand. The sins we commit are never
right, or excused; only forgiven. Our
chains to them, our desires to do them, are what Jesus came to save us
from. The entire Gospel summed up in one
sentence. He came to “save” His people
from their sins. Not to excuse them in
perpetuity. He came to change the lives
of those who are in bondage to sins. He
came to make us different. He came to
remove from us the things that must be removed if perfection is ever to be our
result. Obedience is not a precondition
of our salvation. Obedience is a
evidentiary result of our salvation. It
cannot occur until transformation of who we are occurs. This is what Jesus came to do. No mobs need ever form. Redemption and reclamation is His only goal.
Matthew had made his first foray into tying the Old with the
New. But this was far from finished …
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