December 7, 2025 | Bro Julius Consulta
Christmas is a time for family and friends and food and gifts. But beyond the excitement and the happiness, why exactly do we celebrate it? The occasion remembers someone who made such a profound impact that His birth is celebrated around the world.
The truth of Christmas consists of two truths: Jesus is God, and Jesus is with us.
Today, we will look at Matthew’s account of the Christmas story (Matthew 1: 18-23) which focuses on the perspective of Joseph, Jesus’ earthly stepfather.
The passages opens with Mary and Joseph being betrothed to each other. They were in the betrothal (kiddushin) or second stage of a traditional Jewish marriage. During this stage, a husband and wife were legally bound to each other, and would need to file for divorce if they decided to forego marriage. However, the young couple encountered a crisis: although they were not yet living together, Mary was found to be pregnant (v18).
Mary’s pregnancy would have looked like adultery, leaving her fiancé Joseph with two options. He could file for a public divorce, dragging Mary to the courts and effectively issuing her a social death sentence, or file a private one. Despite his turmoil, Joseph was a righteous man and planned to divorce Mary privately (v19). God, however, had a different plan.
Before Joseph could act, an angel gave him a divine command wrapped in reassurance, saying: Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife (v20). The angel commanded Joseph to name the child, a symbolic act which would denote the child’s mission. Joseph was to name the child Jesus or Yeshua, which in Hebrew means “God saves” (v21).
But why do we need to be saved? Specifically, what do we need saving from? The answer is sin. For many people, the truth that they need a saviour is hard to swallow. Like an obliviousman in a burning house who ignores his neighbour’s warnings, most don’t even realise that they’re in danger from the sin they’ve committed until it’s too late. All of us have sinned before God and deserve death (Romans 3:23, 6:23). However, while we cannot do anythingto save ourselves, the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus (Romans 6:23). God had a rescue plan to save us, and that plan was Jesus. We have to recognise this because we will never appreciate the fullness of our salvation until we understand what we have been saved from.
This is the first truth of Christmas: Jesus is God. He came to save us.
In the midst of his crisis, Joseph had decide for himself whether he believed the angel’s word that the child was God. Fortunately, while the New Testament has no record of any spoken word from Joseph, his actions spoke loudly enough. A man does not marry a pregnant virgin, endure social shame, lead his family to Egypt based on dreams, or protect his adopted child from a king unless he believes that that child is God. Joseph repeatedly risked everything because he believed that Jesus was God.
The first truth of Christmas is that Jesus is God. Like Joseph, the next question is: do you believe this truth? Who do you think Jesus is?
In the passage, Matthew quoted from Isaiah in the Old Testament, explaining that Mary and Joseph’s situation had all been planned (v22). Accordingly, “they would call [the child] Immanuel” (v23). Jesus has many names in the Bible but perhaps the most comforting of these is Immanuel, which in Hebrew means “God with us”.
Many struggle to accept this. Why, they ask, would God care about me when he has far greater concerns? The reality is that Jesus came not just to save you, but to understand you, sympathise with you and walk alongside you. Each of us has at least one person we believewe can depend on, but in times of need, that person may still let us down. In contrast, the creator of the universe promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you.
This is the second truth of Christmas: Jesus is with us. He invites us to His presence.
This means three things.
Perhaps you lost someone recently, or you’ve been asked to leave your job, or your health is deteriorating. Whatever your struggle, Christmas is comforting because it reassures us that we are not going through life alone. Jesus is with us and he is asking us to trust him
The truth of Christmas consists of two truths: Jesus is God, and Jesus is with us.
In every performance from today’s Christmas service, a thread of red has been featured, representing the blood of Jesus. Ultimately, Christmas is about Jesus coming to die for us, his birth setting in motion a mission that would eventually lead him to lay down his life. The cradle in Bethlehem is forever tied to the cross at Calvary. Without Jesus’ death and resurrection, there is no salvation.
Placed on each seat in the room today is a bookmark and a red ribbon. Tying the red ribbon through the bookmark symbolises God’s reconciliation. At the cross, God reconciled man to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Remember the two truths of Christmas. You might be excited about the second truth, but you can only experience it if you respond correctly to the first by surrendering your life to Him.