Jesus Christ

The first chapter of Matthew begins with a genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ followed immediately by an account of His birth. So with the exception of this genealogy the first words of the entire New Testament are our text: “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” (Matt. 1:18). What a remarkable beginning to the account of Jesus’ life!

The first person we want to interrogate is Gabriel, the angel of God. He appears at least twice in the Christmas story, once to announce the birth of John the Baptist to John’s father, the aged Zechariah, and once to announce the birth of Jesus to Mary.

The second person we wish to question is the angel who appeared to Joseph, as described in the verses immediately following our text. This angel may have been Gabriel, but he is not named. He is only “an angel” who appears to say, “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. 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” (Matt. 1:20-21).