Matthew 1:18-23: The Birth of Jesus

Matthew here recounts the birth of Jesus Christ and its fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The prophecy is Isaiah 7:14, that “a virgin would conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us” (v. 23).  Why is the doctrine of the virgin birth or conception so important? Because it teaches us that in the birth of Christ, God the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit is breaking into our lost and sinful world for our eternal good. In Christ, the God-Man- One Person in two distinct, inseparable human and divine natures- God draws near to us in favor and humanity draws near to God in perfect obedience.  In Christ’s person and only there is “God with us,” for all eternity.