NEVER ANYONE LIKE HIM (2)

(Matt 1:18-25)

Read Matt 1:18-25. Question – Is this story all too familiar to you? Has the
wonder gone out of it? I was 18 years of age the first time I saw Mr.
Lincoln at Disneyland. There he was, sitting in a chair on a darkened stage.
Then the music played. The backlighting came on and suddenly -- he stood
up. The spotlight came on him. Miraculously, Abraham. Lincoln was
standing in front of us, looking from side to side to take in his audience.
Then he began to speak. I was awestruck. But by the 100th time I saw it,
the wonder was long gone. I’d seen it so often it was commonplace.

Has Christmas become that way for you. Is the story commonplace? Is it
about decorations and presents and dinner? Has the wonder of Christ
ceased to exist? Did it ever exist for you? Or are you like the guy who
called the rental car company he had gotten his car from. He was stranded
and needed a tow. He didn’t remember what make of car he was driving, so
the attendant asked if he could describe his car beyond just that it was “a
nice blue four-door.” After a long pause, the driver replied, “Well, my car
is the one on fire." Now that’s a differentiator! The question tonight is, do
you know the fire that is Jesus? Is he just another hippie-like cult figure to
you? Or have you met the extraordinary Savior that burned in this singular
historical figure?

Have you understood that out of all the billions of people ever born on this
planet, He is absolutely unique. Have you understood that to write Him
off as a kindly wise man who inspired a fairytale legacy is to make a
mortal mistake – a mistake of eternal proportions. Our eternal destiny is
at stake. But why? What so sets Him apart? Four things in this passage
speak to the uniqueness of Jesus. He is unique in his pedigree, his purpose,
his person and his proprietorship. We covered the first two on Sunday.
Brief review.

I. Uniqueness of His Pedigree (18-20)

Verses 18-20 clarify that Jesus is unique in his pedigree – his birth. He was
virgin-born through the power of the Holy Spirit. Most people stop just long
enough to blow this idea off as ancient legend that modern folks could
never countenance. But when you blow this off, you call Scripture into
question. But even worse you deny the God is Scripture. Either God is the
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all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent God that Scripture presents him as
being or we made him up – a god in our own image. And we might just as
well fold our tents and go home. Why worship a God whom we can judge
based on our limited knowledge? Jesus’ virgin birth is a biblical fact. He is
unique in His birth; He had to be to fulfill His mission. It’s not just a nice
little story. The virgin birth is a matter of gospel necessity.

II. Uniqueness of His Purpose (21)

Verse 21, angel to Joseph, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name
Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” What is unique here? It is
His purpose. His mission is to save people from their sins. How many
people do you know of whose purpose in life was to save people from their
sins? That is unique in all of history, is it not? Imagine if there had never
been anyone to do that. Where would we be? We’d be fine if there is no
holy God and no accountability beyond the grave. But what if there is
something beyond the grave? What if there is accountability?

Then – I need a Savior. And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus came
to save people from their sins. He says in Luke 19:10, “10) For the Son of
Man came to seek and to save the lost.” How was He going to do that?
John hinted at that the first time he saw Jesus. He said, “Behold the lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world.” Lamb of God? What is that
about? Well, it is about his dying to take upon himself the wrath of God
against sin so that those who would believe in him could be saved. That is
a very unique purpose. And it implies that we needed saving.

Would God have asked his own son to come and die it for us – and it
wasn’t necessary? Would he? Be reasonable folks. That would be like me
sending my son Tim on a suicide mission to rescue a bunch of hostages
while knowing full well they have been digging a secret tunnel and are
about to get out on their own. Would I send my son? Of course not. And
neither is it plausible that God would send his own Son at the sacrifice of
his own life to pay a penalty that I could pay myself. Don’t you see? The
very fact that Jesus came with the purpose of saving people says two things:
1) that they need to be saved and 2) that there is no other way for them
to be saved. It is a unique purpose and it should speak to us of our need.

III. Uniqueness of His Person (22-23)

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This is found in verses 22-23: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord
had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” Jesus’ birth fulfilled an 800-
year-old prophecy given in Isaiah 7:14 predicting Messiah would be virgin-
born. It also said he would be called Immanuel. This was not intended as a
name by which he would be called. It was a title – a description of who He
was. Immanuel is really three Hebrew words strung together. Literally
they read, “With us, God.” Who was this virgin-born man? God clothed in
human flesh. “With us, God.” Staggering to the human mind.

The theology behind this prophecy is explained in Philippians 2. Let’s look

beginning in verse 5: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in
Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form (Greek word morphe which
speaks of the inner essence of one’s being. Here is means that Jesus is God)
– though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing
to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form (same word
morphe) of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found
in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross.” So this passage teaches that Jesus, though he
was God, never gave up being God, but did give up acting as God for a
time. Then to the form of God he added the form of man – living in
obedience to the Father. Jesus was both 100% God and 100% man in an
unbelievable, ultimately unexplainable union unique in all of history.

That is how He became “with us.” He became “one of us.” Without using
his “Godness” he lived for 33 years purely as a man. He became “with us”
in every way with one exception. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have
a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” This is
describing “God with us.” To be with us is to be who we are and feel what
we feel. Christ knew the pangs of hunger, the burden of fatigue and the pain
of emotional and physical suffering. He cried over sin and unbelief. He
knew the temptation of greed, position, power, the pull of sensuality. He
was “in every respect tempted as we are.” He was with us in every regard
except He did not sin. He looked like us; he felt like us; he suffered like
us; but he never sinned like us. That’s what qualified him to die for us.
Do you see the stunning importance of His unique pedigree and person?

World War I was one of the most horrific wars in the history of the planet.
There was a 2300 mile trench across Europe with enemies on both sides
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mowing each other down with machine guns for the sake of a few thousand
yards year after year after year. Millions were killed. It was bloody
stupidity. But out of the slaughter a relatively minor poet, Edward Schilitah
wrote a very moving piece --"Jesus of the Scars." He describes the darkness
and despair of all the wounds and the suffering in the trenches. Then he
says, "If, when the doors are shut, thou drawest near, only display thy
hands, those wounds of thine. We know today what wounds are. Never
fear. Show us thy wounds. We know the countersign." He’s saying, your
wounds make you one with us, for if we know anything, it is wounds. And
then he says, "The other gods were strong, but you were weak. They rode,
but thou didst stumble to thy throne (he means the cross). And to our
wounds, only God's wounds can speak, (and now listen to this) and not a
God has wounds, but thou alone." Do you get what he is saying? No other
god ever claimed to be “with us.” No other god has wounds, like us – only
Jesus. But why? Why would he do that? Only one reason. Because He
loves us and wants to save us. Only as God-man could he do that.

IV. Uniqueness of His Proprietorship

There is one more way in which Jesus Christ is unique. It is eternally

important. He is unique in His proprietorship – His ownership claim on
every life that ever was. This includes His earthly father Joseph as we see
in verses 24-25, “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had
given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” Joseph had been on an
absolute roller coaster. He went from the euphoria of anticipating marriage
to the girl of his dreams, to the excruciating pain of discovering that she had
been unfaithful, and then the message announcing that not only was his
Mary faithful, but he was about to become the earthly father of the Messiah.
You have to admit – that’s an eventful week.

But it is Joseph’s reaction that we want to emphasize. After the angel gave
him the news, what did he do? What he did was to obey in every particular.
He took Mary as his wife; he avoided any marital relations with her until
after the birth of Christ; and he named his son Jesus -- Savior. He believed;
he expressed his belief in obedience.

And Beloved, there is no other possible response to the uniqueness of our

Lord that is appropriate or saving. Believe and obey. No other response is
acceptable to His unique claim. Anything less is to waste in your case the
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incredible sacrifice that God has made for you. We can read about Caesar
and leave as we came; we can hear of Lincoln and walk away with life
unchanged; we can study Plato and walk unmoved and without moral
consequence. But we cannot walk away from the love of Christ – not
without eternal consequences. His life, death and resurrection for us means
He has an ownership claim on every life that ever was.

In John 9 we find Jesus healing a blind man by placing mud on his eyes and
telling him to go wash at the pool of Siloam. When the Pharisees found out,
they were apoplectic – Jesus again – breaking their code. They brought the
man in for questioning and accused Jesus of being a sinner for healing on
the Sabbath. The man responded in John 9:25, “Whether he is a sinner I do
not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” At this
point they cast him out -- excommunicated him. We read beginning in John
9:35, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said,
“Do you believe in the Son of Man? (an OT designation for the Messiah)” 36
He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said
to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said,
“Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. So Jesus refused him and said,
“No, man, you must not worship me. Only God deserves worship.” Is that
what he did? No! No! Not at all. What did he do? Just as on other
similar occasions, he took the worship. He accepted it. Now what kind of
man is that? What kind of man would take worship? How about a man
who is also God and has an ownership claim on every life ever was?

Huston Smith wrote a great book called The World’s Great Religions. It's
an old book -- been around for a long time. It was a staple in college
religion courses. A terrific book. The World’s Great Religions. In that
book he says there have only been in the history of the world two prominent
and influential figures whose lives were so incredible and so tremendous
and the events of their lives was so inexplicable, that people around them
did not just ask, "Who are you?" but "What are you?" Just two such people
according to Huston Smith. Those two people are Jesus and Buddha.

However, Smith points out that the responses of those two people were
completely opposite. In both cases people wanted to worship them because
they had never seen such compassion, they had ever seen such integrity,
they had never seen such beauty and wisdom. People were asking, "What
are you?" and they wanted to worship these men. And Smith says that
Buddha said, "Absolutely do not worship me I am not a God. Do not look
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to me. Look to my Dharma – my doctrine, my teaching. Don't look at me.
Look at my Dharma." On the other hand, Jesus accepted worship. Jesus
not only did not unequivocally say I am not God – he did not say I am a
God – he unequivocally said I am the God. And when anybody worshiped
him he accepted it. When Thomas fell down and said, "My Lord, and my
God," when the blind man worshiped, Jesus calmly took their worship.

In the whole history of the world, you can find a few crackpots who claimed
to be divine. There are a few. But none ever convinced anyone except a
few marginalized, off-balance, ragtag little group of disenfranchised people
who always disappeared when the leader died. Jesus is the lone exception.

Now, identify the dozen most influential people in the history of the world.
You will find Jesus on any such list. Certainly in the top 3 and perhaps even
a consensus number 1. He is the lone individual that you will find listed
favorably by virtually every religion in the world today. But of all the most
influential people in world history – whoever is on your list, Jesus is unique
in this regard. He is the only one who claimed to be God. Though some,
like Budha, have been worshiped against their expressed will, they all spoke
with humility and said, Don’t worship me. All except Jesus. So – Jesus is
the only one who is on the most influential list, but who also accepted
worship and claimed to be God. Listen – you can’t afford to just walk by
and call him a nice guy.

Some of you may be saying tonight – Well, Christmas is a nice story about
loving others, but I don’t believe all that stuff about Jesus being God. I was
raised on that but I had Religion 101 and Philosophy 101 and realized most
of the smart people did not believe this, so neither do I. Folks, the
magnitude of Jesus’ claims and the magnitude of his impact shows that you
better not just doubt that he is not God; you better know that he is not God.
Otherwise, you are literally betting your life; in fact, far worse, you are
betting your eternal existence. There has never been anyone like him and
his uniqueness extends to the proprietorship he has on every human being –
because he died for us all. The only logical thing to do is what Joseph did –
believe and obey.

Remember the old poem – “One Solitary Life”? By Dr. James Allen:
He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
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Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book

He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead

He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone

And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life

How do you explain that influence? Because He was unique in his

pedigree, his purpose, his person, his proprietorship – and He was unique in
His resurrection. Napoleon, who knew something about influencing
history, said this about Jesus, "I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ
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is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is
no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I
founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius?
Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour
millions of people would die for Him. . . . Everything in Christ astonishes
me. His spirit overawes me, and His will confounds me ... I search in vain
in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or anything that can
approach the gospel."

But the issue tonight isn’t, is Jesus great? The issue is, have you confessed
your sins to Him and invited Him to be your Savior? Not just the Savior,
but your Savior? Has Jesus lost the power to impress you? Is it all fun little
fairytales and a nice yearly tradition to you? Then may I remind you one
more way in which Jesus is unique. He’s coming again. Yes, He is
coming again. But this time he is not coming as the baby and Savior; he is
coming as Judge and Lord and King of Kings. This time every eye will see,
every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory
of God the Father – only for many, the confession will be too late. It will
come after the last bell has sounded. It will be a confession made on the
way to an eternity separated from God. If you have never acknowledged
his claim on your life by confessing your sin and inviting him in, may I urge
you to do so now – tonight – before another minute passes. Do it while it
still counts. There’s never been anyone like Him. Let’s pray.