“When Joseph Woke Up”
The King and His Kingdom
(Matthew 1:18-25)
OKAY MGCC - welcome to December 26th
Welcome to the day after Christmas.
Welcome to week 2 of our study of Matthew’s Gospel the King and His Kingdom.
NOW – last week we looked at Matthew 1:1-17… Matthew’s Genealogy. A genealogy as we saw last week where Matthew drives home and underscores the truth that Jesus is the KING. UNDERSTAND – in his genealogy Matthews is declaring (is making the case) that Jesus is the son of David through his adopted father Joseph. AND THEREFORE – He is the true king and legal heir to the Davidic throne and the fulfillment of God’s promise to David.
Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.
– 2 Samuel 7:16
UNDERSTAND MG – as Matthew begins His Gospel He wants everyone to know who Jesus is… THAT - He is the promised King the son of David.
AND LISTEN – as King Jesus has…
• The authority to speak (into everyone’s life, ‘you have heard it said but I say to you”… “Those who hear my teaching and put them into practice is like…)
• The power to rule (over nature, over sickness, over demons, over sin death and the grave)
• The desire to include (everyone and anyone in His Kingdom)
• The right to reward (“well done my good and faithful servant, come enter my joy and happiness).
OKAY – that was Matthew 1:1-17…. That was week one.
AND THIS MORNING – we are going to unpack a conversation that I am calling, “When Joseph Woke Up.”
OUR TEXT – is Matthew 1:18-25… and this event more than likely takes place, right after Mary returns from her visit with Elizabeth. YOU SEE – after her encounter with Gabriel Mary packs her bags and heads over to her cousin Elizabeth place… who was 6 months pregnant at the time…
YOU KNOW – I have always loved the scene that Luke paints of Mary arriving at Elizabeth’s home…
God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?
HEY MGCC – why are we so honored that ‘God’ would not only visit us, but put His Spirit inside of us?
When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” - Luke 1:42-45
MARY - stays for about 3 months and then she goes home… Most likely after John was born.
AND – it’s here after her return home that we meet Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus.
OKAY – let’s do this… Matthew 1:18-25
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph - Matthew 1:18
• Again - ‘Christ’ – is a title not a name… it means the anointed one – the Messiah
• ‘pledged’ – understand engagements in that culture and time were legally binding and actually required a divorce to end.
QUESTION - how old was Joseph…?
We don’t really know. BUT - how old do you think he was.
NOW - I did ‘a little’ research for this and found that prior to 400 AD the tradition was that Joseph was in his late teens to early 20’s. OKAY – so why this shift?
I think because of a teaching that was beginning to take root that Mary remained a virgin for her an entire life.
Which make passages like Mark 6:3, which tell us that Jesus had 4 brothers (James, Simon, Jude, Joseph) and at least 2 sisters a little confusing and hard to explain…
SO – it became a tradition that Joseph was an older widower who brought his 6 children into his marriage with Mary…
OKAY – back to Matthew…
but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
NOW – I am sure you recall how things went down with Mary and the angel Gabriel in Luke chapter 1.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy,
Who is Elizabeth?
Mary’s older cousin. The wife of Zachariah. The mother of John the Baptist.
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. (okay, there’s that ‘King’ emphasis again)
The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. – Luke 1:26-38
AGAIN MARY – packs her bags and headed to Elizabeth’s house in the hill country of Judah.
QUESTION – why do you think she immediately after the angel left, went there?
• Get away
• Time to think
• Elizabeth, would probably understand more than most
Back to Matthew… (Matthew 1:19 reads)
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
QUESTION – have you ever wondered how Joseph found out? LIKE…
• Did Mary tell him when she returned from her visit with Elizabeth?
• Was she starting to show?
• And how did she start this extremely difficult and awkward conversation with the man she was engaged to?
(anybody enjoy starting difficult and awkward conversations?)
NOW GUYS – put yourself in Joseph’s sandals… what would you think? How would you respond?
I MEAN – Joseph was no doubt looking forward to the day when he would be able to take his bride home and begin their lives together…
AND – now this. Talk about being hit by a freight train.
I MEAN - it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if HE isn’t the daddy, then someone else is.
YES – the woman he loves and is planning to marry has been with another man.
Apparently Joseph is not buying Mary’s crazy story @ all.
AND - I wouldn’t either, if I were him.
YOU SEE - as far as he’s concerned: Mary has not only betrayed him, but she has publicly humiliated him.
AND NOW - he has every right (according to Jewish law) to drag her into the public square and have her stoned to death. (pause…)
BUT - Joseph according to the Scripture was a righteous man (in other words he was a guy who always tried to do the right thing, in the eyes of other people and especially in the eyes of God)…
He’s the kind of guy who thinks of others and does the right thing, even if doing the right thing, isn’t easy and even if it hurts him. (btw MG – the right thing and the easy thing are seldom the same thing)…
BOTTOM LINE – Joseph was unwilling to hurt Mary. SO – he decides to divorce her quietly… I MEAN – no need to drag in a bunch of people who do not need to know.
As he considered this,
YOU KNOW - I wonder if he talked to anyone about this? His mom, dad, friends…
an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said,
Joseph, son of who? son of David.
You know I wonder if Joseph and poor blue color carpenter from a small town with a bad reputation, had ever been called that (Joseph, son of David) before?
LIKE – I seriously doubt that when they had ‘name tag Saturday’ at the synagogue, that wrote on His tag…
REGARDLESS – the angel calls Joseph this because, he wants him to know that Jesus as the adopted son of Joseph has a legal eight to David’s throne.
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.
Joseph I know…
• you’re hurt
• you’re afraid: that if Mary did this once, that she’ll do it again
• You’re afraid of what everyone will say
• You’re afraid that you might not be able to be a good dad to a child that is not yours
BUT – Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife..
For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
AND LISTEN – in this dream the angel tells Joseph 3 things…
1. Mary has not been unfaithful… She was telling you the truth the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
2. Mary is going to have a boy… AND YOU - are to give Him the name Jesus.
3. Joseph, your adopted son is no ordinary child… in fact, He will save His people from their sins!
All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.
SO - Joseph and Mary fast forward the wedding date a little… rescheduled the venue and caters and sent out adjusted wedding invites
But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. – Matthew 1:18-25
HEY – do you know what I have always found interesting about Joseph? THAT EVERYTHING - we know about him, is based on what he did and NOT on what he said… because Joseph is never quoted one time in the Scriptures.
UNDERSTAND – while everyone else in The Christmas Story gets a speaking part (Mary, Elizabeth, Zechariah, the angles, the wise men, the shepherds, Herod…)
Joseph didn’t. Not a single line.
But what ‘he did’ spoke volumes.
MGCC
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded
When Joseph woke up to who Jesus Is…
he did as the angel of the Lord commanded
When Joseph Woke Up To Who Jesus Is
AND LISTEN – Matthew in our text reveals 5 very powerful truths about who Jesus Is…
Truths they we would do well to wake up to Christmas 2021.
Jesus is the Son of God
She was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit… what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
– Matthew 1:18,20
In other words God is the Father, through His Spirit.
Mary being Jesus’ = His humanity
Conceived by the Holy Spirit = His divinity (and a fulfilled promise)
Jesus is the King
Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife… - Matthew 1:20
YES JOSEPH – this adopted sons of yours is part of your family lineage that goes all the way back to King David.
AND LISTEN – His is the throne that the prophet Samuel said would be secure forever.
Jesus is the Christ
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about…
Matthew 1:18
Jesus is the Christ…
The Messiah, the anointed on, the one that God had promised his people for thousands of years (since the book of Genesis) would come to set things right between God and His people.
Jesus is: God the Son, The King, The Christ, and
Jesus is the Savior
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.
– Matthew 1:21
The name Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means… God is salvation or Yahweh saves.
UNDERSTND MGCC - saving people from their sins was and is the mission of Jesus. LIKE – it is why He came…
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
- Luke 19:10
YES - Jesus came into the world to take care of the greatest problems that mankind (that would be me and that would be you) has and will ever have sin.
A problem that separates us from God and makes us objects of His wrath.
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.
- Matthew 1:21
Jesus is Immanuel
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
– Matthew 1:23
MGCC – the Word became flesh
Not only God with us, but God as one of us.
I love how one author puts it.
For 33 years Jesus would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He got colds, burped and had body odor.
His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached.
To think of Jesus in such a light is – well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it?
It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable.
It’s so much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. (which by the way comes from the Latin word ‘incarno’ and literally means ‘to be made into flesh)…
It’s so much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.
He’s easier to stomach that way. There’s something about keeping Him divine that keeps Him distant, packaged and predictable.
BUT – don’t do it. For heavens sake don’t.
Let Him be as human as he intended to be.
Let Him into the mire and muck of our world.
For only if we let Him in can he pull us out.
UNDERSTAND – it is really hard for finite creatures (like us) to wrap our brains around an infinite God.
I MEAN - the distance is too great! Beyond measure…
SO – Jesus became a man… The word became ‘incarno’
Philip Yancey in his book ‘The Jesus I Never Knew” writes;
I learned about incarnation when I kept a salt-water aquarium. Management of a marine aquarium,
I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate levels and the ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enough enzymes to make a rock grow.
I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal, and exposed it to ultraviolet light. You would think, in view of all the energy expanded on their behalf, that my fish would be grateful. Not so.
Every time my shadow loomed above the tank they dove for cover into the nearest shell. They showed me one ‘emotion’ fear. Although I opened the lid and dropped in food on a regular schedule, 3 times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign of my designs to torture them. I could not convince them of my true concern.
To my fish I was deity. I was too large for them, my actions too incomprehensible. My acts of mercy they saw as cruelty; my attempts at healing they viewed as destruction. To change their perceptions, I began to see, would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and ‘speak’ to them in a language they could understand.
A human being becoming a fish it's nothing compared to God becoming a baby. and yet according to the gospels that is what happened at Bethlehem.
The God who created matter took shape within it, as an artist might become a spot on a painting or playright a character within his own play. God wrote a story, only using real characters, on the pages of real history. The word became flesh.
YES - the infinite God stepped down into history to become like us in every respect.
UNDERSTAND FOR – centuries God had done the best that he could to help men to see what he was really like. HE - called on various men (David, Moses, Jeremiah and Isaiah) to be His prophets. BUT – even then all they could see were shadows…
Long ago in many ways and at many times God's prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. But in these last days, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son. God's Son has all the brightness of God's own glory and is like him in every way. – Hebrews 1:1-3
Like God in every way… Like us in every way… Jesus brought God close…
Jesus – showed us what God was like… He gave us an up close and personal view of God. AND – what a view it was!
I MEAN – God’s; love, compassion, patience, joy, mercy and grace….. literally explode from the life of Jesus…
AND – Jesus the man answered a lot of questions people had about God;
• Does God really care about me?
• Does he love me?
• Will He be patient with my stumbling?
• Will he have compassion for my pain?
• Will He respond to my needs?
• Am I good enough to approach Him and be in His presence?
Jesus is Immanuel ‘God with us.”
Like God in every way… Like us in every way… Jesus brought God close…
When Joseph woke up to who Jesus is
• The Son of God; The King
• The Christ; The Savior; Immanuel
He Did As The Angel Of The Lord Commanded
In others words, He obeyed
Which is, I might add, the only proper response when one wakes up to the truths of who Jesus is.
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded…
AND LISTEN – in ‘the’ Christmas Story Joseph teaches us several obedience.
Obedience Can At Times Be Embarrassing
UNDERSTAND - Joseph was obedient to God’s plan even though it was embarrassing to his reputation.
I MEAN – ‘if he’ did not buy Mary’s story about her pregnancy until an angel sent from God showed up in one of his dreams, who else would? No one…
Joseph, I can’t believe you did not wait until you were married. OR… Joseph why would you marry a woman like Mary? (immoral and unfaithful to you)
YES – sometimes obeying God can be embarrassing…
I MEAN – ask…
• The great military commander Joshua, who marched around Jericho playing a trumpet. That had to look silly, OR
• Noah building a boat in the middle of the desert. Especially embarrassing to his kids (dad this ark in the front yard is killing our social life)
AND B/S – obedience can be embarrassing for us as well… YES – it can be embarrassing to..
• Not do certain things or go to certain places because of your faith.
• Proclaim your faith in Christ and your belief in what the bible says about certain issues (“you seriously belief that God created the world in 7 days” btw I don’t believe that. I believe God created the world in 6 days and rested on day 7… “You believe what the bible teaches about sexuality and about life beginning at conception”
it can be embarrassing to..
• Admit your wrong; To ask for forgiveness
• To own your mistakes; To confess your sins
• To turn the other cheek; To go the second mile
Obedience can be embarrassing, and
Obedience Is Often Inconvenient
UNDERSTAND – it was inconvenient for Joseph to move up his wedding plans and begin his marriage with a pregnant wife and a child on the way… (“Great, now I need a bigger house and a bigger paycheck”)…
AND LISTEN – this inconvenience in obeying God did not end at the manger… In Matthew chapter 2 we see…
• “Joseph, get up you need to flee to Egypt” “But my carpenter business and family is here…” – Joseph got up obeyed
• “Joseph, get up it’s time to leave Egypt and go back home” “Seriously, R U kidding me. We are finally settled in. I have a great job. Mary, has great friends and Jesus just loves his school.”
• And then later as he makes plans, and pays the deposit on his new apartment in Judea… God says, ‘Oh btw I want you to move to Nazareth.
YES – from Joseph’s we learn that obedience is often
inconvenient…
AND FOR THAT MATTER – it was inconvenient for many other people that we see in the Scripture.
It was inconvenient for…
• Abraham at age 75 to leave everything
• Jeremiah to preach a MSG that no one wanted to hear
• Esther to go before the king
• Peter, Andrew, James and John to leave everything to follow Jesus….
AND MG – it can be inconvenient for us to…
• Give up our plans to (go to a movie, watch that game, go out to eat…etc) because someone needs our help.
• Give up a night of the week to join a life group or attend a bible study, Sunday church
• To step up and serve somewhere at The Grove
YOU KNOW - in 1987… God decided to make my obedience to Him very inconvenient…
• 9 ½ years in the Navy
• ready to re-enlist and collect a 50K bonus
• ready to retire at 38 and then go to Bible College.
God said nice script Steve, but here is my rewrite…
UNDERSTAND B/S…
Obeying God does not always fit neatly and conveniently into our plans, agendas and schedules..
“Let’s see God, I think I have some time for you on Friday
December 27th 2024 (btw it is a Friday, I looked it up) at 1 pm. BUT – be sure to call first, in case something else has come up.
Next from Joseph’s adopted dad we learn that…
Obedience Doesn’t Always Make Sense
UNDERSTAND - what the angel said about Mary’s pregnancy didn’t make sense… “A virgin…”
AND LISTEN – throughout Scripture we see God asking His people to do things that don’t add up. That don’t make sense
• Facing a 10 foot giant armed with only a sling and a few stones
• Coming out of hiding and going back to rescue God’s people from Egypt at age 80
• Facing an army 100,000 with 300 men
• Leaving your family and your fishing business to follow a guy you just met
OKAY HERE’S THE DEAL - from a human perspective a lot of what God calls us to do does not make sense. Like to…
• Pray for enemies
• Bless those who curse you
• Deny yourself
• Forgive those who hurt you
• To put the needs of others before your own
• To give your offering to God when you are having a hard time paying your bills
• Join a bible study or small group when your schedule is already overloaded.
• To surrendered to Jesus in baptism
Obedience usually comes with a price
AND YES – part of that price is obviously; the embarrassment, the inconvenience and the doing of things that do not make sense…
BUT LISTEN – every time God told Joseph to rent a U-Haul and move to a new place… there was a price…
LIKE – maybe Joseph had a home and a business he had to leave behind…
AGAIN – throughout the pages of Scripture we see example after example of obedience coming with a price.
Hebrews 11 is full of men and women whose obedience came with a price.
Some were – tortured, stoned, put in chains, thrown in prison, cut in half by the sword…
JESUS – talked about the price of obedience often…
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. – Matthew 16:24
BUT LISTEN – Jesus not only talked about obedience, He modeled it.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! - Phil 2:5-8
YES – obedience often comes with a price…
QUESTION – what is your obedience costing you?
Time? Money? Your plans? Your wants?
BOTTOM LINE - the price, the cost of obedience is self/us…
Is us beginning to live a life that is not about us.
BUT INSTEAD – is about taking up our cross and dying to self.
QUESTION - do you think when all was said and done… that Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Esther, Joseph, Paul, John, James…etc
Regretted the cost they paid…
Obedience Will Always Be Rewarded
OKAY HERE – are a few rewards that should really motivate us to wake up and obey…
Being used by God
Think about it…
BECAUSE – of his obedience, Joseph got to be the stepdad of God in the flesh. LIKE - he got to see God, hold God, carry God. Teach God how to swing a hammer and cut a board.
None of which would have happened had he not obeyed.
Seriously can you think of a greater reward than being used by God? To have Him accomplish His plans and purposes through you? To be part of His winning team. To play a part in His victory.
Knowing God More
We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. – 1 John 2:3
UNDERSTAND MG – there is something about obeying God that helps us to know Him more.
YEAH – doing what He says, living how He desires
It just… It just helps us to know Him better…
And I think it is because it helps us to ‘get’ what He is really about as we experience ‘the why’ behind what He says.
Pleasing God
UNDERSTAND - I think a lot of us need to return to that simple child-like faith… grow down a little…
LIKE YOU KNOW – how little children want to please us.
They make you a drawing; They clean their room; They give you a gift.
AND – don’t you just love the look on the face and in their eyes when they know that you are please with them
IN LIKE MANNER - we should want to please God.
Hebrews 11:6 - without faith (and faith and obedience are two peas in a pod) it is impossible to please God…
YEAH – what a reward it is to know that you just pleased God.
Confidence of where we stand with God
OKAY HERE’S THE DEAL - it is extremely hard for us to be confident in where we stand with God, if we are not obeying Him. Hard to be confident while living in disobedience. Ever been there?
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND
WHEN - we are obeying God the best that we can there is a confidence that comes with that.
“Hey, I’m far from perfect, at times I stumble and fail,
But…”
The Blessings of God
Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. - Luke 11:28
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. – John 13:17
UNDERSTAND B/S…
There’s a joy that comes with obedience
There’s a peace that comes with obedience
There’s a freedom that comes with obedience
There are blessings and favor that come with obedience
(Acts 2:38,39)
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded… - Matthew 1:24
