Joseph's Courageous Obedience Series

Courageous Obedience

Matthew 1:18-25

December 13, 2020

Have you ever watched those TV programs or youtube videos about people who do crazy things. They jump over cars, they do things I wouldn’t do on the ground, but do them 20 stories high. I’m not sure if you call that courage, bravery, or stupidity. I know where I stand on that one. And I stand right here, both feet firmly planted on the ground.

As we are looking at the characters in the Christmas story, we’ve looked at Zechariah and John the Baptist. Today, I want to look at Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. Joseph is kind of an enigma when it comes to what we know about him because other than the story we’ll look at today, there’s really no other information about him in the Bible that can help us know what he was like.

We know that Joseph is soon to be married to Mary and he’s the non-biological father of Jesus. He was a carpenter, but we don’t know much else about him.

Let’s look at what Matthew 1, and see what Matthew has to tell us --

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Mary was betrothed to Jesus. They were pledged to be married. They were engaged, but it’s kind of like being engaged plus. It can be a little confusing to understand what Matthew means, because if they were only engaged, then why divorce Mary? Why not break it off, and move one with life?

In that era, getting married was a three step process.

The first step was engagement, which usually was a contract arranged by the family or a matchmaker, who would help determine if the couple would be good for one another. Imagine doing that today? How would you like mom and dad to pick your mate?

This arrangement was often made when they were children. It was usually arranged without the couple knowing each other. This may have been the case with Mary and Joseph, since he was from Bethlehem and she was from Nazareth.

The second step of the process was called betrothal. It was similar to engagement, but much stricter in its understanding. The only way a betrothal could be broken was by divorce. For all practical purposes, the couple was considered husband and wife, even though they did not live together as a married couple. The betrothal period could last about 1 year.

The third step was when the couple officially were married, had a ceremony and celebration and began life as a married couple.

It was during the second stage of the process, during the time of betrothal, that Mary became pregnant. They weren't living together — yet Mary was pregnant.

I'm sure Joseph thought he was betrayed. Mary was unfaithful. He would’ve been angry and heartbroken. He could have subjected her to public humiliation and even death. Since adultery was punishable by death. Instead, because he’s a just and righteous man, he decided, most likely with counsel, to quietly divorce Mary.

Divorce was not uncommon in those days — — and if done quietly and properly, maybe Mary would be able to move on, lead a good life and eventually get married.

One of the consequences of divorcing Mary quietly was this - - - Most people would assume Joseph was the father of Mary’s child, and the divorce was caused by a reason other than adultery. Think about it, this is the makings of a Hallmark movie. Joseph would have covered up the potential adultery and quietly moved on with his life and Mary with hers. On the other hand, he could have made a big deal out of it, claiming she was an adulterer, and that the child was not his. And she may have been stoned to death.

Instead, Joseph put his reputation at risk, not Mary’s. He would quietly, if that was possible, to divorce her quietly. This says something about Joseph’s integrity. It says something about doing what is right, even when it’s difficult, uncomfortable and even unpopular. This was a huge risk Joseph was willing to take, but again, he believed in doing the right thing.

Some may have said that was an act of honor and courage, others would have said that’s total stupidity. Imagine if you were Joseph’s parents, what counsel would you have given him, believing this child was not his?

Next, Matthew tells us — —

20 But as he (Joseph) considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,