Joseph, A Just Man Series

C. Prophecy is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus. [Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV) "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.]

1. A virgin shall be with child -- never happened before; never happened since

2. Translation -- virgin or young woman. The Hebrew is Isaiah 7:14 is ambiguous possibly allowing the translation "young woman." However, there is no sign in a young woman having a child . . . such a thing happens all the time. The sign is found when a virgin conceives and bears a Son.

3. The Greek word used in Matthew 1:23 is parthenos -- this word plainly means "virgin."

III. JOSEPH IS PRESENTED AS A JUST MAN.

A. The word Matthew used is dikaios which can be translated "just," "righteous," or "upright." He was a man who wanted to do what was right . . . toward other people and toward God. He wanted to treat Mary in a way that was acceptable to God.

B. As we study the biblical story of Joseph, we are left with three strong impressions:

1. He must have been hurt by what he thought Mary had done, but he was not hurtful in his response to her.

a. He did not seek revenge [Romans 12:19 (NKJV) Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.]

b. Joseph did not compromise his integrity, but he acted with honor and compassion toward Mary even when he thought she had betrayed him.

2. He was able to believe an incredible story.

a. Modern skeptics reject the Bible because they claim it is filled with unbelievable myths . . . it is, to them, a book of fairy tales.

b. Joseph had a deeply personal stake in what had happened to Mary . . . and he was being asked to believe that she was still a virgin although pregnant.. . that the child in her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

c. Joseph understood that accepting that story and marrying Mary would make him the object of ridicule. If he knew that she was pregnant, others also knew -- or soon would. They would think either that he and Mary had sinned by having sex before they were fully married OR they would think that Mary had been unfaithful to Joseph and had slept with someone else. Neither alternative could have been pleasant for Joseph to contemplate. But he believed what the angel said!

3. He was willing to obey whatever God wanted him to do.

a. Joseph awakened from his sleep and "did as the angel of the Lord commanded him."

b. He "took to him his wife." He went ahead and completed the process of marrying his betrothed. They had their wedding day, although no details are given in the Bible. However, Joseph did not "know" Mary in a sexual way until after the birth of Jesus. The Bible does not teach that Mary remained a perpetual virgin. The natural understanding of verse 25 is that after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had a normal marital relationship. This is totally consistent with the information given to us later about Jesus’ brothers and sisters [Matthew 12:47; Matthew 13:55-56].