Joseph, The Chosen Man!

When the SPIRITUAL WORLD talks about Christmas, we hear a great deal about the Virgin Mary, the angels, the shepherds and the wise men.

You may hear about Joseph, the earthly father of the Lord Jesus, and you may not.

But Joseph and Mary are two bless people.

Just think about that, of all the men and women who have ever lived God chose these two people to raise HIS SON!!!

But when it comes to Christmas we hear very little about Joseph.

When it comes to childbirth, husbands are often overlooked.

Illus: How many times have we heard the women say, “Abortion is something between a woman and her doctor.”

Wait a minute! What about the father of that child? The child could not have been created in the womb without him, why should he be replaced by some doctor that had nothing to do with the pregnancy?

However, in this case, while Joseph is Mary’s husband, he is not the biological father. The Bible makes it clear that Joseph in the birth of His Son Joseph had nothing to do with his birth othen than to chosen by God to raise His Son.

The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit moved upon Mary who was a virgin to have this child.

Joseph is the forgotten hero that we hear very little about.

But I want to say that Joseph had a major role in the life of Christ.

Let’s take a few minutes and look at this man who was honored by God more than any man who has ever lived on this earth for such an assignment.

Let’s look at the very familiar Christmas story as we celebrate Christmas.

The first thing that stands out of course is --

I. A PREGNANCY

Look at Matthew 1:18, we read, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

This is the most planned pregnancy that has ever occurred.

Illus: Dr. Belger had a couple attend his church who were both pushing their 50’s. They had several children who were young adults in their 20’s in their own home. But they also had a little one around five years of age. As he was visiting with them, he could not help but wonder if perhaps the little one belonged to one of their married children. But this family, knowing that he was probably wondering about the little one, introduced the child as, “Our little mistake!”

In other words, they did not PLAN on having any more children, BUT THEY DID!

Illus: Did you hear about the woman who asked her doctor if she should have a baby after 35? The doctor said, “No, 35 children is enough for any woman!”

Illus: Did you hear about the man who said to another man, “Did you know that a woman is having a baby every minute?” The other man said, “Someone ought to make her stop!”

In the Christmas story, we hear a great deal about Mary’s pregnancy, but you do not hear much about Joseph.

But this was the most planed PREGNANCY that has ever occurred.

Matthew 1:22-23 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Many children that are born are here by accident, but the BIRTH OF CHRIST IS THE MOST PLANNED BIRTH THAT HAS EVER TAKEN PLACE.

We have looked at A PREGNANCY, but we need to look at-

II. A PROBLEM

Look at Matthew 1:19, we read, “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.”

This pregnancy had some PROBLEMS that no other PREGNANCY has ever had.

Baby Jesus was born of a VIRGIN! Mary had never been with a man, but yet she was with child. You talk about a PROBLEM! This young lady had some explaining to do!

• But how can you explain something that is humanly impossible? YOU CAN’T!

• Can you imagine her trying to explain this to Joseph for the first time?

I would have loved to have been there to see her trying to explain this one.

DID YOU KNOW THAT SOME THINGS ARE DIFFICULT TO DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN, SUCH AS:

• Describing color to a blind man who has never seen color before.

• Describing what water taste like.

• Describe what forever is like.

Some things are to difficult to understand and I gurantee you Mary had a difficult time as a virgin explaining why she was pregnant!!!