Mary And Joseph Series

Merry Christmas to your family and you! Christmas is just three days away – are you ready? Is everything wrapped and under the tree?

When I stop to think about it, it is still funny eleven years later… …but Virgin Mary gave birth to a 7.7-pound baby Jesus on Christmas Day in Peru eleven years ago. Can we show their picture on the screens? Then, 20-year-old Virgen Maria Huarcaya delivered her newborn son, Jesus Emanuel, in the early hours of Christmas in Peru's capital of Lima, Reuters reported. The baby's father, Adolfo Jorge Huamani, is a carpenter as well. Reuters reported that the boy wasn't placed in a manger.

Today, we continue our series, The Characters of Christmas. For a number of years, people have believed a myth that depression and suicides spike at Christmas time. But actually, the opposite is true according because this time of year often sees the lowest numbers of people taking their own life. Plus, a 1981 study reports a decrease in the number of visits to the psychiatric emergency service during the days and weeks before Christmas. Nearly everyone experiences this "buoyant joy" around Christmas time. Still, I think you would agree that people still have real problems at Christmas time. Listen to a 24-year-old young lady named Caitlin for a moment: "Every year, there is extra pressure to be happy, to have love surround you - and for me, it feels the loneliest because of this. The media create this 'perfect' vision of a family Christmas - and it's an ideal that has hung over me and made me very miserable. My depression and anxiety always get worse in December."

Again, not everyone experiences a Hallmark Christmas. Some people have problems, and in the moments to come, we'll discover one of the original characters of Christmas has big problems. All throughout the story of Christmas, there are major and minor characters who play an important role in making the story of Christmas great theatre. This morning, I want you to rediscover two of the biggest stars of Christmas: Mary & Joseph. These two young kids are just getting started in life, and they have a big problem on their hands.

Today's Scripture Note: Today's passage is read before the message.

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. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 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"

(which means, God with us). 24 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" (Matthew 1:18–25).

1. Joseph's Dilemma

1.1 The Silent Type

If someone asks you to play the part of Joseph in a Christmas play, don't take that as a compliment. If you play Joseph, you won't be doing anything. You might as well be a potted plant or one of those saguaro cacti in Arizona. Because if you go to any Christmas play and watch Joseph, all he does is stand by Mary. Joseph never talks. He never says any words. He has no lines. In fact, there are no recorded words of Joseph in all the Bible. Some women called him the perfect man ?. He makes his last appearance in Scripture when he and Mary lose Jesus around the temple area at age twelve (Luke 2:41-52). No one wins an Oscar for Best Actor playing Joseph.

1.2 Joseph's Problem

At first sight, there seems to be some confusion when modern people read this story. Verse 18 tells us that "Mary had been betrothed to Joseph," but then verse 19 tells us that he was thinking about "resolved to divorce her quietly." To only add to the confusion, the angel calls Mary Joseph's wife in verse 20. Their betrothal is like our engagement, only it was much stronger. Marriage proposals and weddings in Mary's day would have two parts: the betrothal and the actual wedding itself. If Joseph and Mary were to break off their relationship at the betrothal stage, it would be our divorce. Although the public ceremony of the wedding had not taken place, Mary and Joseph would have publicly communicated their desire to be married. This act would have been recorded as we would record a legal transaction at the courthouse because it was legally binding for both Mary and Joseph. Usually, one year after you were betrothed to someone, you would marry.