INTRODUCTION, A man in Phoenix called his son in New York on Christmas Eve and says, “I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough – I cannot take it any more!” The startled son replies, “Pop what are you talking about, you and mom are so in love”
The father replies we simply cannot stand the sight of each other any longer. We are sick of each other and I do not want to talk about it any longer; you call your sister in Chicago and tell her the bad news.
Frantic the son calls his sister in Chicago, and tells her of their parents impending divorce – she is shocked and immediately calls her parents – Her dad answers the phone, but before he can say hello, she blurts out; THERE IS NO WAY YOU & MOM ARE GETTING A DIVORCE! I will take care of this. She tells her father not to do a thing she will be in Phoenix tomorrow and her brother from Chicago will be there as well.
The old man hangs up the phone and turns to his wife and says “THE KIDS ARE COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS AND PAYING THEIR OWN WAY!
SOME PEOPLE WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET OTHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN CHRISTMAS!
If you are familiar with the Christmas story at all you know there are a lot of people who participated in the first Christmas
Mary, Shepherds, Angels and the Wise men just to name a few. The Christmas narrative is not complete without mentioning a reluctant participant of that first Christmas – Joseph.
He at times is the forgotten man at Christmas. It is easy to focus on Mary, the shepherds, and the wisemen during this season, but not a lot is said about Joseph.
He is from the lineage of David
He was a carpenter by trade, and taught Jesus how to be a master of wood and nails.
He was a pious man, faithful to the ordinances of the temple
He was a kind man, standing beside Mary in her time of need.
He was a faithful father, who cared for Jesus in the stable and provided protection for him in Egypt.
Yet he never appears in the gospels after Christ was 12 years of age, tradition has it he died when Christ was 18 years of age.
While not much is said about this reluctant participant at Christmas – his presence confirms the deity of the Jesus.
While the Bible records some amazing births, no birth is more amazing than that of the virgin birth of Christ. The virgin birth of Christ reminds us once again Jesus was not a mere man or a great teacher and philosopher, he was not a radical revolutionary leader; Jesus is the Son of God. This is an important issue in a pluralistic society, that says there are many paths to heaven and all religious melt into one universal belief.
While the world would like to place Jesus on the list of just one more option when it comes to religious leaders – as believers we understand his unique birth is a key issue of our faith.
By observing Joseph’s actions, faith and example we are reminded of the importance of the deity of Christ.
The Virgin Birth Stated
Matthew 1:18, This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
In the previous 17 verses of Matthew’s gospel, Matthew points to the earthly genealogy of Jesus. Yet only one verse is used to describe his divine genealogy. In his divinity, Jesus is born of a woman though a miraculous and never repeated act of the Holy Spirit. Though only one verse is used to explain our Lord’s deity, the verse provides some meaningful insights.
The engagement of Joseph and Mary
It is possible Joseph and Mary were quite young when they were engaged. In Jewish culture, girls were engaged by age 12-13 and boys were several years older. By custom the Hebrew marriage involved 2 stages; a betrothal and a ceremony. The marriage was often arranged by the parents and the young couple spent very little time with one another until the ceremony itself. The betrothal was a time of probation of fidelity as well as a time of preparation for the marriage itself. During the betrothal stage the man and woman were considered legally married even though the ceremony had yet to take place.
The purity of Joseph and Mary
Joseph and Mary had no sexual contact with each other as the phrase before they came together implies. Sexual purity is highly regarded throughout the Bible. God places a great value on sexual abstinence prior to marriage and sexual fidelity in marriage. Because they were sexually pure they gave legitimacy to Jesus’ birth. It protected the nature of the divine son of God; no where in scripture is Jesus called the son of Joseph or is Joseph called the father of Jesus. Had Jesus been conceived by an act of man, he would not have been divine and could not have been the savior. The virgin birth confirms the deity of Jesus.
Scripture points to the importance of the virgin birth
The apostle Paul is very clear about the two-fold nature of Jesus when he says, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, Galatians 4:4. There is no human father mentioned in this verse. Jesus had to have one human parent, or he could not have been human and take on flesh. But he also had to have a divine parent or he could not have made a sinless and perfect sacrifice on our behalf.
Having point to the importance of the Virgin Birth, Matthew now points to…
The Virgin Birth Confronted
Matthew 1:19-20, 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. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Joseph was considered Mary’s husband and she his wife. Verse 19 says Joseph was a righteous man, thus to discover Mary was pregnant caused him 2 problems.
His righteous moral standards
He knew he should not go through this marriage. He knew he was not the father, and presumed Mary had been with another man.
Not only was he righteous – he genuinely cared for Mary
He could bare the thought of shaming her publicly or demanding her death as the law provided. There is no evidence Joseph felt anger, resentment or bitterness. He was willing to put aside his feelings for those of his betrothed. Joseph is fine example of an excellent husband. Paul told the Ephesians, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her Ephesians 5:25
While at Christmas time we may go out of the way to surprise our wives, men it is important we take on the attitude of Joseph year around. To place our spouses needs over our own needs. I recently read an article entitled the “The Seven Ages of the Married Cold,” this article revealed the reactions of a husband to his wife’s colds during their first seven years of marriage:
First Year: “Sugar dumpling, I’m really worried about my baby girl. You’ve got a bad sniffle and there’s no telling about these things with all this strep going around. I’m putting you in the hospital this afternoon for a general checkup and a good rest. I know the food’s lousy, but I’ll be bringing your meals in from Rossini’s. I’ve already got it all arranged with the charge nurse.”
Second Year: “Listen darling, I don’t like the sound of that cough. I’ve called Doc Miller and asked him to rush over here. Now you go to bed like a good girl, I will take care of cleaning the house.”
Third Year: “Maybe you’d better lie down, honey; nothing like a little rest when you feel lousy. I’ll bring you something. Have you got any canned soup?”
Fourth Year: “Now look dear, be sensible. After you’ve fed the kids, washed the dishes, and finished the floors, you’d better lie down.”
Fifth year: “Why don’t take a couple of aspirin?”
Sixth year: “I wish you would just gargle something instead of sitting around all evening barking like a seal.”
Seventh year: “For Pete’s sake, stop sneezing! Are you trying to give me pneumonia?”
Unfortunately, there is a strong element of truth in this. As time goes on, we begin to take our wives for granted, and our care and our sensitivity toward them begin to wane. We become selfish, and we lose sight of the reality that we are one flesh with our wives. We lose sight of the need to love our wives and nourish and cherish and care for them in the way that we do ourselves. If we find ourselves taking our wives for granted, we need to remember the example of Joseph and love our wives as he loved Mary.
Not want to subject Mary to public scrutiny or face the embarrassment of broken engagement, Joseph found his solution from…
An angel of the Lord
Verse 20, what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. This verse emphasizes the supernatural character of the event. God was about to do something special for all of mankind, and he was going to do it through the obedient lives of Joseph and Mary.
Comforted in the fact that God was doing something special through Mary, the angel continues to
Clarifying the Virgin Birth
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." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us." Matthew 1:21-23
Like Zechariah, Joseph discovered he too would have a son. Just as the angel told Zachariah to name his son John, so the angel tells Joseph this child of Mary’s would have a special name as well – Jesus. Now we are not told why Zechariah was to give his son the name of John, but the angel goes into great detail about Mary’s son. Give him the name Jesus - because he will save his people from their sins
The name Jesus
Is a form of Joshua, Jehovah will save – The name Jesus would be a testimony of what God is going to do – bring salvation
But Jesus was going to do more than testify about salvation, Jesus himself would bring salvation. His name defined his destiny – Jesus was to be salvation
How would he bring about salvation?
The angel gives the answer he would save them from their sins. The angel does not give Joseph any clue that Jesus will one day have to die for the sins of the people; he simply tells him that God is orchestrating a rescue mission for his people. While Joseph is not privy to how salvation will be accomplished, the angel gives him a clue to how he will bring about salvation Vs. 23, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" which means, "God with us."
How will God bring about salvation? It is found in the little preposition “WITH” – GOD WITH US, I love the use of the angel’s language, of all the words the angel could have used he chose the word “with”
Listen he could have said…
Immanuel – God for us – The Children of Israel would have understood that language – God was always for Israel – when ever there was a battle the commander would say “OUR GOD WILL FIGHT FOR US” You find, Joshua, Moses, Nehemiah and others using that phrase. BUT THE ANGEL DID NOT SAY IMMANUEL – GOD FOR US!
Immanuel – God in us. Yes, but that was to happen later, yes one day God would be in all of those who called upon him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But that was not this day.
IMMANUEL – GOD WITH US
He would take on flesh
He would feel pain
He would know loneliness
Hebrews 4:15 describing Jesus said For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin.
That is our God, Immanuel God with us.
The announcement of the virgin birth let to obedience
Matthew 1:24-25, When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Having received a direct revelation from God – Joseph immediately obeyed, doing as the angel had commanded. I can only imagine how great his feelings of amazement, relief and gratitude must have been. . Not only would he be able to take Mary as his wife, but he would be given care of God’s own son while he was growing up.
Imagine the trust God had in Joseph, it is inconceivable that god would entrust His Son into a family where the father was not totally committed and faith to Him.
Joseph’s commitment to God is seen in his obedience
Matthew records for us 3 separate acts of obedience in Joseph’s life.
He took Mary as his wife. Apparently the marriage ceremony happened soon after the angel’s announcement.
He had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. Matthew makes it clear, that she remained a virgin until she gave birth; implying normal marital relations began after that time. The fact that Jesus’ brother and sisters are mentioned several times in the gospels, prove that Mary did not remain a perpetual virgin as some would claim.
As final act of obedience, Joseph named the baby Jesus indicating that he was to be a savior.
Joseph’s obedience allowed him to have a legacy of faith
We know nothing else of Joseph’s life except him taking the infant Jesus to the temple for dedication, his taking Mary and Jesus into Egypt for protection and his taking his family to the Passover in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12. We have no idea when Joseph died. But it is obvious Joseph was a man God could use to prepare us for salvation.
The legacy of Joseph gives us 3 very important life lessons…
Godly people are noted by their grace
The law required Mary to be stoned to death or at the very least; she should have been publicly disgraced. Joseph was not so much concerned about the law as he was about grace. He was willing to forgo personal satisfaction or retribution so Mary could experience grace. This Christmas may we focus on being gracious to others rather than focus on demanding our way and our rights
May we be the first to forgive when we are wrong
May we make it a point to seek out reconciliation with those we have offended
May we care about the needs of others rather our own personal rights
May we be as Gracious as Joseph
2. Godly people strive for moral purity.
Matthew points out that Joseph and Mary were people of purity. Joseph was described as righteous, and Mary was a virgin. Theirs was a life of moral purity. Joseph and Mary’s sacred union was special because they chose to be morally pure. Unfortunately we live in a world where moral purity is often times scoffed at or seen as abnormal. But if we will keep ourselves morally pure God is honored and we are able to celebrate his gift of purity.
To keep ourselves morally pure let us set up some guidelines about…
What we will wear
What we will watch
Where we will go
Proverbs 15:26, The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked,
but those of the pure are pleasing to him.
God desires us to be people of purity.
3. Complete obedience is an attribute of a Godly person.
If you study the gospel accounts of the Christmas story, you find Joseph never asks for more details regarding God’ plans, he is simply faithful to God verse 24, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him
No questions, no complaints – simply obedience
“Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts God; and he that trusts God, obeys God.” Charles Spurgeon
Joseph trusted God, this allowed him to be obedient to God
As we begin a new year may we take on the attitude of Joseph and simply be obedient to God. May we trust him with our resources, may we trust him with our priorities, may our actions demonstrate our faith and may our faith demonstrate our obedience.
Joseph is almost a forgotten man at Christmas time, but there is not forgetting his actions or his example. The angel’s announcement was simple – Call him Immanuel, God with us - God was with Joseph, if God with you?
He is; if your life is marked by grace, purity and obedience
PRAYER
