Joseph’s Example: Believe and Obey
Pastor Scott Jensen
Matthew 1:18-25
Introduction
When asked about obeying God, a preacher once said, “Brethren, whatever the good God tells me to do in this blessed Book, that I am going to do. If I see in it that I must jump through a stone wall, I am going to jump at it. Going through it belongs to God; jumping at it belongs to me.” (A. Ahlquist. “Concordia Pulpit 1939”, 284) That is a message about faith and obedience.
Today’s Gospel message contains a story about Joseph. It’s a story of belief and obedience, mercy and compassion. It’s a story about believing in the direction God gives us and obeying those commands. It’s a story about following the will of God and showing respect and love for his fiancé Mary.
Today’s message looks at Joseph and his reaction to a difficult situation. Mary and Jesus are always central to the images we see at Christmas. But Joseph is more of a background character. We never hear Joseph speak, but yet he is central to the fulfillment of the scriptures in Isaiah and it’s through him that the line of David is shown. Today, I’d like to focus on the difficulty that Joseph faced, how he approached the situation and what we can learn from his example.
Joseph’s Problem
Joseph was engaged to Mary. It was customary to be engaged for a year or even longer before marriage. However, during this time, the couple was treated in many respects as if they were already married. For example, the couple would have to formally divorce to separate. Mary and Joseph, although not married, were not free to date who they wanted. Yet, they could not consummate the marriage. That was reserved until the two were married.
The couple had obeyed the law and avoided uniting in this way. In our gospel message, Joseph knew that Mary was pregnant. He hadn’t been told by Mary, an angel or anyone else. He knew because he could see it. As many of you know, it takes a few months for a pregnancy to show. In the first part of a pregnancy no-one can tell because the child is too small. The mother may not even realize she’s pregnant. It takes time for the baby to develop to the point of making a bulge. Mary must have been a few months pregnant because she was starting to show. Joseph knew that she was pregnant, but he also knew that the child was not his. This likely hurt Joseph deeply. He believed that his finance had not been faithful to him. So, how should he respond to this situation?
In Deuteronomy chapter 22, the law had very specific requirements. An engaged woman was treated the same as a married woman. If a woman was guilty of adultery, the penalty was clear. She was to be stoned to death in front of her father’s house. A similar fate was given to promiscuous couples, but both would be stoned for their unrestrained act.
But it was up to Joseph to determine if justice was needed. Joseph was in control of the situation. How he chose to react would determine what would happen to Mary and the unborn child. If Joseph followed through with the requirements of the law, the outcome was clear. Mary would be stoned to death in front of her father’s house and killed.
But not every option was so final. A second option was for Joseph to divorce without subjecting her to the stoning normally associated with adultery. Giving her a writ of divorce, he could dismiss her as his future bride and continue on with his life. This could be a public or a private affair but would end up disgracing Mary while maintaining Joseph’s standing in the community. Joseph’s reputation would be safe and he would continue to be seen as a righteous man.
A third option was to marry Mary quickly before anyone noticed that she was pregnant. However, it’s likely that others noticed that Mary was pregnant just as Joseph did. This option would reflect badly on both Mary and Joseph as it would look like the couple had relations prior to marriage. It would look like they had broken the law prior to being married.
Joseph was troubled with losing his status as a righteous man and with the pregnancy Mary bore. Regardless of what took place, this was not going to be comfortable. Either Mary would have to bear the weight of adultery or Joseph would lose status in society. Neither option was good. So, he agonized over the choices and thought hard about what to do.
Joseph’s Character
What was he to do? Joseph obeyed the law. He observed the Sabbath, ate only clean foods, followed the religious rituals and paid his temple taxes. He followed the letter of the law as an upright citizen. Joseph was a man of integrity who chose to be a respectable man.
He was a moral man who chose to act with integrity and doing the right thing rather than just the acceptable thing. Jewish society at this time was more concerned with the appearances of being righteous rather than doing the right thing.
One of the key aspects of Joseph’s character was his love for Mary. He truly cared for this young woman. He didn’t’ want to hurt her. But something had to be done.
With the options available to him, Joseph considered the problem and he considered his options. None of these options is what Joseph wanted. He wanted a wife. He wanted to settle down with young Mary and grow a family. He wanted a traditional family with traditional values. But, this development changed his plans. After weighing in on the evidence, he decided to quietly put her away. This would save her the public embarrassment and allow them both to continue with their lives. He decided to take a compassionate approach, a merciful way to take care of a difficult situation.
Joseph’s Choice
When the angel cam to Joseph, he had already made his decision. The angel explained that Mary had been faithful. The child was not of man. Instead, God had chosen her for a very special purpose. Joseph was well aware of scripture and understood the prophecy from Isaiah:
“the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ “
Imagine his shock when he found out that his own wife would be the virgin mentioned in scripture.
Joseph had an interesting situation on his hands. He was being asked to allow the pregnancy to continue with a child that was not his own. This would result in Joseph claiming the child and adopting him as his own. By allowing the baby to be born under his roof, he would be responsible for the child. But, the child would come to save men from their sins. He would be special indeed.
Joseph listened to what the angel had to say, and Joseph obeyed. In silent submission, he listened to what the scriptures told him, listened to what the angel told him, and listened to what his heart told him.
He knew that others would find out about the pregnancy and assumptions would place guild on both of them. People would assume that they had relations prior to marriage. There was no getting around that. Mary and Joseph would be treated as unrighteous in a world where how you were perceived was more important than how you really were.
But, he trusted in God that this was the right thing to do. He trusted that God would find a way for Joseph to live with the disgrace that society would see in both Mary and Joseph.
In obedience, Joseph denied his own needs, reputation, name and standing among his peers. He chose to deny himself to honor God through obedience to His messenger. He obeyed what the angel told him and let his ego take second seat to following God’s will.
It took courage to follow God’s will when everything in his fiber told Joseph to divorce Mary. Joseph chose to be humble and place himself after the needs of Mary and the child. He chose to believe in what the message told him and submit to the will of God.
Joseph’s Example for us
Submit. That sounds like a strong word, doesn’t it? But, that’s the example that Joseph gave us. He believed that the angel had a message for him, and he was willing to act on that message. God speaks to us today, but not necessarily with an angel as a message. Sometimes he uses a passage from the good book to lead us in a new direction. At just the right time, he often introduces a message to us that we needed to hear. Something that we needed before we could tackle that difficult problem ahead of us.
The Bible still speaks to us today. Through the scriptures, Jesus gave us two very important, yet very simple commandments. Simple in thought, but not always so simple to follow: love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. This is one way that the good book speaks to us. If we were to follow only these two commandments and listen to how God speaks to us here, think of how much good we would create in the world. So much of what we do is centered on ourselves rather than the needs of others.
But, Joseph did just the opposite. He focused on the needs of Mary and Jesus. He found a way to be a provider instead of kicking them to the doorstep. He listened to what God told him, he believe the message and he obeyed. He turned that belief into action and became a great example for us to follow.
C. H. Spurgeon claimed that 98% of the people he met, including criminals he visited in England’s prisons, told him that they believed the Bible to be true. But, the vast majority had never made a personal, life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ. For them, “believe” was not an active verb. (C. H. Spurgeon, “Sermon Illustrations”, http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/b/belief.htm)
Turning our own belief into obedience is what we need to focus on as well as Joseph. We all have our trials of difficulties in our lives, although they won’t be the same as Joseph faced. Unexpected things happen to good people. But, even ordinary situations pose their own challenges. Guiding your children to do the right thing, facing the difficulties of an unpleasant financial situation or working through a difficult problem at work can often be monumental tasks for us to tackle. What may seem like a simple problem to some may be an insurmountable obstacle to others. Sometimes lending a helping hand to others with our own simple acts can mean the world of difference to those who don’t know what to do. Bringing our own belief through obedience to action is a worthy goal indeed.
After all, difficult situations surround everyone. They come to us when we least expect it. Sometimes, when we’re not prepared for them. From money and health problems to addiction and family problems to work and relationship problems, there is always another problem that we will face. There is always another problem that we will have to face. There is always another person who needs our help.
We can face our problems by taking the easy route and following what society would like us to do. But, that usually means self-centered actions and not God fearing decisions. We don’t have an angel in our dreams telling us what to do. But, we do have the simple commands of God to love Him with all our heart and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Conclusion
Joseph showed us that much of life is about relationships. Our relationship to God in the form of belief and obedience, and our relationship to others through our mercy and compassion.
Belief is the cornerstone of faith. Obedience is the action because of that faith. Mercy and Compassion are the result of that obedience to the will of God.
Joseph was the example for us to follow. He chose to give rather than receive. He chose to be the first Christmas gift by giving of himself before the savior was even born.
