JOSEPH - THE GOOD MAN WE FORGET
Matt. 1:18-25
Of all the characters surrounding the Christ child at Christmas, the one we forget the most is Joseph. The Bible never mentions any animals in the stable. They are the product, says Paul Harvey, of legend and logic. Yet the sheep and cattle get more attention than Joseph. You will search the hymnal almost in vain for any reference to Joseph. In art, story, song and sermon he is pushed into the background.
Why is this? It could be his silence. Not one single word from him is recorded in the Bible. It could be that he is found in only two Bible chapters, both connected with Jesus’ infancy. After this he passes from view. It could be he is dwarfed by the Roman Catholic emphasis upon Mary. It could also be because he was not the biological father of Jesus. Whatever the reason, he should not be forgotten.
He is one of the finest characters to grace the pages of holy scripture. He was a godly man and a good man, hand picked by God to be the foster father of His Son. Mary’s body helped shape the body of Jesus, but Joseph’s character helped influence the character of Jesus.
No one placed a greater part in the development of a Hebrew child than his father. Joseph was Jesus’ teacher, preacher and priest. He taught Him most of life’s lessons. He taught Him the trade of carpentry. He taught Him the principles of the Jewish religion.
The Bible picture of the Jewish father is one of rare beauty and high responsibility. The father loves (Gen. 37:4); commands (Gen. 50:16); instructs (Prov. 1:8); guides (Jer. 3:4); trains (Hos. 11:3); rebukes (Gen. 34:30); delights in his son (Prov. 3:12); is pained by his son’s folly (Prov. 17:25); and is considerate of his needs (Mt. 7:10).
When God wanted to picture His relation to us, He used this picture of fatherhood. And when God wanted someone to teach, guide, instruct, train and warm His Son, he chose Joseph.
The Bible sums up the character of Joseph in Matt. 1:19 when it calls him “a righteous man.” This word, in the Bible, means far more than ”just” or “good.” It is the dominant New Testament word for the saved, for those who live the right kind of lives (Matthew 5:20-23ff) because they are right with God. (Romans 3:20-24) It really has two meanings.
It means first that He was justified or MADE RIGHT with God through his faith in the mercy of God as revealed in the Jewish sacrificial system. This is imputed righteousness where God, on the basis of shed blood, declares us to be right with Him.
But is also means He LIVED RIGHT (Matthew 5:20-23ff)was made a just and good and righteous person by the regenerative power of God. This is imparted righteousness where God’s Spirit, in the new birth changes us and lives in us.
In imputed righteousness we are declared to be the children of God and this takes place the instant we believe. In imparted righteousness we are enabled to act like children of God and this takes the process of a lifetime. The emphasis is imputed righteousness is forgiveness or pardon. The emphasis is imparted righteousness is fruitfulness or power. With these two ideas in mind, look at Joseph.
J. C. Ryle says, “It doesn’t matter how you translate it because the truly saved person has both.”
I. HE WAS A FORGIVEN MAN
From the word “righteous” our first assertion is that Joseph was saved. He was forgiven. His sins which were many were all washed away. His heart which was corrupt was cleansed and changed by the power of God. His hope for eternity was that he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We do not know when Joseph was saved. He was probably in his middle or late twenties when we meet him in the Bible.
Though young in years he is mature in the faith. Maybe he accepted God as a boy and never knew the paths of rebellion. Maybe after a period of rebellion he came to God in his teens. It does not matter. At some point in his life Joseph decided by faith to give God his sins to forgive and his life to control. How was Joseph saved?
How did he become right with God? How did he get rid of his sins and get his name recorded in heaven? Was it because he was born a Jew, a member of God’s chosen nation? No, for the Bible makes it clear that God has no grandchildren.
You can be born a Baptist and a preacher’s son, but Jesus says we have to be born again. Was it because he was naturally good and instinctively did that which was right? No, for the Bible says that there is “none righteous, no not even one” (Rom. 3:10).
Joseph, like each of us was born in sin, was by nature a child of wrath and deserving of the just punishment of God. He was not saved because of what he WAS but because of what he BECAME.
No, my friends, Joseph was saved as all men before and after him are saved and that is by a willingness to turn from sin (repentance) combined with trust and commitment to the God of the Bible. It appears that Joseph died sometime during the Nazareth years of Christ’s growth. He is never mentioned again with Christ’s mother and brothers and sisters. On the cross Jesus gives John the duty of caring for Mary (Jn. 19:26-27).
All this points to the death of Joseph. When he died he entered heaven, like everyone else, on the merits of the sacrificial death of the Boy he helped raise. In the gospel record Mary takes her stand at the foot of the cross and takes her place as a worshiper in the early church. She is one among the saved.
It is the same with Joseph. His strategic position does not alter the fact of his dependence upon Jesus for salvation. Both Mary and Joseph now sing:
I will sing the wondrous story/ Of the Christ who died for me.
How He left His home in glory/ For the cross of Calvary.
II. HE WAS A FRUITFUL MAN
Since God never forgives a person He doesn’t change, Joseph was a good man. He had the fruits of godliness. This word “righteous” in the Bible is often synonymous with goodness. Those who are made right with God by the shed blood of Christ are also made into the right kind of people by the shared life of Christ. His new birth issued in a new life
1. His forgiving spiri
Look, first, at his forgiving spirit. Joseph was kind. Like his God, he was merciful, tenderhearted and willing to forgive. Mary had hurt him like no one else could. She had lashed his heart. This young Jewish girl, as pure to him as the driven snow, was the light of his life. The day she consented to marry him was the happiest day of his life.
Then one day the clouds began to gather. Mary acted differently. Something was troubling her. He knew nothing of the angel’s visit to her (Lk. 1:26-38), or of the new life in her womb, placed there by the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1:35). All he knew was that behind those dark eyes, his beautiful Mary was hiding some secret and carrying some burden. He was probably not surprised but was certainly very sad when she told him she wanted to go away for awhile (Lk. 1:39).
As he saw her off, down the road to Jerusalem, where her relative Elizabeth lives (Lk. 1:36), there must have been a lump in his throat, an ache in his heart and mist in his eyes. He did not know what was wrong with Mary, he only knew she was troubled.
Being a man and knowing the secret insecurity and fear of most men, I believe he was afraid that Mary did not love him and was thinking about their upcoming marriage as a mistake.
The one thing I am sure that never even entered his mind was that Mary would have sexual relations with any other man. Virginity in Jewish society was an honored virtue. Sex outside of marriage was a crime against God and man. Jewish girls were known for their purity and Mary was the purest of the pure.
Then, after three months of waiting and wondering and praying, the storm broke. Mary came home and could no longer hide her secret. She, his wife-to-be, the purest, sweetest, loveliest and best human being he had ever known, was pregnant.
We do not know if Mary told him and explained about the angel’s visit and the nature of this holy child. We would think she would, but the Bible gives no indication that she did. It seems that she obeyed God and trusted God to take care.
Only those who have been through such a hurt can tell you the pain in Joseph’s heart. This young girl had thrust a sword into his very soul. She had betrayed him. She had taken his love and used it to hurt him.
Joseph must have been a raging mixture of anger, grief, hate, sorrow and shock. The question is - what would he do? He could be stern and just and expose her publicly. But Joseph took the merciful path. With no malice and revenge he decided to put her away privately. Jesus Christ taught us much about loving. It was He who taught us and showed us how to love our enemies and to turn the other cheek.
Now we know that everything Jesus taught us, He got from his Father in heaven (with a capital “F”). But who can say that many of the things His Father (with a capital “F”) taught him did not come through the lips and life of His father (with a little “f”). Joseph, the merciful man, no doubt taught Jesus much about the meaning of kindness and forgiveness.
2. His faithfulness
Once God spoke to him he not only believed, but obeyed. He took Mary for his wife because he loved her and because it was the will of God. This was not without its price however. In the eyes of his townspeople he was looked upon as either the immoral man who got Mary pregnant or the fool who married her after her immorality with someone else.
Dr. Hobbs says:
“ He identified himself with her condition. He bore her shame as his own. The neighbors would gossip. The stigma of fornication would fasten its stinging fangs in Mary’s heart. But it would strike him also ... Under the lash of public scorn Mary’s tender flesh would quiver. But always between her and the lash stood Joseph.” (Matthew; Broadman Press, p. 19)
From that day forward, for all we know, Joseph performed his duty as the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus and the six other children in that home (Matthew 13:55 mentions four brothers and at least two sisters). He showed courage as he escaped to Egypt with his wife and son and protected them on the dangerous journey. He showed commitment in being willing to live in Egypt if this was best for his family. Joseph’s goodness reached the place most of us leave it behind - in his home.
3. His self forgetfulness
Finally, Joseph here pictures a righteous person as one who steps into the background and lets all the glory go to Jesus. Here in these few verses the light shines on Joseph. Here stands tall in mercy, faith and commitment. But, to me, he stands tallest of all when he quietly fades away in favor of Jesus. He leaves Bethlehem never to be on center stage again, content to do the will of God without fanfare.
