THE MAN BEHIND THE MANGER
Matt. 1:18-25
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: FAXING MONEY
1. Often people resist trying new technology. One young woman tried to get her mother, a secretary, to start using the fax machine in her office instead of using the post office.
2. Although she told her many times that it was a faster and less expensive way to communicate, her mother continued to send her correspondence by “snail mail.”
3. At Christmas, however, her mother showed that she now had a full grasp of the technology. She faxed a $100 bill with the note: “Merry Christmas, Darling. You’re right—it is cheaper to fax than to mail. Love, Mom.”
B. TEXT
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
C. THESIS
1. We will see that Joseph is underestimated in his role in the Christmas story – that he was especially chosen by God, had many internal battles to fight to obey God, had a unique relationship with God, and played a formative role in the development of the personality of the Son of God.
2. The title of this message is “The Man Behind the Manger.”
I. JOSEPH WAS CHOSEN FOR THIS SPECIAL JOB
A. HE’S ALWAYS IN THE BACKGROUND OF NATIVITY SCENES: ILLUSTRATION
1. A mother phoned the church office an hour before the Children’s Christmas play on Sunday night. Her son was one of the main characters.
2. “We’ve just returned from the doctor’s office; Billy has a severe cold and the doctor has ordered bed rest” she said.
3. “It’s too late to have someone learn his part,” the play director said. “We’ll have to get along without him; I guess we’ll just write him out of the script,” said the director.
4. And that’s just what they did. Only a few who watched even realized that character was missing. JOSEPH was home in bed, but no one noticed.
5. Joseph, the carpenter from Nazareth, continues to be the neglected character in the Christmas story. Who could think of Christmas without the angels, or the shepherds, or the wise men, or the inn keeper, Herod, or Mary?
6. But Joseph? He might as well be written out of the script. He’s standing in the shadows of history – he seems unimportant, uninvolved, and uninteresting. He’s often the forgotten man of the Nativity.
7. Mary is, of course, venerated for carrying the Christ child, but scripture makes few references to Joseph. No words are recorded that he spoke. The Bible portrays him as a just and good man, a carpenter by trade. He was by genealogy a descendant of David. Let’s see what else the Bible says about him.
B. HUSBAND OF MARY, PROTECTOR OF CHRIST
1. Why did God choose Joseph? God needed someone strong and thoughtful, who would love and care for Mary, and also be the obedient protector of Jesus, God’s Son.
2. The person God needed for this job had to have an active faith and unquestioning obedience in what God asked him to do.
3. He had to have the right balance of fatherly characteristics to help Jesus get a good earthly image of what His heavenly Father was like.
4. If Joseph had been harsh, short-tempered, or a bully, it might have adversely affected Jesus’ personality, but Joseph was undoubtedly a good father-example, hand-picked by God to raise His Son.
II. JOSEPH’S TRIAL IN THE SCANDAL
A. HOW DID HE HEAR OF THE PREGNANCY?
1. From Mary? Her parents? Village gossip? The Bible tells us (Luke 1:39,56) that as soon as she agreed to become Christ’s mother, that she hurried off to the hill country to see her cousin Elizabeth, the pregnant mother of John the Baptist.
2. Mary was told by Gabriel the angel that Elizabeth (who was past child-bearing) was pregnant. Mary probably wanted to confirm this and confide in Elizabeth about her situation.
3. The Bible says that Mary remained there three months. Supposing she became pregnant about the time she left Nazareth, she definitely would have been “showing” when she returned. What a terribly awkward position for Joseph to be thrown into.
B. HOW HIS FEELINGS MUST HAVE BEEN CRUSHED
1. Undoubtedly Joseph felt betrayed and heart broken. The girl he had known and loved since childhood, and who had married him publicly, had given herself to another man!
2. Mary must have told him about the angel Gabriel and what he said about her bearing God’s Son, but who could believe the word of a pregnant girl about something that had never happened before?
3. He asked himself again & again, “How could I have been so wrong? How could she have done this? What am I to do now?”
C. THE OPTIONS JOSEPH CONSIDERED
1. He could have made her a public disgrace. It’s natural to defend one’s own honor, when you’re innocent. To NOT speak up was to admit guilt. As the old expression is, “Silence is consent.” So it went against human nature for him to keep silent about his own innocence.
2. A betrothed virgin, if she was promiscuous, was to be stoned to death (Deut. 22:23-24) according to the Law.
3. He pondered the options & prayed. He decided to divorce her quietly. He didn’t rush to judgment like Judah with Tamar (Gen. 38:24) – “Bring her forth and let her be burnt!” He was a just and kind man.
III. THE ANGEL’S MESSAGE TO JOSEPH
A. “JOSEPH, SON OF DAVID,” he was in the Messianic line.
1. While Joseph is sleeping, an angel came to him in a dream. The angel told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
2. In other words, she wasn’t a promiscuous woman, but faithful and virtuous. The first thing God did was reestablish Mary’s character in the eyes of Joseph. She was godly and pure.
B. “THAT HOLY THING” Lk. 1:35 KJV, Greek.
1. The Child was more than human; He was of divine origin.
2. “Conceived of the Holy Spirit.” The same Holy Spirit who helped create the world had now “prepared a body” (Heb. 10:5) for the Savior of the world.
3. This Child was the Son of God, from all eternity.
4. He was Savior of the World. Jesus means “Savior.”
a. Jesus is used 2X in the KJV of the O.T., translating the name “Joshua.” Joshua was the Captain of Israel’s hosts. He led them into Canaan land. Then there’s Joshua the High Priest mentioned in Zechariah.
b. Jesus Christ is both the Captain of our Salvation and the High Priest of our profession (Heb. 2:10; 3:1). He’s our Savior, not IN sin, but FROM sin.
C. THIS MESSIAH MUST BE VIRGIN-BORN
1. Isa. 7:14 states His mother must be a virgin, because God will be the creator of the male genetic side of the gene pattern. Gen. 3:15, He is the “seed of the woman” but not of any man (see Gal. 4:4).
2. Repeatedly Jesus is called the “mono-genes” of God; the only genetic Son of God (John 1:14,18; 3:16,18; 1 Jn. 4:9). He is “Immanuel” - “God with us.” Paul says, “God was manifest in the flesh” 1 Tim. 3:16.
IV. JOSEPH’S OBEDIENCE & FAITH
A. JOSEPH MARRIED MARY
1. Joseph took Mary as his wife even though it would cause others to conclude that the child was his. His good name was definitely ruined by his actions.
2. Verse 25; Mary remained a Virgin until the time that Jesus was born! Joseph treated her and Christ with reverent honor.
B. JOSEPH HAD 3 OTHER ANGELIC APPEARANCES
1. Joseph’s special closeness to God is seen in his openness to the miraculous dreams he received. After the Wise Men left, an angel appeared to Joseph to tell him to “flee into Egypt” Mt. 2:13.
2. After Herod died, an angel appeared again to tell him to “take the young child and go into the land of Israel” Mt. 2:20.
3. After Joseph travelled back to Israel, a fourth angel warned him not to go into Judea (where Archelaus had begun ruling), so he settled the family in Nazareth in Galilee (Mt. 2:22-23), which was a fulfillment of scripture.
4. Joseph certainly put his faith in Christ before he died. How could a parent (half-) trust a child for salvation? David did – Matt. 22:42-45 & Ps. 110:1.
C. ADDITIONAL NOTE
1. We know that Joseph was a carpenter. During his 3 years of ministry, Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth. Some of the people recognized Him as the “son of the carpenter” (Mt. 13:55), but others said, “Isn’t he the carpenter?” (Mk. 6:3).
2. This means that Joseph had taught Jesus the profession of carpentry, and this is how Jesus supported Himself and the family after Joseph’s death. What a legacy! How many thousands of hours must the two have spent together in the carpenter shop, shaping wood and making furniture. Jesus’ trade was passed to Him from Joseph.
3. According to historians, wood was recycled in Palestine. It could have been that Jesus helped shape the same timber, that years later, would be used to make His own cross.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: BORN TO SAVE
1. In 1988, Anissa Ayala was sixteen years-old and diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. The doctors said that if she did not receive a bone marrow transplant after chemotherapy and radiation treatment she would die.
2. Neither her parents nor her brother was a match, and they could not find a donor elsewhere. Her parents, both in their forties, conceived another child and hoped that its bone marrow would be compatible with Anissa’s.
3. To their great delight it was determined that this new baby was a compatible donor, and when Marissa Ayala was fourteen months-old they took some of her marrow and gave it to
Anissa. Anissa made a full recovery from the Leukemia and both sisters lead healthy lives today.
4. In a very real sense Marissa saved her sister’s life. She says, “Without me being a perfect match for my sister, she would not be here.”
5. Jesus was born into this world for the express purpose of saving us. He is the one and only Savior that can save all those who put their trust in Him. Christmas marks the day we celebrate His birth, and without Him we would not have salvation. [msn.com, June, 3, 2011]
B. THE CALL
1. Are you a little confused about God’s plan for your life? Joseph was. We’ll pray for God to help “make sense” of the chaos that you’re experiencing.
2. Do some of you feel like you don’t matter much in the plan of God? Joseph did at times. Yet he, and you, are more crucial to God’s plan than you may guess! Let’s pray that God will give you a revelation of that too!
3. Maybe some of you feel like giving up, quitting, or even like running away. I’m sure Joseph did too a couple of times. But God wants you to persevere in the path He has set before you
4. Let’s all pray for those who are struggling and need light. PRAYER.
[Section one was derived from Morris Chalfant.]
