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.
The custom of the time was for your parents to arrange the marriage, and if Joseph had died before their wedding day, Mary would have been considered a widow. They are not living together as husband and wife as of yet because this would wait for the wedding ceremony. The problem is stated nicely at the end of verse 19: "…before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 2:19).
So Joseph finds out his Mary is pregnant, and he can put two and two together. You would come to the same conclusion that Joseph did in verse 19: "And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly" (Matthew 1:19). No need to bring extra embarrassment, Joseph would take care of things quietly.
1.3 Peloton – A Husband's Sensitivity
Husbands can lack sensitivity… maybe some of the wives here have detected this? Have you seen the Peloton commercial running on TV this Christmas?
Run this video in silence during this part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=pShKu2icEYw&feature=emb_logo
Where the young husband brings his wife into the room with her eye closed, and, viola, he gives her an exercise bike. And she loves it – she's stoked and is overwhelmed with joy that he husband gave her an exercise bike. Any husband can spot this Christmas myth a mile away, right? "Give my wife an expensive exercise bike at Christmas? Yes, that will go over like a lead balloon. I'll be hearing about that 'romantic' gift for decades to come." Can you spot this conversation on Christmas morning: Husband: "Merry Christmas!" [gives wife a Peloton] Wife: "What are you trying to say?" Husband: "Nothing. I just thought..." Wife: "Just thought I looked like I was gaining a few pounds?"
We would have no idea if Mary accused Joseph's intensity later on. We have no record of what Mary later thought of Joseph's thoughts that she had been less than faithful. I'll let your imagination take that conversation.
1.4 Joseph's Risk
Seriously now, the way Joseph thought of it was, "Here is a woman I'm engaged to be married to who, during our engagement, gets pregnant with somebody besides me." Now, Joseph has a decision in front of him. If he marries her, the disgrace will become his too. Did you follow that? The only way he can be free of the shame of this pregnancy is if he divorces her. Divorce will make it clear she has been unfaithful to him. But if Joseph marries Mary and they have this child just a few months after they get married, then it'll be clear to everyone that THEY have been unfaithful to God together. The shame would be attached to him as well as her. Yes, Joseph had a problem – a big problem.
1. Joseph's Dilemma
2. An Angel's Instructions
2.1 Joseph Sleeps
So, Joseph is calculating to arrange things, so the marriage isn't going to happen when he goes to sleep one night. Evidently, Joseph did what you and I do, we sleep, but we have our minds thinking about things in the background: "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" (Matthew 2:20). Nothing is said about the appearance of the angel or anything he did; attention is concentrated on his message.
Now the moral to this story: God will solve all your problems as you sleep. More seriously, do you know that God is at work on the problems in your life while you sleep? God has never visited a mattress store, and you will not find a pillow and blanket in His bedroom. God has no bedroom because He never sleeps. God intervened to give Joseph all the information he needed. He made His hands visible for all to see if you will. We know that Joseph didn't divorce Mary and the reason is the angel changed his mind. Joseph went to bed with divorce on his mind, but he worked up the next morning with wedding bells in his ears. God had a solution to Joseph's problem that Joseph wouldn't have thought possible, and He dispatches another angel to tell our young husband. The angel says, "The baby isn't normal, Joseph. This child is a miracle, and His conception is supernatural. Don't suspect your bride of foul play."
Maybe Joseph had forgotten one of the lessons from the synagogue, but he was old enough to remember when the scroll of Isaiah was read.
2.2 Isaiah 7:14
He would have heard these words: on screen: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). That promise was made 750 years before Joseph was alive. To be sure, many Jewish rabbis teach that the Hebrew word "virgin" means "young woman." Even to this day, this one verse has its own Wikipedia page. Now, right about the time, the angel speaks to Joseph. I think the young husband is putting together a puzzle in his mind. In 1952, the Revised Standard Bible caused controversy when it translated Isaiah 7:14 using the phrase "young woman" instead of "virgin." So perhaps Joseph's rabbi taught him the verse in the wrong way.
2.2 Joseph, Son of David
But did you hear the angel's first words? Look specifically at what the angel calls Joseph: "Joseph, son of David…" (Matthew 2:20b). You know every other time the gospel of Matthew uses the words "son of David," it refers to Jesus? Every other time. It's this one time that should certainly alert you to something vital – Joseph is also the son of David. Surely Joseph's mother or father had told him he was in the lineage of David! For any normal Jewish family, being an ancestor of King David was a big deal.
2.3 John Follin
Years ago, Traci and I and our three kids went to Arlington National Cemetery. Our three had to be around seven or eight years old at the oldest, and the youngest was around three years old. Now, most people would go to Arlington National Cemetery to see the changing of the guard but not us. We went to chase down a grave – one specific grave. A needle in a haystack, if you will. Now, Traci's family had talked about this one man, John Follin, and for a good reason. A veteran of the Revolutionary War, he was a prisoner of war for three years, being released at the end of the war. Again, Follin was held prisoner of war aboard a British man-of-war for three years. Follin is one of ten Revolutionary War veterans interred at Arlington National Cemetery. His son, Edward, was a soldier in the War of 1812. We traipsed all over that cemetery for hours, looking for that grave. We searched high and low with whining kids who said they were so hungry. But I was determined on that day, my friend. No matter what, we were going to find this grave for my wife, even if I buried three more children in that cemetery. After hours of searching and with the assistance of a wonderful groundskeeper, we finally found it! John Follin is my wife, Traci's great, great, great, great, great grandfather (that's five greats if you're keeping score). Now, if I knew she was a descendant of a revolutionary war hero, don't you think Joseph knew he was a descendant of King David? Don't you think for a minute that Joseph knew he was a descendent of the great king in Israel's history?
2.4 Son of David
The words "son of David" in verse 20 remind us of a great king. But, the words the "son of David" reminds us of an even greater promise: "When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Joseph would have been told about this promise by his father and his mother. When he was with his maternal grandparents, they would have talked about this great promise given to David 1,000 years before Joseph lived. And when he was with his paternal grandparents, they would have talked about this great promise given to David 1,000 years before Joseph lived. That promise was a big deal, and being a part of David's ancestry was a big deal.
I don't know why Joseph didn't put the pieces of the puzzle together until the angel showed up… … but the good news is he does now. Joseph resolves to remain married to Mary.
1. Joseph's Problem
2. God's Solution
3. The Couple's Obedience
"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 1:24–25).
He marries her at the insistence of the angel's instructions. There is no need to get really flowerily here or complicated at this moment. Christmas took place because Joseph obeyed God – plain and simple.
3.1 Joseph's Obedience
What's unusual with this story is that very little of it actually focus on the birth of Jesus. Instead, the gospels focus more on Jesus' conception. The angel shows up and says, "No, marry her. She's pregnant through the Holy Spirit." Again, you realize if Joseph marries Mary, everybody in the small town of Nazareth will know this child was not born ninth months or ten months or eleven months after they got married. The people around there could do the math, and they'll know Mary was pregnant when they two were married. The two bear the shame together. Even thirty-plus years later, the religious teachers say this to the adult Jesus: "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God" (John 8:41b).
There was shame in their decision. This culture isn't like our American culture. People have children out of wedlock every day. 40% of all births in America are born to unmarried women, according to a 2014 study. Now, contrast us with places such as China, India, and many countries in Northern Africa where less than 1 percent of children are born to unmarried women. I saw a Yale study recently that said travel guides advise couples who are not married to pretend they are married when visiting such places. Now, you get a sense of the strong social disapproval of such a thing. Why did God take such great care to have His child born to such a marriage? The angel told Joseph, "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). And all of Jesus' life, He purposefully chose to steer His life into the stigma of sin though He Himself knew not even one sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Of course, Jesus' life would end up on a cross because of our sins.
3.2 Immanuel
At Christmas, we sing, "O Come, O Come, [Immanuel]," because Immanuel is the name given to Jesus. The name Immanuel means Jesus is God in verse 23. Now, this is a unique claim. No other religion claims anything like it – God has become man. The impossible becomes possible. The supernatural becomes natural. The powerful become powerless, and the invulnerable becomes vulnerable.
Conclusion: God Names the Child
For those of you who have children today, can you remember the discussion in naming your child or your children? She picked this name because it was her mother's name. He picked this certain name because it was his grandfather's name. Traci and I did that kind of thing too. Parents name their children, don't they? It's a fun part of having kids. They get older, and they're in trouble, and you can't remember any of their names. That's when you say, "You know I'm talking to you. Come here now." You start the company; you name it. You have a child; you name it. Why? The child is under your management. Only this birth was totally different. The angel tells Joseph, "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus…" (Matthew 1:21a). The angel warns and says, "If you want to receive this Child into your life, this Child does not come under your management; you will be under His. You may not name him; he will be naming you.
