Joseph
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18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: 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[b] 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,[c] 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”[d] (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.
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Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”
13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
Our bible reading Matthew 1:18-25 focuses on Joseph, maybe you think there isn’t much to think about Joseph! We know his world came crashing down on hearing his fiancé was pregnant. The Bible doesn’t tell us what Mary said to him about her pregnancy or exactly when she told him. Mary had been to cousin Elizabeth’s for three months after her Holy Spirit conception. Surprisingly, the bible doesn’t record a word Joseph said.
He is visited by an angel, and he hears about Mary’s conception. We can imagine the conversations he had with the Angel and Mary - but Joseph listens and obeys.
After Jesus’ birth we picture him welcoming the shepherds and the wise men as they came to visit, but we don’t know what he said. As Jesus got older can visualize him teaching Jesus about carpentry…but Joe doesn’t get a mention after Jesus was 12 (lost in Jerusalem). During Jesus’ ministry, Mary is alone, the Bible doesn’t say she’s a widow but it is believed that Joseph has died.
So maybe it’s a short sermon, we’ve said all there is to say about Joseph. !!
On a closer examination of our readings, there is a lot we can learn from Joseph’s ‘engagement.’ His engagement with the angel, with Mary, with faith. I would like to highlight three things which will challenge and teach us today
Joseph was:
(RC) Righteous & compassionate
(TO) Trusting & obedient
(NC) Naming & confirming
(1) Righteous and compassionate
Matthew 1:19 Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
In this one verse, we learn that he was ‘Righteous and Compassionate.’ When I was praying and preparing for this sermon, I wanted to have these as separate headings. I sensed God saying to me, ‘they go together’ Righteous and compassionate. People can be pious and deeply religious but lack empathy for the needs around them. When I had just been ordained in 1999 we flew out to Crete. One day in Heraklion we came upon some Orthodox priests casually walking in the streets. I spoke to one of them and introduced myself but they would not engage at all. They were rather austere, had a pious attitude, an aura of us and them, religious and irreligious. Compare that with Matthew 9:36 “When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” That’s what you call a good shepherd. Righteous and Compassionate.
Joseph demonstrates reverence for God in the way he respects God's commands see Luke 2:21 and Luke 2:24 when he went into the temple and in Luke 2:41 referring to his annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We may not know what he said but in his household, he led by example. When we look at Jesus' human character it could be that we see an imprint of Joseph's devotion. We can see why God chose Joe. He had a quiet, everyday devotion to God – that is a reminder to all of us that our walk with God is a constant dedication of prayer and reading the bible, the steady Eddie type of Christian commitment.
“If you give me credit for being a plodder you will describe me justly…. I can plod. To this I owe everything.” William Carey Baptist Missionary (1761-1834)
Joseph was righteous and compassionate, “being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace” (v19).
For Joseph, being righteous did not just mean doing the ‘right thing’ but being the right person. His righteousness and compassion go hand in hand. After the angel appeared to him, he knew he was the right man for the job.
Maybe someone here needs to hear that from God’s perspective you are the right person for what lies ahead and that God will care for you and guide you through it all.
(2) Trusting & Obedient
In Matthew 1:20, after Joe considered splitting up with Mary, an Angel of the Lord delivered a message and v24 says he trusted the word of the Lord and trusted in the care of God every step of the way. He had nothing else to go on, no parenting book for the Son of God, no clever sidesteps to the embarrassment ahead about Mary’s pregnancy.
When our plans are disrupted, we say, like Joseph must have prayed, "God, what’s happening?" Then like Joseph, listen for a still small voice of God saying "Trust Me."
Isaiah 55:8 ‘God’s ways are not always our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.’
We may never understand everything that God is doing this side of heaven, but God says, "Trust Me, and all things will work together for good" (Romans 8:28).
There is a hymn ‘trust & obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus’ and it is so true.
Even when it didn’t seem to make sense, Joseph listened and trusted God's word. ‘Trust&Obey’ – He trusted and then had the courage to act, to obey and to do God's will.
In 1979, when I was going through my own crisis when I was in hospital after a car crash it was dramatic stories of obedience to God, that encouraged me to trust and obey. Job in pain and grieving said, "Though he slays me, yet will I trust in him!" (Job 13:15) That became my personal rally cry.
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed, "Not my will, Father, but yours will be done!" Matthew 26:42
CT Studd played Cricket for England (31 caps) and in obedience to a call he gave it up to go as a missionary to China.
Elizabeth Eliot went back to work with the Auca Indians in Ecuador after they had murdered her husband. She said she was certain of one thing: ‘that she must obey God.’
It is understandable for a brief time, to be tempted to give up the fight; but then, like Joseph, if you trust, your obedience to God well up within us.
If love was the key quality in Jesus' life and character, then obedience ran a close second. We are touched by his compassion and mercy and kindness, but at the centre of his life was unyielding obedience to God's will. It is often said, "Like father, like son." Joseph, too, is the picture of obedience. Despite shame and fear, Joseph had the courage to do what God asked him to do.
A lesson for us all.
(3) Finally, Joe was Naming and confirming
The message delivered by an angel in a dream (v18) was that Mary’s conception was from the Holy Spirit (v18) and repeated in v20. The messenger instructs Joseph that he is to name the child and confirm Jesus’ life’s purpose and destiny:
‘He will save his people from their sins.’
The angel said YOU Joseph are to name him Jesus – Yeshua or Joshua (meaning Saviour).
The Prophet Isaiah said his name is Immanuel – God with us.
So which is it, Jesus or Immanuel? Notice v23 says ‘they will call him Immanuel (also Isaiah 7:9) – who is ‘they?’ I can tell you it is not Joseph and Mary. They are the people down the ages from Isa 700 years before to his birth and right here and now – they are me and you, they who come to know and trust in him as God in the flesh, Immanuel. This is not a command to Joseph and Mary to call him Immanuel like a middle name, say, Jesus Immanuel Smith – no, by faith ‘they’ are people he will save through the ages – because that is who he is – Immanuel God with us.
Joseph also confirms Christ’s mission v21 “he will save his people from their sins.” Interesting that it doesn’t say he will save them from the Russians or Climate Change – ‘he will save his people from their sins.’ You do not need a virgin birth to save us from climate change – you can have David Attenborough or Greta Thurnberg for that. You don’t need a virgin birth to save us from the Russians, Nato or the UN will step in and that won’t end well either. You can’t defeat sin without God with us – his name is Jesus. God with us also means One of Us so he could take our sins and die in our place – only Immanuel God with us can do that, because he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, because he was sinless, spotless lamb of God (John 1:29)
Because he was our once and for all sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10) who could lay down his life and because Immanuel God with us was still ‘God almighty.’ But death could not hold him, he defeated that last frontier (Hebrews 2:14) for us to have eternal life – his name is Jesus, God with us.
Other religions give you advice, prayer patterns and techniques and instructions. Christianity Gives you a person - you invite him into your life he is with you and within you – a transformation. Instead of mindfulness, you get Jesusfullness! Not advice - a person – Joseph named him Jesus, and the prophet Isaiah said ‘they will call him Immanuel’ God with us. You can know him personally, he really can come into your life (within-ness). In 2019 Van Morrison wrote about God with us within us. Transformation
“Gonna be a transformation in your heart and soul
Gonna be a transformation, now that you know,
Get used to righteousness when it makes you feel whole,
Gonna be a transformation, down in your soul”
We don’t know much about Joseph. We do know he was Righteous and Compassionate, Trusting and Obedient and that character led him to name the Saviour – Jesus. The people were told 700 years BC in Isaiah 7:14
The Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel God with us, within us.
Will you invite him within?
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still
And with all who will trust and obeyTrust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obeyJohn Henry Sammis (1846-1919) and Daniel Brink Towner (1850-1919)
