Joseph's Obedience

Tonight I am going to focus more on Joseph than the other participants in the Christmas Story. Joseph was given a call to protect and a call of prompt obedience. As every husband is given charge to protect his family, Joseph had already made a commitment to protect Mary. For Mary and Joseph, their betrothal was a commitment that was just as binding as the marriage itself would be for us today. Today engagements can called off before the marriage without any legal implications, but a betrothal was a covenant. It was a serious commitment.

The couple betrothed was legally bound to each other, and expected to be true to one another, and to prepare themselves for the eventual consummation of their marriage, at such time the groom would take his bride into his own home and they would live together. Until this happened, they were celibate. There was to be no hanky-panky. The man expected his wife to remain a virgin, and she also expected him to remain a virgin until they came together. Anything else would be very shameful.

And as it happens, when couples are not chaste before their marriage, there is not evidence found in the man’s case, but if a pregnancy results, the woman finds herself in a difficult, possibly life-threatening position. If she is betrothed and it is her husband that she has been with and he does the right thing, then he will take her immediately as his wife, and while some shame still exists, life can go on.

However, if a woman is found pregnant and it is not by her husband, then she is in big trouble. Because she is legally bound to her betrothed, she would now be an adulteress, and the penalty could be death. This is how seriously God took sex and marriage. His demand was for purity, and the stiff punishment was to be an example and a warning to everyone that God expects the marriage bed to be undefiled.

We are reminded that in the same way, God considers the church to be his bride, in a betrothal period, and as we prepare for the wedding, we are to keep ourselves pure as well, as individuals as well as the church body as a whole. We cannot have impurities such as gossip, grumbling, sexual immorality, or division in the church, because He is looking for a bride that will prepare herself for the wedding. So it was also for Israel, God’s chosen people.

Throughout the history of Israel, when God commanded allegiance and loyalty, he again and again used the terms of marriage and adultery when he spoke through the prophets about his relationship to Israel. He used words like “whoring” for those who allowed impurity into their lives that stained the relationship between God & man, and when idols were worshiped. He called himself a jealous God, taking the position of a husband who has a healthy, loving desire for his wife to be his alone.

He demonstrated this through the prophet Hosea and his wife Gomer. Hosea had a wife who was disloyal, who kept leaving him to be with other men, and Hosea would keep bringing her back home, and this illustrated to the people how God feels when his people leave him and seek after other gods, and yet he lovingly seeks out to bring back the wandering ones.

Yes, God had made a big deal about marriage and purity, and that was built into the culture that Joseph and Mary found themselves in, a culture that demanded that husband and wife come together in purity, and at the right time, not earlier, but when the time of preparation was complete, and that once they were together, they were together until death, and this was what God intended for marriage then, and it is still the case today, that marriage is to be taken very seriously, not casually, and rather than seeing marriage as something people just do that can be undone, God wants us to see it, as Joseph did, as a once in a lifetime event, that ideally people would only do it one time, and that time would be for life. The only exception to the one time was to be is a spouse died, and only then was anyone supposed to consider remarrying.

So in this context of a society that took marital purity much more seriously than our culture today, let’s watch how this might have played out for Joseph:

Matthew 1:18–25 (ESV)

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

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. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 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. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Joseph’s impulse to protect his wife was strong. Times were a little different then. A man was to protect his family, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He was the provider of the shelter and the food. He was the one that protected from the weather and from hunger. He was an emotional protector as well, who was to model God’s love to his wife and family, and he was the priest of the household, a spiritual protector. Joseph had chosen to be all of these things for Mary. He loved her, had committed to life with her.

Of course he wanted to do those things, but men don’t only marry to be protectors, they also marry to enjoy their wife. Joseph, like any man, surely looked forward to the time when he would come together with his wife. We don’t know how close it was to the time they would come together, whether it was days, weeks, or months. A betrothal would typically be a year or so, but we are not told how long they were betrothed when this happened.

Regardless of how long it was before they would consummate their marriage, however, we can certainly imagine the feelings Joseph must have had when Mary told him about the situation she found herself in. While Joseph was part of a culture that believed in the supernatural intervention of God not human affairs, and had heard the great miracles of the old testament time and again, when faced with the situation himself, he just found it unbelievable.

He loved Mary, but he couldn’t imagine that this had happened the way she said. Perhaps he thought she was covering for an abusive person who took advantage of her by making up a story, or was too ashamed to admit that she had been unfaithful. Joseph probably considered many far-fetched scenarios that led to Mary’s pregnancy, but he was having trouble believing the truth.

He was a just man, he didn’t want her to have the shame of this, and so he thought he would quietly divorce her. Yes, Joseph, even faced with what he thought were unbelievable circumstances, still felt a call to protect. And even as hurt as he must have been, he still was considering a solution to protect Mary.

However, Joseph’s call to protect wasn’t just from within himself, it wasn’t because his society said that this is what men do, his call to protect was a holy calling, just as it is for men today. So God sent a special message to Joseph. While Zechariah and Mary had direct encounters with an angel, Joseph has a dream. God doesn’t do everything in the same way all the time. He chooses the way he will act, and despite our best efforts to box him into particular methods, we continue to find that God will surprise us.

When God calls us to something, he gives us what we need to complete it.

2 Peter 1:3–4 (ESV)

2 Peter 1:3–4 ESV

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

Philippians 1:6 ESV

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:24 (ESV)

1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

God is the one who calls, and God is the one who sees to it that his call is not unheeded. He is the one who draws us to himself; we can’t do much without his call. So Joseph had a call to be Mary’s protector and a call to prompt obedience, and now his call is expanded to be the protector of Jesus until he becomes a man. And though God has called him, Joseph is unable to do this on his own, so God sends help in the form of a dream, and he would again give Joseph help through dreams. If you read on in chapter 2, you will see that God warned Jospeh in a dream to flee to Egypt, and then gave him a dream to return to Nazareth.

Imagine this life! On the run, called to protect a wife and baby, and going on long journeys. Today, we would look at the map and think perhaps that wasn’t so far. About the distance from here to Miami. There was great difficulty in traveling in Joseph’s day, particularly with a wife and young child.

So God gives Joseph just what he needs for encouragement and direction. He isn’t the first Joesph in scripture to have his life largely influenced by dreams, but that is another story for another time.

We have now looked at Joseph’s call to protect. He was to be the protector of his family physically, emotionally, and spiritually, as all husbands and fathers are. But what if you are not a father? How can this call to protect apply to you?

Well, we are all called to protect. A husband and father may have a specific calling to protect wife and children, but in the same way, every person has a call to protect others.

But Joseph also had a call to prompt obedience. There wasn’t a lot of time for him to sit around and contemplate, to draw together a council of advisors, to survey the community, or anything of the sort. Mary was already pregnant. Before long, it would be obvious to everyone. Not only that, Joseph had in mind protecting Mary, but also to some extent protecting himself. Ultimately, he chose protecting Mary and trust in God over his objections.

Joseph’s call to protect and call to prompt obedience was a call he heeded. His example to all of us, men and women, boys and girls alike, is evident. God calls us each to something. He has good works for us to do, works that he has prepared for us. What is he calling you to that requires prompt obedience?

What I want you to observe in the story of Joseph is that his prompt obedience to God, his submission to God’s plan, was part of God’s one big master plan, to bring salvation to the world. Joseph’s part in this story is not insignificant. God continues to use those who are called to prompt obedience today to continue carrying out his master plan to bring salvation to the world.

Perhaps we think of ourselves as much less than Joseph, perhaps we feel that our part must be much smaller in the grand scheme of things. We may think that even our obedience cannot have nearly the impact of Joseph’s. Joseph had a part, but he is not the savior. Mary had a part, but she is not the savior. Zechariah and Elizabeth and John the Baptist had a part, but they were not the savior. They all followed God’s commands in prompt obedience, but none of them are the savior.

Jesus is the one who saves. No church, no pastor, no organization can save anyone. But Jesus can. We may all have favorite preachers and teachers, and we may even tell others “you have to listen to this or read this book”, and yet none of them are the savior. There is one savior.

That Savior, Jesus, has chosen to use people who will listen to His call with prompt obedience. If anything great has happened through a man or woman in church history, it is the work of the savior, but if anything great has happened in church history, it will also be linked back to someone saying yes, and promptly obeying the call of God. So we see in the gospel of Matthew some bookends. In chapter one, we see the Birth of Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. And the very last sentence, the words of that same Christ, now grown to be a man, having died on the cross and raised again, and ready to ascend into heaven, and we again see that He is indeed Immanuel, God with us. “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”.

That same Immanuel who suddenly entered the world and changed everything still enters in and changes everything. He does this around the world, and right here. Immanuel comes. He is here. He is with us always, and the eternal plan of salvation continues to unfold, and his method of bringing his word into the world is really the same as when Joseph had his dream. For God is calling today as he has been calling for generations, and his call is to find another one who will respond to his call in prompt obedience.

Men and women have received the salvation of God, sometimes having heard the message many times, they responded eventually. But what of those who respond promptly in obedience? Cornelius’ entire house was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit due to prompt obedience to the word of Truth that Peter brought. Remember those disciples who became apostles, who walked immediately away from their nets in prompt obedience to the call of Christ, who they knew not, but were compelled to obey when he said “follow me?”

Many more stories, from scripture itself, and from church history exist of one who God did great things through, who simply resigned to the call of God in prompt obedience? Abraham, who promptly left his home to go to a strange land, Jacob, who promptly went to Egypt when Joseph was revealed, and the people were saved. Gideon, Samuel, David, how many more responded with prompt obedience to God’s call? And how many more since the canon of scripture was closed has responded to God, great preachers, missionaries, and many men and women who were called out of their various lives into prompt obedience.

Here is the point: Prompt obedience to God is very often the first step in the life of one whom God will use for his glory. No, you do not become the Savior if you respond to his call in prompt obedience. You become a servant of the Savior, one who participates in his great plan of salvation that he continues to unfold right here in our time. He is looking for those who would trust enough to offer him prompt obedience. The one who will do so is humble enough to admit that they are nothing without God, but would like to be something with him.

The one who does this is willing to stop seeking after worldly desires and seek first the kingdom of God. The one who does this is willing to suffer for the name of Christ in order to be glorified with him in the end. The one who does this becomes part of God’s plan, part of the church. Yet this prompt obedience, which, when it is truly obedience to God, can bring about great things, can be confused with obedience to other people, or our own desires. We have a tendency to spiritualize our own wants and desires, to search out passages to affirm what we really want to do. So it is necessary for us to learn discernment, which comes from studying God’s Word, and prayer, and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak and empower us.

How could Joseph have known the difference? Well, for one thing, he was a just man. That is a good start. He seems to have been struggling with belief. You see, Mary had had her encounter with Gabriel, who gave her God’s message, but for Joseph, it was coming second hand. He was not prepared to believe such a supernatural thing had happened based upon someone’s word for it. He needed to have first hand experience.

Today, you may sit there and think that all of this about Jesus sounds good, but it is just what some people are saying. But God invites you to take a step of prompt obedience and allow him to reveal himself to you. He may not come to you in a dream. Sometimes he just confirms His truth in your heart. Sometimes he helps you overcome some logical objection you have to His truth. Sometimes he demonstrates His power to us by healing.

Regardless of what we may demand, though, we still must obey the Word of Truth. God only saves through faith. This means that we don’t come to him having everything figured out. We don’t come once we have seen the spreadsheet. We come to him in faith. Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

Hebrews 11:1 ESV

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

And yet God even gives us faith, faith comes from hearing, and hearing of the Word of God.

The gospel of Matthew begins and ends with the concept of Immanuel, God with us. Joseph was given a part in this story. His call to protect and his call to prompt obedience was part of God’s plan for him. God has a plan for each of us as well, and he is calling us each to something. Today, the story of Immanuel continues in the lives of believers, and to those who respond to his call.

If you want to experience Immanuel, God with us, obey his call. If you want to see others experience Him, obey his call.

Joseph wasn’t great on his own, he was simply a man who responded to God’s call. Mary was no one special until God called her. Their obedience to the call gave them opportunity to be part of the great plan of God, and you have the same opportunity. You can respond to the call of God and be part of His great plan.