How God Uses Ordinary People to Accomplish Extraordinary Things

The goal of many young people today is to someday be “famous.” Celebrity endorsements influence the popularity of breakfast cereal, sportswear, and even the election of our highest officials in the land. In Joseph’s day, men did not desire prestige, but rather a good reputation. The decision to stand by Mary and for God was not an easy choice to make. We learn through his story that when we trust and obey God, He mysteriously unfolds His plan and purpose for us and, in this case, for the whole world.

He is sometimes referred to as “the forgotten man of Christmas”— Joseph—the man who was chosen to be the adoptive father of our Lord, the one who would protect the infancy of the Savior of the world. “In the Word of God, Joseph stands silent. He is spoken to, he is spoken about, but not a single syllable crosses his lips. He is viewed by many people as just a bit player, an extra, in the Christmas drama.” 1

According to Matthew’s genealogy, Joseph was a potential king— a person of royal blood—yet we know very little about him. He appears on the scene for a moment and then disappears. Judging from Mary’s sacrifice of two turtle doves, we may assume that he was a poor man. We do know he was a carpenter and, as such, most probably a simple and practical man. He would have liked the feel of wood and stone, the satisfaction of building something sound and useful. We can imagine that, like Mary, he envisioned an orderly and ordinary life. He would pursue his craft, maintain a good name in the community, attend the synagogue, and raise a family.2

You should know that in Jewish culture, unlike our own, the groom was the focus of the wedding. Joseph must have looked forward to the celebration and the simple life that would follow, of taking Mary into his household, of having children. The carpenter was fashioning a “well-constructed life.” But after the angel Gabriel told

Mary that she would conceive by means of the Holy Spirit and bear the Messiah, Mary left town—and didn’t tell Joseph about her visit from the angel! Luke 1:39-40 says, “Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.” Then Elizabeth “spoke out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!...Blessed is she who believed’” (Luke 1:42, 45).

Joseph’s Discovery of Mary’s Baby

We read of Joseph’s discovery of Mary’s baby in Matthew 1:18: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”

Though engaged, there had been no physical union. Yet here is Mary with child. But how do you explain that? It is probable that even her parents neither understood nor accepted her story. But according to Matthew 1:18, the betrothal agreement had been signed, dowry gifts had been given, and friends and relatives knew of the couple’s espousal. And then Joseph discovers Mary’s baby!

Joseph’s Dilemma Over Mary’s Baby

Matthew 1:19 says, “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.” Joseph desired to shield Mary from public shame and had decided to quietly divorce her.

Perhaps he concluded that Mary had committed adultery. But she was a godly woman and would have never violated her purity and their engagement. Maybe she had been raped. But she would have told him so. A third option was that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah, just as she had said.

Joseph was a devout man, a Hebrew. And surely he pondered the fact that the Messiah was to be born of the house of David. So, what could he do?

Not to divorce Mary might represent failure to uphold the spirit of the law. (See Deuteronomy 22:23-24.) But to dismiss her publicly was unthinkable. He did not consider her guilty. He was

in a position of not being able to condemn her or fully justify her pregnancy. So he decided to secretly divorce her. God had made a special vessel of this noble Hebrew woman. And not wanting to interfere with God’s mysterious purposes, he would set Mary aside. To be obedient to God, Joseph was willing to give up the woman he so dearly loved.

Josephs’ Dream About Mary’s Baby

Then Joseph had a dream. In Matthew 1:20, we read, “But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.’” What relief these words must have been to Joseph!

The Explanation

The word for “dream” means to have a vision while you’re asleep, not while you’re awake. When the angel said, “Joseph, son of David,” we see God’s prophetical Word being fulfilled and His providence being carried forth that this Child should be of the lineage of David. Though Joseph was not Jesus’ physical father, by his marriage to Mary, he would give Jesus the true legal status because “he was of the house and lineage of David” (Luke 2:4).

The angel then explained that Joseph should have no hesitation in taking Mary to be his wife because her pregnancy was of the Holy Spirit. Joseph now understood that the whole matter had been orchestrated by the Lord.

The Instruction

The Lord further instructed Joseph that the Child’s name would be Jesus, for He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21); and as verse 25 states, Joseph “called His name

Jesus,” showing his obedience to God.

The Revelation

Matthew goes on to reveal that Jesus’ virgin birth fulfilled what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, Isaiah: “‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23). Notice the article before the word “virgin.” He did not speak of a virgin, he spoke of the virgin, the virgin Mary. Both Isaiah and Matthew point to a very specific person.

Joseph’s Decision About Mary’s Baby

Matthew 1:24-25 says, “Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.”

What happened in Joseph’s life illustrates what often happens in ours. Max Lucado describes Joseph as being “caught between what God says and what makes sense.” Have you ever been caught there, between what God says and what makes sense?

“Yet,” as Lucado observes, “Joseph didn’t let his confusion disrupt his obedience. He didn’t know everything. But he did what he knew.” 3 God made sure that everything in His plan would be carried out to the minutest detail because the purity of Jesus must be protected. This Baby must doubtless be the Son of the Holy Spirit and not the Son of Joseph. In chapter 1 of his Gospel, Matthew reiterates this reality so clearly.

In verse 18 we read, “Before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” Verse 20 says, “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Verse 23 says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child.” And, again, as verse 25 says, “[Joseph] did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.” Jesus was the Child of Almighty God, conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit. As for Joseph, he was chosen by God to be Jesus’ adoptive father and, as such, he played a magnificent role.

But the question is, why Joseph? To fulfill God’s plan, God needed a carpenter. He needed a man who was sturdy, stable, and practical, yet sensitive to the voice of God. He needed one who would stand quietly with a young virgin who might have

seemed an object of ridicule, yet who carried in her womb the hope of the world. Joseph was strong but compassionate; he was able to lead the tiring expedition to Bethlehem and to the stable, to love and encourage the mother of Christ. Joseph, as the man of the house, was the teacher to give Jesus His first lessons in the law of God. And in Jerusalem, when the boy was twelve and it became evident that His first allegiance must be to another Father, Joseph was the man to humbly and silently step back and let God step forward. Amazingly, Joseph never spoke a word in the Christmas story. But what he did, speaks volumes to us all.

One of the lessons that comes from the life of Joseph is this: that “the most important thing in the whole world can happen to the least important people in the world; that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords can take up residence in the most ordinary of lives; that the greatest Somebody who ever lived can come to nobodies like Joseph [and] Mary [and] like you [and] like me.” 4

And isn’t this the very attitude that God requires from us? “Lord God, just tell me what to do, and I will do it. I will be obedient — anytime, any place, anywhere, anything. Lord God, I don’t understand it, and it doesn’t make sense, and as far as I know, it’s never happened before in the history of the world. But if You say it, I will do it.”

A British student was having a good time in England, studying engineering and, in his spare time, riding his motorcycle all over the English countryside. On a cold and rainy night, he crashed his motorcycle in a remote section of England and lay injured on the road for many hours. By the time he was hospitalized, pneumonia had set in, and the doctors gave him two weeks to live. During those two weeks, a letter arrived from his father who was a missionary in Angola. The letter, written many months before the accident, finally arrived by ship. The young man opened the letter and read his father’s first words. “Only one life; twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

These words so stabbed his heart that he gathered up his strength, pulled himself out of bed, and kneeled down to pray, “Lord, You have won. I now own You as King of kings and Lord of lords. And Lord, if You will heal my body, I will serve You anywhere, anytime, at any cost.”

The boy recovered and went on to become a powerful pastor and evangelist. Now with the Lord, his name was Stephen Olford. God brought him into a position of significant usefulness

through the tragedy of an accident, but most of all through the willingness to say, “Anywhere, anytime, at any cost.”

And that’s essentially what Jesus said when asked to come to earth as our Savior: “Lord God, anywhere, anytime, at any cost,” reflecting the prophetical words of Psalm 40:7-8, “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (KJV; see also Hebrews 10:7). Mary echoed the same commitment to God after the angel announced that she would give birth to the Savior of the world. In Luke 1:38 she says, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (KJV); in other words, “anywhere, anytime, at any cost.” And when Joseph received the angel’s message, he walked away from what made human sense to do what God asked him to do . . . “anywhere, anytime, at any cost.”

Are we willing to say, “Lord, I will serve You anywhere, anytime, at any cost”? Long ago, that was the road to Bethlehem. And today, it is the road to victory in the life of a true believer. It’s a happy day when we recognize that we don’t have to completely understand everything that God is doing in order to obey. God reserves the right to give us what we need to know, as we need to

know it, and reveal the rest in due time.

Some of the most exciting things that have happened to me have been when I said “Yes” before I even knew what I was saying “Yes” to. I knew it was from God, and then it unfolded. And think of what unfolded from the obedience of Joseph, Mary, and the Lord. It has unfolded right into our hearts today and made it possible for me to say that if you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can do that today because what Jesus, Mary, and Joseph did was all part of the drama of redemption to make salvation available to every person.

Joseph and Mary could not possibly have known the eternal things that would happen from their obedience, but thank God they obeyed. And most of all, thank God for His indescribable gift, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to be our Savior (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Notes

1 Howard Edington, The Forgotten Man of Christmas—Joseph’s Story (Sanford, FL: Synchronicity Press, 2000), 1.

2 David Jeremiah, Why the Nativity? (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006), 26.

3 Max Lucado, The Heart of Christmas, “Joseph’s Prayer” (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 62-65.

4 Edington, 10.