Take a Walk in Joseph's Shoes

There is a lot we do not understand about the culture that Jesus was born into. We can study the history of it, but to our modern American minds, it still confuses us at best and concerns us at worst. For instance, marriages in their Eastern culture were often arranged not long after children were born, or in some cases even before they were born. The reason for this was to ensure longevity of family lines, not strictly for love. Parents in this day felt that choosing a spouse was far too serious an issue to be left to “emotional impulse”.

We have no reason to believe that Joseph and Mary’s engagement was not prearranged. There were in fact three stages in Jewish marriages in their day, the engagement, as we’ve already discussed followed by the betrothal - called “espoused” in our text, finally the marriage. It would be in this second stage, which lasted usually around a year, that the couple would spend time together getting to know one another.

Something which we must also address is the age difference. Mary was a teenager, we are given no hints to the age of Joseph, but he must have been several years older. It is important that we understand this part of their culture so that you do not walk away believing Joseph to be some sort of pervert. His marriage was arranged by his parents when he and Mary were young. He could have been five or ten when she was born. He had to wait for two things to happen at once: 1.) Marry had to be of age to be married, somewhere in her teens, and 2.) Joseph had to have finished school, and learned a trade so that he would have the ability to care for his wife and their family.

When Mary received word from God that she would be the chosen vessel to bring the Messiah into the world, she and Joseph were in this second stage of the marriage process.

The Bible doesn’t give all the details of how Mary told Joseph the news, but consider this possibility: Mary hears the news from Gabriel and accepts the calling God placed on her life. She, immediately goes to Joseph. He is a good man, and she has come to love him in the months of their engagement. He deserves to hear it from her directly, but how will he take the news? She goes to him, and he reacts as we might expect, disbelief, heartbroken, etc. She says, “I will give you time to think. I am going to visit my cousin Elisabeth. I will be back in three months time.”

Thus Joseph is left for the next three months to make, not only the most life-changing decision of his life, but one that will determine the course of the entire world. Let us look at three facts concerning Joseph today. First we see he is…

Reluctant v. 18-19

We see his dilemma…and let’s be honest, we empathize with him, after all, there are only two logical explanations for Mary’s condition:

She’s a liar

This girl who has been betrothed to him has been unfaithful even during their engagement period

This is the first of the most logical options out there...

Unless we believe her story…this was a miraculous conception..

Joseph knows its not his baby, she has as much told him that, but Joseph knows that is not the way that the small town of Nazareth will view his situation

They are going to think that Joseph is the father

And what will that rumor do to his reputation? His business? His family?

Isn’t this logical thinking?

If Mary is a liar and she has been unfaithful to him, he will have to abide by the law, divorce her, and give a reason, “She was unfaithful, is pregnant with another man’s child.”

One lie leads to another, and the town may just as soon believe it to be Joseph’s child and the story of the angelic message to Mary part of a bigger scheme.

The two most logical answers are she’s a liar, trying to save face, or...

She’s crazy

What if she’s not just telling this story to save face, what if she actually believes it?

Really? After all these years, God sends an angel to, of all people, a virgin in Nazareth? Who just happens to be engaged to Joseph…what are the chances?

This cannot be happening! But...

What if...

She’s telling the truth?

Isaiah 7:14 “14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel.”

That is a promise from God!

I MUST come true at some point, why not now? Why not here? Why not her? Why not me?

Is it worth the risk?

Now the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what inner turmoil Joseph was facing, but if we placed ourselves in his shoes, this is exactly how most of us would have felt in his place.

You say, “Pastor, we are not in the same situation as Joseph. We have the completed Bible, we know that it all worked out just fine.” True, but Joseph knew the Scriptures, probably better than we do, and he still had his doubts. Don’t we still have our doubts? Don’t we still have our struggles? How many times has God called you to do something but you were reluctant? You know He wants you to, you know it’s the right thing to do, but you are hindered by doubt, uncertainty, and fear. Aren’t we an awful lot like Joseph?

I’m glad that God knows what He was doing! God knew Joseph would have doubts, that he would struggle, but God looked beyond all that because He knew Joseph was...

Reliable v. 19-23

In these verses we are allowed to see what God sees. We see His..

Character

Verse 19 tells us much more than that Joseph was seeking to put away Mary,

There in the middle of the verse we read these two words describing Joseph as a “just man”

Meaning that Joseph was not just a righteous man, but that he would do what was right!

We spent a lot of time last week talking about the woman God chose to bring Jesus into the world, but when it came to the man who would be a surrogate father to His Son, God was just as picky!

Let me take a minute today and say that there is nothing wrong with being a man!

There is nothing wrong with teaching young boys to grow up and to be a man!

There is something wrong with not teaching him how to be a godly young man and helping him grow up into a godly man.

That is what this society needs more than anything, godly young people being taught how to grow up into godly men and women.

God looked beyond Joseph’s doubts because He knew his character, that he was a just man, that he would teach His Son to be a just man, but that is not the only reason God chose Joseph, He chose him for his...

Love for Mary

God knew that Joseph loved Mary, and that is the home He desired for His Son to grow up in.

There is something to be said about a home where the husband and wife love one another, spend time with one another.

Mom, dad, don’t hide your affection for one another in front of your kids, they need desperately to hear you say the words, “I love you”, not just to them, but to your spouse!

Too many children are being raised in cold homes.

Too many children do not know what it is like to have both parents in the home anymore, or to have a peaceful home because mom and dad are always fighting.

God knew that Joseph would love and cherish Mary, and serve as an example of sacrifice to Jesus.

To be with Mary, Joseph sacrificed his good name - choosing to marry a woman that everyone in town would ridicule and call all kinds of names.

To be a father to Jesus, Joseph sacrificed his career…who would hire him given the awful rumors being spread?

Isn’t this what marriage is all about? Love? Sacrifice? Patience? Endurance? Hardships and heartache? Do you think it was easy for Joseph to take Mary to be his wife? To travel with her to Bethlehem at the behest of Caesar Augustus? To feel helpless the night Jesus was born? They couldn’t even find a decent room in an inn and God’s Son had to be born in a stable and laid in a feed trough! Do you think it was easy for Joseph to take his wife and son into Egypt to escape Herod only to return after his death to, of all places, little Nazareth?

God chose Joseph, not because Joseph had all the answers, but because he was reliable! Was God right in choosing him? We see the answer in the last two verses, which show us that Joseph was...

Ready v. 24-25

Matthew 1:24–25 KJV 1900

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

God looked beyond Joseph’s doubts and looked to his reliability, knowing that in the end Joseph would be ready to obey. If Mary’s life can be summed up by the word faith, the Joseph’s can be summed up in the word obedience.

Conclusion: Church, Christmas is not about you, its about Jesus. If we take that thought and apply it to Joseph we see the whole picture. When he first heard about Mary’s predicament, he made the entire situation about himself, it wasn’t until God showed him the big picture that he got it. Maybe he was afraid, maybe he didn’t think he was worthy to be step-father to the Son of God. Maybe it was fear of not being able to care for his family as they needed. Whatever the case, I’m glad that fear is not what characterized Joseph in the end. I’m thankful for his obedience.

Church this is the most wonderful time of the year, but I’m afraid we’ve let it become the most selfish time of the year as well. Christmas is not about the perfect tree, the most expensive gifts, its about not being selfish, its about loving one another, its about giving of yourself, about giving up what you want in order to be a blessing to someone else. This is what God would want from us this Christmas, to be obedient in telling others about the greatest gift of all, Jesus.

Let’s bow for prayer.