Righteous Parents
Luke • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.
Has anyone ever heard this verse before?
How did this happen?
It did not happen by accident. Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people, intentionally.
Now I know what you may be thinking: Jesus is God. You are correct. Jesus was man. And as a child he was just as any child. And the Word of God tells us something amazing: Jesus was raised by Godly parents. Parents who were devoted to the Lord.
Mary
But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
“See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
Jospeh
Matthew 1:18–25 “The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she g…”
So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
We know that Mary and Jospeh were chosen by God, and we know that God stated that they had found favor in his eyes. But we can WITNESS their obedience of faith.
When the eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus—the name given by the angel before he was conceived. And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were finished, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every firstborn male will be dedicated to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice (according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons).
They OBEYED the Law, BY FAITH!
They OBEYED the Law, BY FAITH!
The Lord spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites: When a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a male child, she will be unclean seven days, as she is during the days of her menstrual impurity. The flesh of his foreskin must be circumcised on the eighth day. She will continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch any holy thing or go into the sanctuary until completing her days of purification.
Circumcised on the 8 day, then name!
33 days later, head to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.
They OBEYED by naming this child BY FAITH:
They OBEYED by naming this child BY FAITH:
This promised child was named Jesus, Just as the angel said. Luke 1:31
Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus which means: The Lord Saves.
Mary and Joseph were dedicated parents and devoted to God. So they were ensuring to do the right thing.
And think of the reminder of their obedience ever time they called out Jesus’ name!
Every time they said it:
Remember what GOD
Remember the angel visit
Remember that this child is the Son of the Most High
Remember this child is the Savior!
Remember: GOD SENT HIS SON!
They circumcised when the right time was.
They named when the right time was.
The Obeyed and dedicated their Child BY FAITH!
The Obeyed and dedicated their Child BY FAITH!
They dedicated their child to God.
And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were finished, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every firstborn male will be dedicated to the Lord)
They knew that Jesus already belonged to the Lord.
“Consecrate every firstborn male to me, the firstborn from every womb among the Israelites, both man and domestic animal; it is mine.”
History Lesson: In Egypt when God established the passover, that night God spared the lives of all Israel’s first born children, while taking all of Egypt’s.
But God also laid claim to Israel’s first born.
They Circumcised when the time was right
they named when the time was right
they dedicated like the law commanded
The OBEYED and SACRIFICED, BY FAITH!
The OBEYED and SACRIFICED, BY FAITH!
They had prepared sacrifices according to the law. And don’t go thinking Mary and Joseph were well to do. Not hardly.
Sometimes we will think that we could do better, or live as better examples if we had more.
Notice the sacrifices that they prepared: a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
“When her days of purification are complete, whether for a son or daughter, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. He will present them before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; she will be clean from her discharge of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or female. But if she doesn’t have sufficient means for a sheep, she may take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.”
The Word of God lets us know A LOT! Mary and Joseph were on the humble side of the spectrum.
Jesus was born into poverty.
Listen: God is telling us over and over again, He came to be just like you. Just like me.
THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, chose to come humbly, lowly.
We can learn a lot from this!
Being poor is nor a sin.
Bring poor is not God’s disapproval.
poverty does not prevent a person from worshipping God
poverty does not doom a person to eternal poverty
poverty does not excuse unrighteousness
poverty is not shameful in and of itself
poverty is a cross that God entrusts to some people for a lifetime
I want to echo something that I have said repeatedly:
If someone tries to convince you that poverty is a sin, or a result of disbelief, some form of God’s condemnation of you - DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM!
If someone tries to tell you that you have to GIVE a certain amount of money - RUN FROM THEM!
If someone ever tells you that being poor excuses your sin - THEY ARE LYING!
CLING TO JESUS! The sacrifices that we read about let us know that Mary and Jospeh were not rich, their family was poor!
AND GOD WAS PLEASED WITH THEM!
If you are struggling right now financially. Maybe you have had an entire lifetime of struggles and hardships and you wish you could give your children more STUFF, listen:
Better the poor person who lives with integrity
than the rich one who distorts right and wrong.
Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer pays attention to warnings.
Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth;
feed me with the food I need.
Parents, RIGHTEOUSNESS, regardless of financial condition, makes a huge difference in the lives of children.
It is not the STUFF, the MATERIAL, that we can give our children that will make a difference. It is how we model faithful obedience in service to our Lord.
Conclusion:
Naturally speaking, the first reason Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with God was that he had righteous earthly parents. They obeyed God. We parents have tremendous influence on our children. What they regard as plausible in the faith is very often shaped by our faith.
Their inconsistencies and hypocrisies are very often seen in us first, are they not? This is why believing, righteous, obedient parents are a tremendous blessing to any child. It is our obedience that creates a context for a growing child to see the need for his own obedience to the Father.
Parents, is our obedience to the word of the Lord as consistent and thorough as Mary and Joseph’s? What do our children learn about serving God as they watch us?
We get to see Mary and Jospeh live as Righteous followers of GOD.
They obeyed the special revelation, the Angel’s commands.
BUT THEY ALSO OBEYED Regular Revelation, the General Revelation: THE WRITTEN WORD!
The timing to purify Mary and sacrifice as commanded in Leviticus 12.
The timing to present the child to the temple and name the child
The command to dedicated the first born male to God.
Sometimes people will say things like: God told me ________. And they will obey that. BUT they can’t line what they were told up with the very Word of God.
Listen: if you can’t line what you were told up with the Word of GOD - it did not come from God!
Parents, you child will never take your faith more serious than you do. Children need to SEE our faith.
You may be thinking, I’m a parent and I’m not righteous like Mary and Joseph. I have more good news for you. While you yet breathe, you have opportunity to confess and repent of unrighteousness. You have opportunity to recognize your failings and sins. There’s nothing quite like parenthood to make us insecure about our inability. We all stumble in many ways in our parenting. Yet it is the nature of God to deal graciously with us—even parents who sin. There is no failing in our parenting life that Christ has not overcome if we will confess and repent of those sins and seek righteousness in Christ alone.
As a local church, can we follow the Lord’s pattern of incarnation? Christ lived as a poor boy among poor people. Can we plant our lives in the community among the poor as the Savior did? I realize that Jesus was the Messiah and we are not—we must not get a Messiah complex—but can we embrace this posture of service, humility, and love? Can we take a similar place among the poor, living in the neighborhood?
Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with God and man because he had righteous parents.
Thabiti Anyabwile, Exalting Jesus in Luke, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2018), 50.
I cannot think of a stronger message to END 2023 on!