Joseph

Intro

Today we’re taking a look at the angel appearance we celebrate for Christmas, the one announcing the birth of Jesus.

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.

Alright, there’s some stuff going on here that we miss when we read this in 2024. Let’s talk about it.

Betrothal

Tell me the ingredients of a proposal. You need what? The ring, some flowers, people like to pop champagne, and then you need the wedding.

The marriage process looked different in 1st century Judaism compared to today.

According to Craig Keener in the Dictionary of New Testament Background:

When a couple got betrothed (engaged), they were basically married. The only way they could call it off was through divorce.

They also gave gifts back then called a dowry (a gift a husband would give to the parents), and if Mary had cheated on Joseph, he could’ve gotten his money back. But let’s go back to verse 19.

Matthew 1:19 ESV

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Him deciding to quietly call the thing off was him forfeiting that money back in order to protect Mary, even though he probably thought she had cheated.

One thing we can do with this is decide to have that same care for people. Even when someone hurts us, let’s decide to still fight for them and to love them in how we react.

#2: Jesus or Immanuel?

Someone tell me, what is the name of the child in verse 21? What about in verse 23? Why are there two different names?

We’re given two names for Jesus in this passage, first in Matthew 1:21 ““She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” and then in Matthew 1:23 ““Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.””

Why don’t we call Jesus Immanuel?

Jesus

Aramaic Yeshua, Greek Iesous

Means “God saves”, we see throughout Scripture that names are meant to highlight the person, like when Jacob was renamed Israel because he wrestled with God. In fact, Yeshua would translate in modern times to Joshua. Joshua in the Old Testament was also seen as a sign of God saving. Whenever we say Jesus’ name, we proclaim that God rescues.

Immanuel: “God with us”

Matthew The Birth of Jesus Story, 1:18–25

The reference to the name “Immanuel” is a reference to a throne name for a king rather than a personal name, and as Chrysostom observes it is the name by which he was to be acclaimed as a result of the outcome of his life, death, and resurrection (Hom. Matt. 5.2–3).

This idea of taking a throne name is common throughout history, and even gets continued in modern times, like when Cardinal Ratzinger took the name Pope Benedict when he became the pope.

Cultural Takeaway: Both of Jesus’ names show his purpose and his identity: The God that saves has come among us. Everytime we say Jesus, let’s recognize what that is saying about his story. That he is GOD coming to save us.

The Incarnation 101

Someone tell me what the Incarnation is.

Ex: Jesus coming into the world, God becoming man, the Word of God becoming man.

This was a big deal historically for Christians, more than we think of now. We have whole writings talking about JUST God becoming man.

It’s something that non-Christians raise as an objection to Christianity. How could God be a man? How could God die?

There’s really well-defined texts about this that I can share if you’re interested in this topic, but heading into advent, don’t skip over this. God. Spiritual, present everywhere, outside of time. That God, became a man. He had feet walking on dirt and he ate bread and he talked face to face with people. How did the power not just explode out of his body?

He did this for a few different reasons. Up to and on Christmas, think about the why. What purpose or purposes could GOD have to become a man and suffer.

Wrap Up

Honestly, there are passages that are a lot easier to make a sermon about. Jesus just gives a command and whoever is preaching to you guys can be like “What he said!”.

But how does the story of Jesus’ birth change how we live? How we follow Jesus?

There’s a couple things

Joseph gives a really good example of loving even when we’re hurt, I want to try and imitate him.

Now every time I say Jesus or Immanuel, I remind myself of the good news we’re always talking about.

The Incarnation gets wilder the more you think about it.

Finally, I think we see that Jesus is the only way. You’re going to have people tell you that all religions are true or that all of them end up with God, but I think we can see here that that isn’t true right? There’s only one God baby that was born, there’s only one savior, there’s only one way to the Father, and that’s Jesus. So I think this can overall lead us to really hold onto Jesus tighter than we did before.

ANY QUESTIONS?

Sources

Witherington, Ben, III. Matthew. Ed. P. Keith Gammons and R. Alan Culpepper. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated, 2006. Print. Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel according to Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary.

Blomberg, Craig. Matthew. Vol. 22. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992. Print. The New American Commentary.

Augsburger, Myron S., and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. Matthew. Vol. 24. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982. Print. The Preacher’s Commentary Series.

Porter, Stanley E., and Craig A. Evans. Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship 2000: n. pag. Print.

Keener, Craig S. “Marriage.” Dictionary of New Testament background: a compendium of contemporary biblical scholarship 2000: 680–693. Print.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Second Edition. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014. Print.