Mary and Joseph
Notes
Transcript
Joseph
Joseph
We do not know a lot about the life of Joseph. The Bible does not provide very much detail about him or his life. The only time we actually see him in the pages of Scripture are at the time of the birth of Christ, then he just kind of disappears off into the sunset. Whenever Joseph is mentioned, he is never called the father of Jesus. He is only referred to as the husband of Mary. This is a very critical foundational piece of our faith. The genealogies of Christ listed in Matthew and Luke both call Joseph the husband of Mary but the writers make certain never to call him the father of Jesus.
Why is that important?
Jesus Christ had no earthly father. His father is Yahweh God. He did not come from a man but from the Almighty God on high. He was born 100 % man because he came through the womb of a woman but he was 100% God because he did not come from a man but through the Holy Spirit. God does not provide very much detail on Joseph for that purpose. He does not want anyone to get confused into thinking that he was the father of Jesus. However, Joseph played a very important role in the birth of Christ and in his childhood.
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. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 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. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
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.
The Scripture is very clear that Mary was a virgin. She had never known a man intimately. She was engaged to a man named Joseph. For Jesus to be Messiah and capable of providing himself as the substitutionary sacrifice for you and I, He had to be both God and man. Again, that is why the bible is clear in demonstrating that Joseph is not the father of Jesus. The Holy Spirit came upon a virgin named Mary who was willing and obedient to offer he womb to God to bring forth the Son of God into the world of humanity. Through her womb, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Neither Joseph nor Mary are the main characters in this story. It is not really about them. The entirety of the story and the entirety of Scripture is about Jesus Christ. The main person in the nativity scene is the baby lying in the manger.
It is easy to get caught up in the worship of Mary , or Apostle worship, or even pastor worship today. But we must be careful to make certain in our lives that we keep our focus on fulfilling the God-given assignment on our own lives, advance the kingdom of God, and let Jesus have all the glory for the entire existence of our lives. It was never about us. It has always been about Jesus.
We should give honor where honor is due. We should honor vessels that God works through but we cannot allow ourselves to fall into a worship of those vessels rather than God.
Joseph has a mission and once his mission is complete, he disappears from the pages of Scripture.
I believe on reason God chose Mary is because of who she was engaged to. One reason God could trust Mary is because God could trust Joseph.
Imagine God goes to a young girl and says, I need your womb to give birth to my Son. And she is married to a jerk.
(Mary is gone to visit her cousin and comes home to tell Joseph she is pregnant)
We know and Joseph knows that is not his baby. Everyone else may not know it but He knows it.
First she comes and tells him, “I am pregnant,” then she says, “And it’s God’s baby.”
How would you react if you were Joseph?
How could God trust Mary to carry His Son, know she will name Him the right name so he can fulfill the Messianic prophecy and purpose to save the world? One reason, because God could trust Joseph.
Think of how you would handle this situation then look at how Joseph handled the situation.
Joseph was a just man
Joseph was a just man
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
Mary’s pregnancy was about to become a very public thing. She was about 3 months pregnant when she returned from her visit to her cousin Elizabeth. She would not be hiding anything very long.
Joseph decided he would handle what was about to be a very public issue privately. Joseph’s first concern was not his own reputation or his own future. His first concern was Mary. He did not want to condemn her or bring shame to her.
He could have called for her to be stoned. But instead, he wanted to handle it privately.
Not everything you see, hear, or read needs your public opinion on it. You do not have to respond to every situation. Sometimes you just need to hold your tongue. Sometimes a situation may appear one way but in reality it is something completely different.
It looked like Mary was unfaithful to Joseph. But in reality, she was carrying the Son of God. She looked like a harlot but she was actually holy.
What do you do when you see a situation where it looks like someone has a lot of dirt on them? When it looks like they have created a mess? Do you publicly shame them or decide you are going to handle this privately because you have wisdom and maturity. Even though this is going to soon be very public, I will handle it privately.
Will you choose to be like so many in the church who shout and speak in tongues and operate in all nine gifts of the Spirit but are not mature enough to demonstrate the wisdom to cover people that look like they made a mess and everybody knows it? Or will you be like Joseph?
Have you ever been in a situation in your own life where people falsely accused you because it looked like one thing but it was something very different?
Can you hold your tongue in a situation that you don’t have all the information on long enough for God to show you what is really going on? That is what Joseph did. He kept it private and God revealed the truth to him. If you can have the wisdom to hold your judgment and hold your tongue when you do not know the whole situation, God will often show up and show you the truth.
Have you ever had to apologize because you reacted to a situation based on what it looked like but then found out it was something different? Wouldn’t it be better just to not say anything at all until God shows you the truth?
Joseph was obedient
Joseph was obedient
God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream. He told Joseph, “It is not what it looks like. Mary is pregnant with the Son of God. She was not unfaithful to you. She was faithful to God.”
Then he tells Joseph what to name the child. Immediately, Joseph got up and obeyed the word of the Lord.
Some people in the church get freaked out when you mention God speaking in dreams and visions. If you remove dreams and visions from the New Testament, you do not have the announcement of the birth of Christ, you do not have Peter given the vision to go preach to the Gentiles, you do not have John’s Revelation.
“I don’t dream.” Maybe the reason you don’t have dreams is because you do not believe in them.
Not every dream is from God but God can speak to you in a dream if you believe it. He can speak to you riding in your car, reading the Word, throught your prayer time, in dreams or in visions. God can speak to you any way He chooses but you have to believe. Joseph did not just hear the message from the Lord, he believed the message and he obeyed.
Joseph has 3 dreams.
The announcement of the birth of Christ, the dream to get his family out of the country and into Egypt, and then one to bring them back.
When the angel told Joseph about Mary, he took her and they traveled to Bethlehem for the birth of Christ.
When God sent another dream, Herod had made a decree to kill every Hebrew boy under the age of 2. The angel told Joseph, get your family out of Bethlehem. Immediately, the bible says he got up and took his family to Egypt.
If Joseph had not been obedient to the Word, Jesus would have been killed by Herod.
Thank God Joseph was the kind of man that when God showed him something, he did not need to call a meeting with a bunch of his friends to make a decision. When God spoke, Joseph obeyed. Joseph says, “I do not care what anyone else has to say. God said move, so I am moving.”
God could trust Mary with Jesus because he could trust her husband to move in obedience immediately.
God could trust Mary with Jesus because he could trust her husband to move in obedience immediately.
Joseph receives another dream where the angel tells him, “Herod is dead.”
That enemy that chased you out is dead. It is safe to return to normal. Some of the things that tried to kill you in your past, God is telling you, “Herod is dead.”
Aren’t you thankful that the things that wanted to kill you in one season of your life, are no longer a danger to you now? The Herod that tried to take you out, is no longer alive.
Joseph was the kind of man that when God told him to leave, he left but he was courageous enough that when God told him to go back, he went back.
That is all we hear about Joseph. He disappears from Scripture.
Let’s talk about Mary.
Mary was a young girl, probably 16 or 17 years old. She was most likely a peasant girl. She did not come from a prominent and influential family. We know she and Joseph were poor because of the offering they give the first time they take Jesus to the temple. They gave two turtle doves which was the acceptable offering given by many poor people. She was from Nazareth.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
There is often in the church, people who will say, “God do in me what you did in Mary.” There will never be another immaculate conception. God may do a lot of things in your life but you are not Mary. There is only one virgin birth and we cannot take it so lightly as to think that God will do in us something as miraculous as what he did in Mary.
However, the fact that the Bible tells us that God would take a teenage girl, send an angel to tell her, “God has a plan and is going to use your womb” tells us that God can tap any person he chooses and say, “I need you for something that I am about to do in the earth.”
Mary was just a girl minding her own business when Gabriel shows up and says, “Hail, Mary. You are highly favored. You are blessed among women.”
Sometimes we do not realize what heaven thinks about us. This girl was probably sitting on a farm, not being anyone of notoriety, and an angel comes in and says, “Rejoice, you are highly favored.”
The next time the enemy tries to ask you, “Who do you think you are?” Look him in his eyes and say, “I am highly favored by God. That is who I am.”
Then it says, in verse 30, “You have found favor with God.” She did not earn favor. She did nothing to deserve favor. She found favor. She was just a girl who was living a holy and pure life and found favor.
Have you ever just found favor, or had favor find you? You were not the most experienced or most qualified, or the most intelligent but somehow you got the job anyway because you found favor with God? Too often we think we need favor with people but if you find favor with God, you will have favor with man. God will cause them to show you favor because you have favor with Him.
If you have favor with God, you do not need to worry about how the door is going to open for you. God will give you favor with the right person who will open the door. When you find favor with God, man will favor you. That is when doors you do not have the key or the authority to open, God will send somebody else to open the door and all you have to do is walk in in the favor of God.
Next, the angel says, “You are blessed among women.” Look at your neighbor and tell them, “Neighbor, I am blessed and I am highly favored.”
You may not feel it but it doesn’t matter how you feel. God did not ask Mary how she felt. God will not consult your fears or your doubts to determine if you are favored. You can be dealing with fear and insecurity and still have the favor of God on your life. You just don’t recognize it! If you would recognize the favor on your life, you would see those fears begin to fade and turn into confidence and faith.
“You will conceive in your womb.”
Mary had something God needed.
“God doesn’t need man.” Then, how could the word become flesh without a womb?
God does not need you to be God. He is God all by himself. But he has limited himself so that he decided whatever he would do in the earth, he would do through man. Anytime God does something, anytime we witness a move of God, he uses man to do it.
Mary had a womb. What do you have that God wants to use? What if God taps you on the shoulder, and says, “I need something from you. I need to use your influence. I need you use your social media. I need to use your business. I need you use your job. I need your wisdom. I need to use your connections.”
Everyone of us has something God wants to use. We all have something that God can use and wants to use. If you won’t let him have it, he will find someone else who will.
Some say, I just have too much going on. I am too busy.
You are too busy for God? That is ok. He can take whatever is keeping you busy away so that all you have left is time for Him if that is what it takes. You are too busy with the job, or with the blessings he has given you? He can easily take all of that away so you do not have an excuse.
What if Mary had said, “No, I am too busy.”
How did Mary respond?
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
Mary said, How can this be since I do not know a man intimately? She did not respond with rejection or disbelief. She just asked “How?” There is a difference between wanting an explanation and deciding not to believe what God has said. Zechariah, her cousin Elizabeth’s husband did not believe God. He could not speak until John was born. Mary believed. She just had questions. God is not afraid of your questions. This does not mean he will always give you an explanation.
Mary did not say, “I do not believe you.” She just asked, “How?
And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
The angel said, You will be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. God said, I am going to do something and you are not going to have much to do with it.
When God comes to you with an assignment, all he is asking for is your yes. If you say yes, the Holy Ghost will do the rest.
For him to take over, you need to decrease so he can increase and overshadow you. You may walk into rooms and people won’t even see you. They will see the glory of God that overshadows you.
To be in the shadow of something or someone, it requires close proximity. You cannot stand in my shadow if you are 20 feet away. You have to be close so that the light that shines over me will cast the shadow over you.
This is what happened in Acts when it says, they lined the streets with the sick just hoping that Peter’s shadow would fall on them and they would be healed. It wasn’t Peter. It was the glory that shined on Peter so that when they were close enough to the glory to be in his shadow, what was on Peter fell on them.
Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
Why did the angel tell her about Elizabeth?
Mary knew her cousin was old and barren. Mary understood if God could cause a pregnancy in the barren womb of Elizabeth, he can place a child in the womb of a virgin girl.
If you have seen God work a miracle in someone else’s life, know that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. What he has done for one, he will do for another. That is why it so important for you to share what God has done for you. It is prophetic for the next person that needs God to do it for them.
For with God nothing will be impossible.”
Which angel is this?
Gabriel!
What did he say to Zechariah? “I am Gabriel, the one stands in the presence of God.”
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary did not say, “Be it unto me according to my faith.” Sometimes our faith is weak. She said, “According to your Word.”
God’s Word is forever settled and established in heaven.
Even though our lives go up and down, our faith is sometimes weak and sometimes strong, we can always depend and stand on the Word of the Lord.
You may be going through something here, you may be going through a difficult season, but God’s word is established and He plans to bring something beautiful out of your pain.
The power of the Word and promises of God will stand even when your whole world is shaking.
Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
Blessed is she who believed. Because she believed, the Savior of the world was born through her virgin womb. God is not always asking of something huge from you. He is not even asking if you are able. He simply asks you to believe and be available, and watch Him do the rest.
