Session 2: Joseph's Obedience
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Joseph and Mary probably had plans, but the plans were simple. They would marry, have children, and continue to live the simple life as residents of Nazareth. Nothing in Scripture indicates anything otherwise. But God had other plans for these two.
Matthew’s Purpose and Audience
Matthew’s Purpose and Audience
Matthew crafted his account to demonstrate:
Jesus’ messianic identity
His inheritance of the Davidic kingship over Israel, and His fulfillment of the promise made to his ancestor Abraham () to be a blessing to all the nations ().
Thus in large part Matthew’s Gospel is an evangelistic tool aimed at his fellow Jews, persuading them to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah.
Matthew identifies Jesus as Messiah-King through his lineage, birth, and childhood. Matthew’s record of Jesus’ genealogy shows that Jesus is the sacrificial Son of Abraham, a legitimate descendant of David, and the rightful heir to the messianic throne. The events surrounding Jesus’ birth and childhood prove him to be the promised Savior.
As Matthew launched the account of Jesus’ birth, note that he was careful to highlight the title Christ—the title he used in the preceding passage that demonstrated Jesus had the right to claim deity. Watch for Matthew’s use of this title throughout his Gospel. His purpose in writing was to make the case for Jesus as the promised king.
Someone read
18 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. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
What did it mean to be betrothed back then? Was it different than our custom today of engagement?
Matthew crafted his account to demonstrate Jesus’ messianic identity, his inheritance of the Davidic kingship over Israel, and his fulfillment of the promise made to his ancestor Abraham () to be a blessing to all the nations (). Thus in large part Matthew’s Gospel is an evangelistic tool aimed at his fellow Jews, persuading them to recognize Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah.
Matthew identifies Jesus as Messiah-King through his lineage, birth, and childhood. Matthew’s record of Jesus’ genealogy shows that Jesus is the sacrificial Son of Abraham, a legitimate descendant of David, and the rightful heir to the messianic throne. The events surrounding Jesus’ birth and childhood prove him to be the promised Savior.
As Matthew launched the account of Jesus’ birth, note that he was careful to highlight the title Christ—the title he used in the preceding passage that demonstrated Jesus had the right to claim deity. Watch for Matthew’s use of this title throughout his Gospel. His purpose in writing was to make the case for Jesus as the promised king.
What did it mean to be betrothed back then? Was it different than our custom today of engagement?
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, a relationship in that era and culture that was as legally binding as a fully consummated marriage.
Customarily the parents of a young man chose a young woman to be engaged to their son. A second stage of betrothal involved official arrangements and a prenuptial agreement before witnesses, which was a legally binding contract and could be broken only by a formal process of divorce.
Mary is about four months pregnant, having spent three months with Elizabeth, her “relative” (look at , ).
And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
Jewish marriage practices had the groom taking the initiative in approaching the father of the prospective bride.
If the bride’s father agreed to the marriage, the groom paid a price called a mohar, a sort of reverse dowry that compensated the bride’s family for any financial loss they might incur without her help in the family business.
The couple exchanged vows and was considered legally married. Dissolution of the marriage during betrothal required formal divorce. The couple did not cohabit for a year while the groom prepared living quarters, often attached to his father’s house.
After the year the groom and his friends would surprise the bride and her family, the wedding feast would begin, further vows would be exchanged, and the marriage consummated. It was during the year of betrothal that Mary’s pregnancy was discovered.
A betrothed couple was as good as married, and breaking off the relationship was seen as divorce, even though the couple had not yet been married (look at divorce laws in ).
“When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house,
It also helps us gain a better perspective of the emotional state of Mary and Joseph when we realize that she was probably in her teens at the time of these events. The minimum marriageable age in Israel was twelve for women and thirteen for men.
Why is it so important that the Christ, the promised king, be born to a virgin?
The virgin birth is more than a miracle to draw attention to the unique nature of this child. Because Mary was a virgin, only God could have been the father of Jesus, making Jesus the one and only God-Man in all the universe. God’s plan would have been impossible if Jesus had been anything less. Fulfills .
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Verse 19 says something of Joseph’s character. What was it and for the men here, how would you have reacted?
Sexual unfaithfulness during betrothal was considered adultery, and under the Mosaic law carried the death penalty by stoning () or at the very least public disgrace.
Joseph intended to maintain his personal righteousness, yet he desired to show compassion even though Mary appeared to be an adulteress.
then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father’s house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Joseph lived by the law but did so with compassion and mercy. Do we reflect the same character when confronted with those who live in opposition to God’s laws today?
Can we win others to Christ by shaming them?
Let’s move to
20 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. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Dreams
Dreams
Angelic visitation and dreams are a common means of supernatural revelation in the sacred literature of this time.
In , Pilate’s wife urges him to not be involved in Jesus’ sentencing because of a dream she experienced the night before. Other visions or dreams, such as those in Daniel and Revelation, often were mediated through angels (see ; ; ).
19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”
16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.
15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it. And behold, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. 16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, and it called, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision.” 17 So he came near where I stood. And when he came, I was frightened and fell on my face. But he said to me, “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”
7 But the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.
The angel of the Lord is Gabriel (cf. ).
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
Notice how the angel addressed him as “Joseph, son of David”. Why is that important?
Matthew is writing to a predominant Jewish audience so he continually makes reference to the authenticity of Jesus as rightful king through the lineage of David.
Verse 21
Imagine having to deal with the responsibility of parenting the promised Messiah!
Mary, initially fearful of being an unwed mother, accepted God’s revealed intentions for her. And Joseph, initially not all that sure himself about the “virgin birth,” was originally thinking divorce, albeit quietly and with no public scandal. But when Joseph was approached by God through the angel, he accepted his role and did precisely as he was instructed by God. He kept Mary a virgin until after Jesus was born, after which their normal marital relations produced other children who were the half-brothers of Jesus.
What lesson can we learn from these two at this juncture?
Trust and Obey.
What’s in a name?
What’s in a name?
In antiquity, names were often thought to be emblematic of the character or calling of the individual.
The name Jesus chosen by God for his Son was, in that day and for centuries before, a common name with special meaning.
Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Joshua, meaning “Yahweh is salvation.” (look at ).
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
The name Jesus was given to sons as a symbolic hope for the Lord’s anticipated sending of salvation through a Messiah who would purify his people and save them from oppression. But the angel points to a more important theme: to save his people from their sins.
Salvation from sins was a repeated promise in OT prophets (e.g., ; ; ; ; ; ).
“Christ” is the New Testament designation of Old Testament “Messiah”, meaning “anointed”).
Not what they were expecting in a Messiah:
The salvation of which the angel spoke differed vastly from Jewish expectations of the Messiah; Jesus brought forgiveness of sins, not expulsion of the occupying Roman army or political-religious restoration.
As the time drew near for Jesus to be born, a mandatory Roman census made it necessary for Joseph to return to his ancestral home of Bethlehem. There Mary gave birth to Jesus, and later, wise men from the east came to worship him. The wise men’s recognition of a new king, however, troubled King Herod and the ruling establishment in Jerusalem, and Herod sought to kill Jesus. Joseph and his family escaped to Egypt and remained there until Herod died. When they returned to Palestine, they settled in the remote district of Galilee, where Jesus grew up in the northern village of Nazareth, to avoid the attention of the rulers in Jerusalem.
In verse 23, Matthew provides the first of many direct quotes from the Old Testament, and the first of many Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by the earthly life of Jesus. Why is that important?
These Old Testament quotes and prophecies show, in part, the linkage and unity between the Old and New Testaments, helping us understand how God was preparing the way for the Christ from centuries past. They also validate the identity of Jesus as the promised Messiah, strengthening our faith in him.
Matthew is quick to support the doctrine of the virgin birth, and his quote in 1:23 is from , originally written by the prophet Isaiah over seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth.
What’s in a name: Immanuel
What’s in a name: Immanuel
The linguistic components of the name Immanuel and their individual translations—Im = “with,” anu = “us,” and el = “God”
—make it clear that Isaiah’s original prophecy could refer in its fullest sense only to the promised Messiah.
Tie this to God’s original plan. Look at , , and
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The book of Isaiah as a whole connects Immanuel with the Messiah figure from David’s line () and by extension the Suffering Servant (). Like the Messiah in Isaiah’s portrayal over 500 years earlier, Jesus comes from David’s line as God’s anointed one and then suffers and dies on behalf of humanity—to save people from their sins. He is also prophesied as being resurrected ().
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Someone read
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
In what way was Joseph similar to Abraham here?
He took it on faith from God to stay with Mary, not questioning as Abraham got up, and moved to a land thousands of miles away based upon the word of God.
Lottie Moon Connection
During this season, as our church focuses on the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, we will look at the life of Lottie moon and how it ties into to our Sunday school lesson over the next two weeks.
In our study today, we see Joseph being obedient to God. Obedience to God is an attribute every single one of us should follow. What was it in the life of Lottie Moon that exhibits such obedience?
As a teacher, Lottie was passionate about telling others about Jesus. Early on in her own conversion, she decided to follow Jesus and His plan for her life regardless of cost.
At the age of 32, she felt the call of God to go from the world she knew and move to China to join her sister to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. She did so without hesitation.
Through her obedience the legacy of Lottie moon lives on through the establishment of the Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) and the ongoing support for the spread of the Gospel worldwide.
When we support Lottie Moon this season, we are also acting in obedience to the call of our lord Jesus in the Great Commission. While we all may not be called to go to the ends of the earth, we are called to support those who do so: Paul often argues in favor of the church supporting laborers of the Gospel (, , ) He explains to them that their financial blessing is not meant for them, but to share with other Christian laborers in need. This is also seen in his instructions to the Galatians () where the church body is to financially support the teachers of the faith.
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?
Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go.
End of Lottie Moon Integration
We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.
Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,
“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
Matthew does not record any command for Joseph to refrain from marital relations with Mary, although abstinence was the rule of the time during the betrothal period. Matthew is careful to indicate that no human father had any role in Jesus’ conception.
The name “Jesus” specifies what he does (“God saves”), while the messianic title “Immanuel” (v. 23) specifies who he is (“God with us”). Matthew concludes his Gospel with the same theme: “I am with you always” (28:20).
Side Note: The Meaning of “until” in
At issue in this passage is just what impact it has (if any) on Mary’s perpetual virginity. There are at least two points in the version in which Evangelicals and Catholics can agree. Both sides agree (1) that the first part refers to sexual union, and (2) that Mary remained a virgin until she gave birth. Catholics maintain the perpetual virginity of Mary. Many Evangelical scholars, pressing the implications of the passage further, argue that the passage not only demonstrates Mary’s prenatal virginity, but also directly conflicts with any notion of ongoing, postnatal virginity. Matthew tells us that Joseph abstained from sexual union with Mary until she gave birth, implying that normal marital relations ensued after the birth of Jesus.
Roman Catholic scholars and apologists counter this point by appealing to the use of “until” (ἕως) elsewhere in Scripture. including , and , and concludes from this that “nothing at all can be proved from the use of the word ‘till’ in .”
Yet this does not take into account the differences of the Greek phrases used in the passages he cites, and in . In each of the OT passages cited above, ἕως alone is used. Yet in , the construction ἕως οὗ is used. The difference of meaning between these two phrases can be appreciated only through a comparative study of the semantic range of each phrase within the NT itself.
Takeaways
Takeaways
God works in and through the ordinary events of life to accomplish His extraordinary purpose and plan.
In Jesus, the promises and plans of God are fulfilled.
The Lord gives direction to the faithful who are willing to listen and be obedient to His call.
Self-Reflection
Self-Reflection
What experience in your life have you had where you were obedient to the Lord’s plan even though you could not see how you could do it? If you chose not to listen, why?