First Impressions: Joseph

: Immanuel and connection to discipleship

First Impressions:

Who is he?

Who is he, I’m gunna kill him?

But Joseph’s very first impression of the incarnation was “I should let her go. I’ll quietly let her go and not make a stink about this.”

vs.19: “Unwilling (desire) to shame (publicly disgrace her)

You did this to me, but my desire is not to get back to you and make a public spectacle of you.

So instead of publicly shaming her, Joseph takes on that shame himself- being willing to still marry a pregnant woman.

Optics vs. Reality:

Optics: slept together. Undisciplined

Reality: Faithful, righteous, just

Don’t know a lot about Joseph, but we do know he is just/righteous: What does that mean:

ESV: Just. NIV: Righteous

Who did something quietly to help another?

So he thinks about this: Considers/meditates/obsesses? Lost sleep, until he falls asleep, and an angel comes to him.

Joseph:

First impression without divine intervention: Caring for Mary

Righteous man: Obtain a certificate of divorce. “Right behavior according to the Law” NIVAC

Can’t marry her because that would condone adultery.

“Divorce for adultery was not optional but mandatory among many groups in ancient Judaism, because adultery produced a state of impurity that, as a matter of legal fact, dissolved the marriage” NIVAC

Divorce was the only ‘righteous’ option.

First impression after divine intervention: Obedience

Took his wife

Waited for her to have her child

Named him Jesus because he will take away the sins of the world.

Mary:

She found out she’s pregnant and then went to visit Elizabeth for 4 months. She walzes into town… Prego!

It just becomes known she’s prego because it’s obvious, not because she was concealing it.

Matthew End his Gospel with concept of God with Us!

Discipleship is at the heart of this book.