Joseph's Obedience

Matthew 1:18–25 NKJV

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.

Matthew 1:18–25 NKJV

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.

We celebrated our Carols at Featherbrook event last week Saturday, and we saw over 5000 people attend the event, which was amazing. We had songs and activities, kids programs, Shane Cooke attended as our guest artist, together with our own Matty Moo and Mel…it was an absolutely outstanding event! We had a HOPE sign that Matt made for us, where we had the letters hope written by some of you to encourage the people in our community.

We also, for the first time had a nativity scene at our Carols event, which depicted the stable with baby Jesus in a manger. And as Matt & Mel shared with us, the nativity scene had a number characters or players if you will.

Each year as we get ready for Christmas, we put up the Christmas tree, we buy the presents, we watch Christmas movies (Scrooge - the story penned by Charles Dickens about a man Ebenezer Scrooge who hated Christmas). And some of us setup the nativity scene, with baby Jesus in the manger

But just as it is with some Nativity sets there were some extra figures and no one knew exactly the identity of those extra figures.

Which one is Joseph? Some of them said that it was an old man leaning on his staff. More romantic souls in the family said Mary wouldn’t want a crotchety old man like that, so it was a young shepherd with broad shoulders.

Talk about all the players/participants in the nativity scene

Angel Gabriel who announces to Mary the news that she is going to be pregnant with and will be mother to the Christ Child

Mary who was betrothed to Joseph, a virgin

Joseph a descendant from David, a righteous man, Mary’s husband

Baby Jesus

Inn Keeper who had no place for the Joseph & Mary

Wisemen who brought the gold, frankincense and myrrh

Shepherds who received the message from the angels while they were in the field watching their sheep

Angels celebrated the birth of Christ

The reality is that Joseph is somewhere in the background - he’s an almost silent participant in the Jesus story. But I found Joseph to be a truly remarkable man...It was Emerson who said:

It should not be that way with Joseph, for he is a significant part of this story.

was willing to do by hanging everything in an immediate obedience on a word from God which on the surface of it seemed to be absurd.

It was Emerson who said, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” If that is true, what Joseph did speaks so loudly that it wasn’t necessary for him to say anything.

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”

If that is true, what Joseph did speaks so loudly that it wasn’t necessary for him to say anything.

He is remarkably simple in his obedience, but he is also simply remarkable in what he was willing to do by hanging everything in an immediate obedience on a word from God which on the surface of it seemed to be absurd.

When you take a closer look at Joseph, you’ll see he models the influence and the consequences of an immediate, simple obedience to the command of God.

I’d like for us to look at Joseph in real life, because he shows us obedience to the word of God regardless.

I’d like for us to look at Joseph in real life, because the forgotten man of Christmas shows us obedience to the word of God regardless.

If we stop romanticising and idealising Joseph in Nativity sets or on Christmas cards and look at him as things actually were, we ought to have a great deal of sympathy with him.

If we stop romanticizing and idealizing Joseph in Nativity sets or on Christmas cards and look at him as things actually were, we ought to have a great deal of sympathy with him.

He was betrothed or engaged to a young woman who was suddenly and strangely pregnant, and an angel says this is an act of God.

He was betrothed or engaged to a young woman who was suddenly and strangely pregnant, and an angel says this is an act of God. Then this northern Palestinian cabinet maker has to drop all of his tools and go to Bethlehem for a census. Shortly after that there’s another warning in a dream and he flees to Egypt where he has no network, no connections, no job, no place to stay.

Then this northern Palestinian cabinet maker has to drop all of his tools and go to Bethlehem for a census.

Shortly after that there’s another warning in a dream and he flees to Egypt where he has no network, no connections, no job, no place to stay.

If you look at the life of Joseph, the man who says nothing, you can summarise it in a single, simple word. There was in his life an immediate obedience to the word of God.

Look at that word immediacy.

If you look at Joseph you’ll learn that it is possible to obey God with a breathtaking, unquestioning immediacy.

God spoke through the angel, and Joseph married Mary. In that regard, he acted with an obedience that outran any of the other major characters in the story of Jesus’ birth.

Luke 1:18 HCSB

“How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

In that regard, he acted with an obedience that outran any of the other major characters in the story of Jesus’ birth.

In when the announcement came to Zecharias, the aged father to be of John the Baptist, Zecharias said to the angel, “How shall I shall I know this? I’m an old man. My wife is well advanced in years.” He was struck silent because he said that. Zecharias met the command of God with a denial.

Luke 1:34 HCSB

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”

Luke 1:18 HCSB

“How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

Luke 1:34 HCSB

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”

Mary, the mother of Jesus, in , met that command with doubt. Mary said to the angel, “How can this be since I know not a man?” Interestingly, Joseph did not respond with a recorded denial or doubt but, rather, with an immediacy of obedience. “He took her to be his wife and did not touch her until that holy thing was born.” In fact, Joseph has an obedience that outshines many of the luminaries of the Bible.

There’s Moses called upon as an eighty-year-old shepherd to lead an exodus. What do you hear from him? Four consecutive excuses before he finally submits to do the will of God.

Luke 1:34 HCSB

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”

Luk

There’s Moses called upon as an eighty-year-old shepherd to lead an exodus. What do you hear from him? Four consecutive excuses before he finally submits to do the will of God.

There is Isaiah seeing God high and lifted up in the temple of Jerusalem. And what does he give? An excuse. “I’m a man of unclean lips.”

There’s Jeremiah called to be a prophet, and he gives God two excuse. “I’m too young. I can’t speak.”

There’s Amos, the keeper of sycamore fruit and keeper of sheep, and he says, “I don’t have the credentials to be a prophet.”

Here’s Joseph, who leaves this record never having said anything.

When God spoke to him an astonishingly difficult word, he responded with an immediacy of obedience.

I’m reminded of those words in which give us a test of salvation. “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep on habitually cherishing his commandments.”

4 which give us a test of salvation. “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep on habitually cherishing his commandments.” Joseph was marked with an immediacy of obedience. God is not interested in our gold or our giftedness or our guilt-ridden excuses. He wants to be obeyed. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

1 John 2:2–3 HCSB

He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands.

1 John 2:3–4 NKJV

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Joseph was marked with an immediacy of obedience. God is not interested in our gold or our giftedness or our guilt-ridden excuses. He wants to be obeyed. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

Matthew 1:18 HCSB

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 by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph models an immediate obedience, but also he shows us that we can obey God in painful circumstances.

In that Jewish culture when a girl was only twelve or thirteen years old her parents signed a consent that she would be betrothed or engaged, and that was a legally ratified, binding marriage covenant, even though she lived with her parents for another year. This period was seen as a test of the faithfulness of both parties to one another and to the covenant between them.

The second phase of that ceremony was the transferral in which the husband would go get her and take her to his house to be his own.

even though she lived with her parents for another year The second phase of that ceremony was the transferral in which the husband would go get her and take her to his house to be his own.

In Joseph’s experience between step one and step two Mary was with child.

She was pregnant. He couldn’t deny it. The evidence became clear. It became brutal. It became manifest. I’m sure, like most of us in the face of unpleasant circumstances, at first he wanted to deny it, not even see it. But there came a day when it was obvious.

One of the questions that church history has asked, and it’s a very real question, Did Joseph suspect Mary of sin, of infidelity? Justin Martyr, who wrote at AD 170, said yes. So did Jerome and Chrysostom, and even Augustine of Hippo Regius. The great St. Augustine said that Joseph positively expected that Mary had been guilty of sin. However, Jerome, the church father, and these men all wrote closer to the event than we are, said that “Joseph knew Mary’s holiness and that it hid in silence a mystery he did not understand.”

She was pregnant. He couldn’t deny it. The evidence became clear. It became brutal. It became manifest.

One of the questions that church history has asked, and it’s a very real question, Did Joseph suspect Mary of sin, of infidelity? Justin Martyr, who wrote at AD 170, said yes. So did Jerome and Chrysostom, and even Augustine of Hippo Regius. The great St. Augustine said that Joseph positively expected that Mary had been guilty of sin. However, Jerome, the

he was pregnant. He couldn’t deny it. The evidence became clear. It became brutal. It became manifest. I’m sure, like most of us in the face of unpleasant circumstances, at first he wanted to deny it, not even see it. But there came a day when it was obvious.

The Forgotten Man of Christmas | Joel Gregory | PreachingToday.com 5

I’m sure, like most of us in the face of unpleasant circumstances, at first he wanted to deny it, not even see it. But there came a day when it was obvious.

One of the questions that church history has asked, and it’s a very real question, Did Joseph suspect Mary of sin, of infidelity?

One of the questions that church history has asked, and it’s a very real question, Did Joseph suspect Mary of sin, of infidelity? Justin Martyr, who wrote at AD 170, said yes. So did Jerome and Chrysostom, and even Augustine of Hippo Regius. The great St. Augustine said that Joseph positively expected that Mary had been guilty of sin. However, Jerome, the

Justin Martyr, who wrote at AD 170, said yes. So did Jerome and Chrysostom, and even Augustine of Hippo Regius. The great St. Augustine said that Joseph positively expected that Mary had been guilty of sin. However, Jerome, the church father, and these men all wrote closer to the event than we are, said that “Joseph knew Mary’s holiness and that it hid in silence a mystery he did not understand.”

church father, and these men all wrote closer to the event than we are, said that “Joseph knew Mary’s holiness and that it hid in silence a mystery he did not understand.”

Justin Martyr, who wrote at AD 170, said yes. So did Jerome and Chrysostom, and even Augustine of Hippo Regius. The great St. Augustine said that Joseph positively expected that Mary had been guilty of sin. However, Jerome, the church father, and these men all wrote closer to the event than we are, said that “Joseph knew Mary’s holiness and that it hid in silence a mystery he did not understand.”

church father, and these men all wrote closer to the event than we are, said that “Joseph knew Mary’s holiness and that it hid in silence a mystery he did not understand.”

Really Joseph didn’t have a choice. You read the famous phrase “He was a just man.” That has two meanings. That word dikaios means, first of all, he was a righteous man, and that meant that under the law he had no choice but to put her aside. For according to the law of Moses she was classified legally as a prostitute for what she had done, and as a righteous man living in the law he had no choice but to put her aside. But, that word dikaios, “just,” has another meaning. It means to be prudent, to be discreet, to be magnanimous, to be big- hearted about it. That’s what he intended to do.

Really Joseph didn’t have a choice. You read the famous phrase “He was a just man.”

The word “just” is translated from the word dikaios, and has two meanings.

That word dikaios means, first of all, he was a righteous man, and that meant that under the law he had no choice but to put her aside.

For according to the law of Moses she was classified legally as a prostitute for what she had done, and as a righteous man living in the law he had no choice but to put her aside.

Deuteronomy 22:23–24 NKJV

“If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

But, that word dikaios, “just,” has another meaning. It means to be prudent, to be discreet, to be magnanimous, to be big- hearted about it. That’s what he intended to do.

Really Joseph didn’t have a choice. You read the famous phrase “He was a just man.” That has two meanings. That word dikaios means, first of all, he was a righteous man, and that meant that under the law he had no choice but to put her aside. For according to the law of Moses she was classified legally as a prostitute for what she had done, and as a righteous man living in the law he had no choice but to put her aside. But, that word dikaios, “just,” has another meaning. It means to be prudent, to be discreet, to be magnanimous, to be big- hearted about it. That’s what he intended to do.

He intended privately to take two other men to her family and, as the custom was, put her away. He didn’t have to do that.

away. He didn’t have to do that.

He intended privately with magnanimity and with that kind of prudent and discreet justice, to end it

When suddenly he had this shattering, intruding dream from God. “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.”

do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the

Here he is night and day with this dilemma, and he had a dream. I can see him as he paces the floor of that carpenter shop night and day dialoguing with himself. What kind of dream is this? What does this mean? Night and day asking himself and wanting to go to Mary and ask her, but the words stuck in his mouth.

Holy Spirit.”

There was nothing but a question mark in his heart. This was not easy.

A carpenter’s business in Nazareth depended upon building up the good will of people over a long period of time, and he would be subjected to the backstreet gossip and the malicious slander that would characterise any little town like Nazareth when Mary was found in the condition she was with no explanation as she was a betrothed woman.

The Forgotten Man of Christmas | Joel Gregory | PreachingToday.com 2

A carpenter’s business in Nazareth depended upon building up the good will of people over a long period of time, and he would be subjected to the backstreet gossip and the malicious slander that would characterise any little town like Nazareth when Mary was found in the condition she was with no explanation as she was a betrothed woman.

A carpenter’s business in Nazareth depended upon building up the good will of people over a long period of time, and he would be subjected to the backstreet gossip and the malicious slander that would characterize any little town like Nazareth when Mary was found in the condition she was with no explanation as she was a betrothed woman.

Joseph shows us that we can obey God in the midst of painful and difficult circumstances.

Matthew 1:20 HCSB

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly 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 by the Holy Spirit.

I have seen men volunteer for the ministry whose family rejected them for their choices. I have recently spoken with a daughter going to a foreign mission field whose father turned his back on her because she said yes to the call of God. Many of us have seen those confess faith in Christ and put him on in Christian baptism and lose their world because they did that.

Joseph models for us that we can obey God in the midst of painful, difficult, inexplicable circumstances. He was willing to do so. And we can obey God in spite of fear.

When the word came to Joseph, the word was this “Fear not.” The message wasn’t “Do not be too proud to obey God; do not be too disgusted; do not be too angry; do not be too hurt; do not be too ashamed.”

The word that came to Joseph was “Stop being afraid of obedience.”

Joseph was terrified by the virginal conception of Mary.

God had come close, very close, and it had created a situation that scalded him with fear and humiliated him with awe at the power of God.

and humiliated him with awe at the power of God.

You see that again and again in the fifth chapter of Luke after that miraculous catch of fish. It doesn’t say that Peter was overcome with gladness or that Peter was overcome with joy. What does it say? Peter was overcome with fear, and he got down and said, “Depart from me. I’m a sinful man.”

Luke 5:8 HCSB

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

When God draws close and invades our world with his supernatural power it can create in us a sense of fear.

us a sense of fear.

Joseph would much rather have gone back to his carpenter shop and played with his tools than have to be the stepfather of the Son of God. It would have been easier for Peter to go back to the Peter, James, and John enterprise of fishing than to have to become the big fisherman and preacher of Pentecost. So he said, “Depart from me. I’m a sinful man.”

The truth is in the face of God’s commands it’s easier for us to go back to our comfortable, safe, cozy, predictable round of activities than it is to obey God in a radical way.

Joseph models for us that with immediacy and in spite of painful, confusing circumstances, and in the face of fear we can abandon things and obey God. In fact, we can obey God by staking everything on his Word alone. That word came to Joseph in a dream.

comfortable, safe, cozy, predictable round of activities than it is to obey God in a radical way.

Joseph models for us that with immediacy and in spite of painful, confusing circumstances, and in the face of fear we can abandon things and obey God. In fact, we can obey God by staking everything on his Word alone. That word came to Joseph in a dream.

Have you ever had a dream when you thought God spoke to you? I’m sure Joseph in prayer struggled with just that. He didn’t have any bishop, preacher, or counselor to talk to about this matter. He had to decide is this a false or true dream. He interpreted it and he acted on it.

Have you ever had a dream when you thought God spoke to you?

I’m sure Joseph in prayer struggled with just that. He didn’t have any bishop, preacher, or counselor to talk to about this matter. He had to decide is this a false or true dream. He interpreted it and he acted on it.

When Joseph heard that word of command he burned things behind him and set out to Bethlehem and to Egypt, obedient to the word of God.

From Joseph we can learn an obedience that stakes everything on one word from God. We can also learn from Joseph that obedience always has its consequence.

The Mafia in the US had a God Father, a leader of organized crime, and he was known as the “Teflon Don” meaning he was charged with different crimes multiple times, but was never convicted (until of course he was in fact finally convicted). The charges would never stick - hence the name “Teflon Don”, because nothing sticks to Teflon…it seems his crimes had no consequences...

Well, Joseph was not Teflon in his obedience. There really isn’t any Teflon obedience.

Obedience always has consequences. And it has a very personal and very immediate consequence for Joseph.

He took this woman with child from her parents’ home and transferred her to his home, but he did not know her.

Matthew 1:24–25 HCSB

When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.

That is in verse 24 and 25. “He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary to be his wife.” That is, he took this woman with child from her parents’ home and transferred her to his home, but he did not know her. He had no sexual relationship with her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son, and called his name Jesus. That was the immediate consequence.

It also had a lifetime of consequences.

Obedience does. No sooner had he married Mary they had to drop everything and go to Bethlehem in obedience to that census which arranged events so the Son of God could be born where the prophet said he would be born. Then they had to go to Egypt.

Contextualise Joseph’s obedience with a current day example

No sooner had he married Mary they had to drop everything and go to Bethlehem in obedience to that census.

obedience to that census.

He found himself there in obedience to God, and he accepted the consequences.

There wasn’t any Interstate 30 going to Egypt. There were no McDonald’s, no hotels, no restaurants. There wasn’t a branch of the carpenter’s shop in Egypt. He didn’t have a job or a network.

Joseph models to us that when you obey God there is always ultimately the highest joy in that obedience. But immediately and for a lifetime there are consequences.

that obedience. But immediately and for a lifetime there are consequences.

What has the consequences been for me and countless other who has said “yes” in obedience to God

This story leaves us wide-eyed that when you say yes in obedience to God that obedience has immediate, ultimate consequences.

Josephs reminds us of the influence of obedience, for Joseph was the father figure in the home of Jesus.

All of those old clichés about fathers and sons must be true.

The twig does grow in the direction that it’s bent.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

didn’t call him brother. He didn’t call him camel driver. He called him Abba, Father. The Aramaic word for papa, for daddy, a word of hearth and home. In all of Jewish literature no one had ever called God that before. If you get out the writings of the rabbi you don’t find it. Only Jesus called God Abba, Dad, Papa. Why? It was said of Martin Luther, the Reformer, that his relationship with his father was so terrible that all of his life he had difficulty calling God Father. Not so with Jesus, the Son of Joseph. I think that it is because of the remarkable, simple obedience that he saw in the life of Joseph that he was able to take that life and lift it up and see a word to use of our heavenly Father.

And when Jesus started preaching what did he call God? He didn’t call him emperor. He didn’t call him sister. He didn’t call him brother. He didn’t call him camel driver. He called him Abba, Father. The Aramaic word for papa, for daddy, a word of hearth and home. In all of Jewish literature no one had ever called God that before. If you get out the writings of the rabbi you don’t find it. Only Jesus called God Abba, Dad, Papa. Why? It was said of Martin Luther, the Reformer, that his relationship with his father was so terrible that all of his life he had difficulty calling God Father. Not so with Jesus, the Son of Joseph. I think that it is because of the remarkable, simple obedience that he saw in the life of Joseph that he was able to take that life and lift it up and see a word to use of our heavenly Father.

When Jesus started preaching what did he call God? He called him Abba, Father. The Aramaic word for papa, for daddy, a word of hearth and home.

The Aramaic word for papa, for daddy, a word of hearth and home. In all of Jewish literature no one had ever called God that before. If you get out the writings of the rabbi you don’t find it. Only Jesus called God Abba, Dad, Papa. Why? It was said of Martin Luther, the Reformer, that his relationship with his father was so terrible that all of his life he had difficulty calling God Father. Not so with Jesus, the Son of Joseph.

I think that it is because of the remarkable, simple obedience that he saw in the life of Joseph that he was able to take that life and lift it up and see a word to use of our heavenly Father.

There is painting in the Louvre is a painting by Georges de La Tour. It’s called Joseph the Carpenter. Every time I’ve been there I’ve gone back and stood in front of it. de La Tour, among other things, had an incredible ability to paint light. It’s a picture in the carpenter’s shop, and there is Joseph, older, sturdy, and there’s the boy Jesus ten years old. He’s watching. He appears to be content. He is holding a candle; a candle is behind the hand of Jesus. So as you look at the painting the hand looks translucent. You can see the light coming through the hand. I’m dumbfounded at the way he could paint that. It looks more real than real. Jesus is holding the candle shining through his hand, shining in that carpenter’s shop. They are working on some intractable material on the floor, and it looks as if Joseph is trying to meet a deadline. When you look the shadows illumined by the candlelight in the hand of the boy Jesus, you see that what’s on the floor is really two pieces of wood in a cross shape. For in de La Tour’s painting, Jesus and Joseph are putting together a cross.

Philippians 2:8 NKJV

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

And our Lord, who saw that remarkably simple obedience in Joseph learned obedience himself, even to the cross.

Joseph's Obedience

Introduction

An Immediate Obedience

Obedience In Pain

Obedience In Pain

Obedience In The Face Of Fear

Obedience And Trust

The Simple Obedience Of A Father

Close