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Dismiss Junior Church / Offer Bibles, Scripture Reading: / PRAY
Do You Hear What I Hear?
If someone were to ask you what is the most misunderstood word in all of human language, regardless of which language you’re speaking, what would you say it is?
I am convinced that the most misunderstood (and misused) word in all of human language is “love”.
The Ancient Greeks tried to remedy this by having several words for love.
There was phileo; a warm familial love.
There was my personal favorite, philadelphia; a brotherly love.
There was agape; love so pure it must be of God.
In our time and culture, we throw love around like it’s nothing.
We truly have no idea what it means.
Some treat love like cheap candy rendering it meaningless.
Some treat love like a license to do whatever pleases them.
Still others treat love like a drug: as long as the highs keep getting higher it’s all good - just don’t bring me down.
Finally, some use love as the end that justifies the means - as long as I accept you and affirm you then surely I have loved you.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
In this world, anyone who tells you “no” hates you; anyone who confronts you (even with gentleness and respect) despises you.
When up is down and wrong is right and truth is whatever you want it to be: love becomes hate.
No wonder we are all so confused and hurt.
This isn’t a political problem or a climatic disaster - it’s a heart issue.
We don’t know what love is so we don’t know how to love each other.
If we don’t know how to love each other, then surely we cannot love God.
This is why we need the truth of our two primary passages this morning.
This is why we need Advent.
We need to be reminded and assured that hope, peace, joy, and yes, love are not only still possible, but obtainable.
That’s why we need to know about a particular Jewish carpenter who found himself in the middle of the Creator’s grand design to retake His Creation and share His love in the process.
If we will listen, we may just learn how to love others as God does; to love others in Jesus’ name.
A Familiar Story ()
We begin with a familiar story.
I don’t want to assume anything so please allow me to set the stage:
Joseph, a carpenter from the town of Nazareth in Israel, was betrothed to a young woman named Mary.
We don’t know their ages, but it is likely that Mary was a teenager (as young as 13) and Joseph could have been 10 or 15 years older.
Both were descendants of David, arguably the greatest king in Israel’s history and the prophesied Messiah was promised to come from his lineage.
According to custom, a betrothed couple was effectively married except each lived apart from the other for a period of one year.
This time period served as an assurance that the bride had not been sexually active.
This is why Mary’s pregnancy presented such a challenge.
To everyone else, including Joseph until an angel of the Lord revealed otherwise, it would appear as though Mary had been sexually unfaithful to Joseph or that they had engaged in marital relations prior to their wedding.
This story, along with Luke’s account, confirm that Jesus was born of a virgin.
This is a critical Christian doctrine.
Jesus cannot be the Messiah without this.
He had to be fully God and fully man without the stain of sin upon His human nature.
God accomplished this by working a miracle in the conception of Christ within Mary without sexual intercourse being involved in any way.
We don’t have this explained to us in a way that satisfies 21st century scientific curiosity, but don’t miss the involvement of who?
The Holy Spirit.
This amazing, one-of-kind forever, event of this often overlooked member of the Triune Godhead.
But there were two fathers in this story.
The first father had a real dilemma on his hands...
One Father’s Dilemma (vv.
18-19)
The account of Jesus’ incarnation and birth are full of events and characters that lead many to wonder what they would do if something like this happened to them.
I’d imagine many women over the centuries have pondered what it was like to be in Mary’s position.
I know I’ve thought a lot about what it was like for Joseph.
V18 tell us that at some point in that one year betrothal time period, “it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.”
We know from Luke’s account that soon (perhaps immediately) after the incarnation / conception occurred Mary left to visit her cousin Elizabeth and that she stayed “about three months” ().
That means it is very likely that this discovery wasn’t made and shared with Joseph until she was about four months along (second trimester).
V18 tell us that at some point in that one year betrothal time period, “it was discovered
Gentlemen, what would you do?
Your fiancee is pregnant and you know the baby isn’t yours.
Your told a fantastic tale about an angel, another strange story about Elizabeth’s baby leaping in her womb at the sound of Mary’s voice, and promised that she has remained faithful to you.
Six or seven months ago the contract for your marriage with Mary was finalized between your fathers.
She’s a good girl who should make a wonderful wife, but suddenly your world’s been rocked - in just five or six months she will give birth to a baby that isn’t yours before you’ve even consummated the marriage.
Joseph had rights.
According to , he could write her a certificate of divorce and send her away with no further obligation to her.
, he could write her a certificate of divorce and send her away with no further obligation to her.
We’re told in v19 that Joseph is a righteous man.
The rules said that he could divorce her and be rid of her.
He had every right.
The biblical concept of righteousness includes but also goes beyond merely following the rules.
In Hebrew, the word for righteousness has the sense of perfect harmony or fulfillment of purpose.
In other words, at its purest essence, righteousness means something or someone is exactly as they should be; in accordance with the creator’s own character and intent.
Biblical righteousness goes beyond the question of what do the rules say and asks, “what would God do” with the motivation to be just like Him and to act in perfect harmony with who He is.
We’re told in v19 that Joseph is a righteous man.
The rules said that he could divorce her and be rid of her.
He had every right.
The biblical concept of righteousness includes but also goes beyond merely following the rules.
In Hebrew, the word for righteousness has the sense of perfect harmony or fulfillment of purpose.
In other words, at its purest essence, righteousness means something or someone is exactly as they should be; in accordance with the creator’s own character and intent.
Biblical righteousness goes beyond the question of what do the rules say and asks, “what would God do” with the motivation to be just like Him and to act in perfect harmony with who He is.
This righteousness leads him to make a decision to divorce her quietly instead of disgracing her publicly.
As much credit as I want to give Joseph for his merciful conduct here, he’s on the verge of making a big mistake.
Like any human being, he’s not operating with all of the information.
He’s doing the best with what he has in the midst of a crazy situation, but there’s more going on here than meets the eye.
This righteousness leads him to make a decision to divorce her quietly instead of disgracing her publicly.
As this earthly father faces a dilemma, the Heavenly Father reveals His determination...
One Father’s Determination (vv.
20-21)
After reaching the decision to quietly divorce Mary, Joseph goes to sleep.
There an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream; an experience recorded in vv20-21.
This angel reveals that what Joseph, and Mary, are going through is part of a plan:
The Heavenly Father, God, had put together a plan long before time began.
Now was the time for the arrival of the Messiah toward whom all of history had been pointing.
That Messiah was going to come into the world through Mary and Joseph had an important role to play.
The Heavenly Father, God, had put together a plan long before time began.
Now was the time for the arrival of the Messiah toward whom all of history had been pointing.
That Messiah was going to come into the world through Mary and Joseph had an important role to play.
The Messiah was to be named Jesus, a very common name for such a singular savior.
His mission: to save His people from their sins.
He would do this by living a perfectly righteous, obedient life which would enable Him to make an effective sacrifice of His own life which would then be confirmed by His glorious resurrection.
This statement, “he will save his people from their sins”, puts the emphasis on the final efficacy of Jesus’ work on the cross.
This determination to save was driven by love.
Remember that word that we don’t seem to understand or use all that well?
As we just heard sung about a few moments ago, love came down.
Given our own culture’s confusion about love, let’s turn to the words of the Apostle Paul in for further insight into what God’s love is (keep your place in , we will return there).
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