4th Sunday of Advent (2019)

Joseph

Matthew 1:18–25 ESV

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. 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). 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.

Matthew 1:

—> People generally lead with the TOP characteristic of a person when introducing them.

—> Trait or Title

—>

Matthew 1:19 ESV

19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

—> Joseph is righteous.

pertaining to being in accordance with what God requires—‘righteous, just.’

—>

Matthew 1:24–25 ESV

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.

—> Joseph is obedient.

—> being a good husband is tough being a good dad is tougher. being the dad to the Messiah is not something I would wish on my worst enemy.

—> I believe Joseph has a choice just like us. To listen to what God is calling him to or to turn and run, to go his own way and do his own thing.

—> Joseph chooses in this moment to obey God.

—> I heard a saying a few years back from friends of ours about obedience. Its what they taught their kids and its what we teach our girls. When we are truly being obedient we do what we are asked or told, “right away, all the way, in a happy way.”

—> Do we obey God like that? I think we will see Joseph does.

Matthew 2:

Matthew 2:13–15 ESV

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

—> listens and obeys without question

—> sometimes we can have a tendency to hesitate when it comes to God

Matthew 2:19–23 ESV

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

matthew 2:

—> Joseph is consistent.

—> This is the last time Joseph is mentioned directly in Matthew.

—> We can only assume that Joseph dies sometime between Jesus’ 12th and 30th birthday since the last action he takes is when Jesus is found with the rabbis in the Temple, and Mary is mentioned solo from then on as well.

—> He isn’t mentioned at all in Mark.

—> But what we read in Ch. 2 of Matthew tells us what we need to know.

—> And he gets 1 line in John

—> Again Joseph hears from the Lord in a dream.

—> He uproots his family overnight to protect his newly adopted son.

—> They go to a foreign country and live

—>