Operation Restoration: Abba Joseph

Offertory

Introduction

Last week we began the season of Advent with the story of Mary of Nazareth. We talked a bit about Nazareth and we also looked at Mary and who she was: another one of God’s unlikely heroes in His mission to rescue creation from the effects of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the garden of Eden. Those effects, namely sin and death, have been part of our existence since then, but God did not create us to die. And so, we also looked briefly at how Luke in his infancy narrative pointed back to prior events in God’s plan of rescue. What I call Operation Restoration. Now, God is entering into the final phase of that operation through Mary the birth of His son Jesus. But Mary is not the only unlikely character in the final phase of the rescue plan. Today we’re going to look at Joseph who is perhaps the most unlikely character of them all.

We’re going to be looking at Matthew’s infancy narrative today. I’ll be reading from the New Revised Standard Version and, as always, I encourage you to follow along.

Matthew 1:18–25 (NRSV)

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.”

24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

What don’t we know about Joseph?

Here in Matthew’s gospel we are introduced to Joseph. And that is just about it. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention Joseph, but any information about him is really sparse. So what do we know for sure about Joseph? A better question might be “what don’t we know about Joseph?”

How Old?

We don’t really know anything about how old he is. Some traditions suggest that is an older widower with kids from a previous marriage and these kids are then the brothers and sisters of Jesus mentioned later in the gospels. Other traditions suggest that he is a young man about the same age as Mary. The truth is, the gospel writers don’t tells us so nobody really knows. I would suggest that based on how the gospels describe his occupation, he is probably a man in his late twenties or early thirties.

What did he do for a living?

We don’t know for certain his exact occupation. Later in Matthew’s gospel, after Jesus has started his public ministry, there is a scene in which the people of Nazareth ask the questions, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?” (Matthew 13:55, NIV). The Greek word that is translated as carpenter, tektōn, means “one who constructs, builder, carpenter.” So it we know that Joseph was a craftsman of some type. He could have been a stone mason, but since the gospels and tradition holds that he is a carpenter, we’ll stick with that.

Where did he live?

We don’t really know where Joseph lived. Some suggest that he lived in Bethlehem because that is where Joseph and Mary have to go when Caesar Augustus call the census. It’s possible, but it seems unlikely to me. As I touched on last week, marriage was a two step process in this era. First the betrothal. Second the actual marriage ceremony. After the actual marriage ceremony, the groom would take his wife and move her from her parents to his home. If Joseph had moved Mary to his home in Bethlehem, there would have been no need for them to travel to Bethlehem when the census was called. We can say for certain that his ancestral home, the inheritance his family recieved after the promised land was conquered 1,500 years before, was Bethlehem but I doubt that’s where he lived when his part in this story is taking place.

What do we know about Joseph?

From the Line of David

Now, there are some things that Matthew wants to make sure we do know about Joseph. He wants us to know that Joseph’s family tree extended all the way back to King David. This is important because as you may remember from Luke’s narrative that we read last week, Jesus will be “great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:32–33, NIV). It is through Joseph’s lineage that Jesus will sit on the throne of David, the throne that God promised David would be eternal.

A Righteous Man

Matthew wants us to know that Joseph is a righteous man. But there is an interesting twist here. Joseph was Jewish. Now, in that era one who is righteous is one who obeys the Law of Moses, the torah. And Matthew tells us that Joseph was “faithful to the law.” However, in the Law of Moses, a woman who was found to be pregnant outside of marriage was to be taken outside the town and stoned to death. She had been an adulteress and the penalty for that was death. But when Joseph learns that Mary is pregnant before the marriage ceremony has taken place, he doesn’t take her outside the town to stone her. Instead, he decides to divorce her quietly so that she wouldn’t be exposed to public disgrace. The interesting twist here is that in “divorcing her quietly” all of the disgrace would fall upon him. People would assume that Joseph had slept with Mary and then changed his mind about marrying her. Mary and her parents would be saved the disgrace because he would take it all upon himself. So, this righteousness that Matthew speaks about is not a righteousness that comes from obedience to the Law of Moses; rather, it is a righteousness that comes from compassion, mercy, and grace. I’m pretty sure we’re going to hear more about that kind of righteousness when Jesus grows up and begins his public ministry.

An Obedient Man

While Joseph’s righteousness may not have come from obedience to the Law of Moses, even though the text says he was faithful to the Law, that does not suggest that he wasn’t obedient. In Matthews telling of the story, once Joseph had decided upon a course of action that would not disgrace Mary, “But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20–21, NIV). Then Matthew tells us, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24–25, NIV). When Joseph heard God speak, he did what God asked of him. No matter how difficult that task might be. And trust me when I say this was no easy task. Joseph has been tapped by God to be a father to God’s own Son, conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. This was Joseph’s task.

A Faithful Man

Now Matthew does not explicitly say what I am about to, but it seems pretty clear to me that Joseph’s compassion, mercy, grace, and obedience was a giant influence on Jesus as a child. Why do I say that? Because when Jesus begins his public ministry, when he is describing God to his followers he uses the term father, and that is what Joseph was. Joseph was Jesus earthly father, and as Jesus earthly father, taught Jesus these vary characteristics, compassion, mercy, grace, and obedience.

What does this mean for us?

So what does the story of Joseph and his role a Jesus’ earthly father mean for us today? Well, for one thing it means that righteousness, or “being right with God” is about compassion, mercy, grace, and obedience. Jesus says, “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37–39, NIV). We have a new law, the law of love.

Joseph’s story is also a reminder to us that God uses the most unlikely people to do the most extraordinary things. Joseph is barely mentioned outside of the infancy narratives. And yet, he made a significant impact on Jesus life. Enough so, that Jesus teaches us that God is like a Father.

Several years ago, when my son’s were young, We were visiting with my Grandmother and her twin sister. My boys were pretty young at the time. My Grandmother's sister made a comment about what good kids I had and what a wonderful father I must be. It was a very nice complement. My response to her was that I felt like if I could do half as good a job as my father had done with me then I've would've done well. You see my father was and is a great example and influence for me. My earthly father is someone I can look to as an example of my heavenly father.

I know that not all of us have been that fortunate, but most of us have had someone in our lives that has impacted us in good ways. Perhaps it was a mother, and aunt or uncle, and older sister, perhaps a mentor, teacher, or coach. Someone who loved us and cared enough to point us in right directions, to guide us and at times discipline us. Now as Christians, it is our turn to be like Joseph for someone. It is our turn to teach compassion, mercy, grace, and obedience. It is our turn to be Immanuel, God with us. Who will you be a Joseph to?

Communion

Benediction

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12–13, NIV)