Joseph (2)

Joseph. So little is actually written about Jesus’ human, adoptive father. And yet, there is more than enough to know how he worshipped Christ.

We’ll just walk our way through the text, highlighting different portions, allowing us to go deeper, to learn how we can worship Christ as well. Christmas is about Christ, obviously, but it is all about worshipping God, who is the only being worthy of worship.

So Joseph. He and Mary are engaged. This means that they have already expressed troth to each other. They have had a civil ceremony in which they exchanged their pledges. They have promised faithfulness. They have promised that in the near future they will exchange vows in another ceremony and then Mary will move in and they will consummate their marriage.

At this point in their lives, where we join Matthew’s telling of it, they are still living with their parents. Joseph is busily constructing an addition to his parent’s home, preparing a place for him and Mary to live.

That’s the way men proposed back then. Joseph, whether it was an arranged marriage or not, went to her parents’ house. He met with them and expressed his desire to marry Mary by saying, “I’m going to prepare a place for you.” Years later, Jesus would say the same phrase to his disciples, telling them that while he is going away, he will surely come back to get his bride, the church.

While the construction is going on, the angel visits Mary and tells her she’ll become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. And sure enough, that happens. Word gets back to Joseph. He knows he’s not the father.

He’s shattered. Arranged marriage or not, he was committed, he had already begun to love her, not only with his emotions, but also with his heart, mind, soul and strength. He was devastated. How could this seemingly morally upright woman compromise their relationship? This seemed so out of character.

Crushed, but yet a good, God-fearing man, a true believer in God, Joseph was determined to do the right thing. He decided he would have to divorce Mary. As they were already legally married, that was his only course of action. For that, he had two options. Publically announce her infidelity, bring a lawsuit against her, and have her condemned. Though OT law required stoning, manmade rules and regulations since Sinai had relaxed it quite a bit. Nevertheless, she would never have lived it down. His second option was to quietly give her a certificate of divorce, and end the marriage.

But we can tell from the passage, that Joseph, in his heart of hearts, didn’t want to do either. He was intending to divorce her. He hadn’t made up his mind yet. He hadn’t committed his resolve to the decision.

Consider that for a moment, shall we? Here is a man and a woman who were pledged to be married. Yes, they were legally married, but they had not begun to live together, nor had they even entered into sexual relations.

It is hard to say whether they were typical Jewish young people. Maybe all their peers saved sex for marriage, waited until they were fully married before moving in and sharing everything. Certainly, that wasn’t common in Roman society. Rome had very different, modern, progressive views on relationships. In fact, our society, even our Christian society, to some degree, is similar to the Roman worldview.

But Mary and Joseph were not interested in either a Jewish or a Roman perspective on their marriage. They were pursuing a Godly relationship. They were pursuing God’s will for marriage.

God’s will hasn’t changed, even though society has. God’s will is: no sex before marriage. Marriage is between one man and one woman.

Due to sin, this is a struggle. In Mary and Joseph’s day, it was a struggle. Let’s not kid ourselves here. Let’s not look at them and think, “No big deal, they’re not dealing with what we’re dealing with.” Rather, we must remember that they’re just as human as we are. They were just as influenced by peer pressure. Let’s not kid ourselves. Let’s not make them holier than they were.

But being true believers, they put God first. They sought to honour God with their lives and with their bodies. Perhaps you’re sitting here this morning, and you’re thinking, “Well so much for me. It’s a bit late now!”

Christ makes all things new. No one is perfect. Everyone is in need of a saviour. You’re no different; I’m no different. But because we are made new in Christ, we are able to honour God. We are able to live our lives in obedience to God. We can turn from sin and temptation and strive after righteousness, as Mary and Joseph did.

Now, the irony here is that essentially, Mary and Joseph both were blameless and righteous before God. But to all human appearances, they were not. It looked like they had slept together and Mary got pregnant. We know the truth, but the people alive then, their parents, did not know what was going on. Maybe they believed Mary, most likely they didn’t. Mary at least had confidence and support from her cousin Elizabeth, but we don’t know how much other help they had.

Joseph, wanting to honour God, was about to divorce Mary. But God wanted them to get married. God intended Joseph to adopt Jesus. Matthew’s genealogy demonstrates that Jesus is the son of David through Joseph. Furthermore, even though Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, nevertheless, he was born within a marriage. He was a legitimate child. Joseph needed a big sign, so God sent an angel to break into Joseph’s dream.

Yes, God honoured Joseph’s desire to do the right thing, but Joseph needed to know, beyond any doubt that what was happening was of God. The Holy Spirit really conceived the baby. This is a fulfilled prophecy.

That obscure passage in Isaiah, well known by us, referenced by Matthew through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, finally made sense. “The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel.” I say now makes sense because the meaning, in context, in Isaiah, doesn’t make sense. Why would a wicked king, Ahaz, who, when God’s prophet prompted him to ask for a sign refused to ask for one, why would he be told, “A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son.” How would such a sign help him right then and there? How would that make him stop trusting the Assyrians and trust in God instead?

Because Ahaz refused to follow God, the prophet gave a sign that wouldn’t be fulfilled in Ahaz’s day, but like the promise made in Genesis 3:15, would be fulfilled in about 5 or 4 B.C., some 700 years later. Joseph, being a well-raised, God fearing man, if he was familiar with Isaiah, he’d have been floored to realise that his wife’s baby is Emmanuel.

But even if he didn’t make the connection, Joseph did the right thing. He changed his mind. He no longer considered divorcing Mary, but when the house was ready, he took his wife home.

But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until after she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus, as the angel told him to do. Joseph, choosing to honour the miraculous conception, didn’t consummate his marriage until after Jesus was born.

What was conceived by the Holy Spirit was holy. Mary was still a virgin. She didn’t lose her virginity until after. This also shows that after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph had a normal married relationship. Jesus had brothers and sisters. A certain church might try to teach Mary’s perpetual virginity, but that’s a false teaching. The scriptures are clear.

Last week, we looked at how tough it was for Mary. “Conceived by the Holy Spirit? Yeah right!” Let’s not forget that this wasn’t easy for Joseph, either. Let’s not forget that these were two young, ordinary people.

And yet, look what a mess God called them into! Life is messy. We live in a broken, fallen world. We live in a world marked by sin. We can’t escape it. Trips to warmer climates, visits with family, games, books, movies, alcohol, sex, drugs, no matter what we do, we can’t escape the reality that things just aren’t as they should be.

On top of that, God doesn’t make our lives easier, not by a long shot. God calls us to live a morally high life. God calls us to live lives that are different from society. We should be generous. We should be kind and courteous. We should never take advantage of anyone. We should be honest. We should seek the good of others, always, especially when it costs us something.

Why? Why does God call us to such a high standard? Because he’s made it possible for us. He works in us to will and to do. How?

Because he sent his Son. Jesus, the name means saviour. Emmanuel, God with us. He came to be with us. He came to save us from our sins. He came to overcome the darkness. He came to bring light, be light. He came to shine his glory all around. We’ve seen God’s glory, not just the back end of God’s glory, which left Moses’ face shining brightly, but God’s glory, his Son. Our faces shine his glory, reflect his worthy, his honour, as we honour him. Amen!