The Thrill of Hope - 2 - Hope Obeys

The Thrill of Hope – 2 – Hope Obeys

Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-23

Introduction

When God wants to do a special work in the world, He always places a man or woman there who will be the instrument through which He accomplishes His purpose. Once that man or woman is in place, their job is twofold: trust God and obey God. This is God’s pattern of working mightily in the world.

- When God wanted to form a new nation that would be for His glory in the world, He called Abraham out of Ur and into the Promised Land. Abraham’s job was to trust and obey.

- When God wanted to rescue His people from centuries of slavery in Egypt, God put Moses in Egypt to be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, and then into the deserts of Midian to learn how to shepherd obstinate sheep. Moses’ job was to trust and obey.

- When God wanted to rescue His people from various enemies during the era of the Judges, He placed men like Gideon and Samson, and women like Deborah into specific roles of leadership. Their job was to trust and obey.

- When God wanted to save His people from annihilation in Persia, God placed Esther in the royal palace as Queen. Her job was to trust and obey.

When God wanted to bring all His eternal work to fruition and personally come into the world, He placed Joseph and Mary in just the right circumstances where they would meet and get engaged. Their job was to trust and obey. We will talk more about Mary, the mother of Jesus, on Friday night at our Christmas Eve service. For out time today, let’s take a look at this man God chose to be the adoptive father of God’s own Son.

In one sense, it is tough to spend much time looking at the life of Joseph…there isn’t much text dedicated to him, and he has zero speaking lines recorded in Scripture. Some have labeled Joseph the Silent Knight. But in another sense, there is much we can glean from the passages we do have that mention Joseph. And they are worth our consideration. One characteristic of Joseph stands above all the others…overwhelming obedience. Joseph was obedient to all God called him to do. His obedience to God changed not only Jesus’ life, but yours as well. Joseph played three roles of obedience:

1. PARTNER

Matthew 1:18-23 - 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).

Joseph partnered with Mary to raise a son. God told him to take Mary home as his wife and raise Jesus together. That was not Joseph’s original plan. His plan was to divorce her. Now, to get married in their culture was a bit more of a confusing process than it is today. The engagement period was arranged by the parents, a matchmaker, sometimes yourself. The “betrothal” was the ratification of that engagement. It could still be backed out of, but with much difficulty. The betrothal period lasted one year and was legally binding. This is the period Mary and Joseph are in. Then the marriage ceremony/celebration typically lasted a week and then you were formally husband and wife.

To break the betrothal, one had to legally divorce the other. During this time you were referred to as husband and wife, but did not live together or have any sexual component to the relationship. To go outside of this betrothal with another person sexually was considered adultery. It was punishable by stoning to death.

So Joseph plans to divorce her quietly. Why? Two reasons are given in the text. Both of them are in v. 19 - 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. First, because he is a ‘just’ man. Just is the word for righteous. Joseph is righteous before God. Meaning, he is right with God and that is reflected in his relationships with people. So because Joseph loves God, worships God, and has devoted his life to God, his plan is to divorce Mary. And the second reason given is because he is unwilling to put her to shame. Here is what both of those reasons clearly imply…Joseph believes Mary has committed adultery. And why wouldn’t he think that?!

Luke’s Gospel gives a bit more detail about the timing involved in this scandalous Christmas account. The angel Gabriel tells Mary she is going to become pregnant, though she is a virgin. It will be the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to bring God’s Son into the world. Upon hearing and receiving this news, Mary seemingly immediately leaves town to go visit Elizabeth, her relative, where she stays for three months. So you’re Joseph…your fiancé leaves town for three months and when she comes back into town she is pregnant. You know you didn’t do that.

There are clear explanations for how that happened. Mary has obviously been unfaithful. So he plans to divorce her…because he is a just man. His righteous character means he cannot in good conscience marry someone who is unfaithful. But also because he loves her so much, he doesn’t want to subject her to the public shame that would undoubtedly be attached to all this when word gets out.

His action would have saved her life (could be stoned to death) and it keeps the tabloid nature of such things away from her. But then God speaks to him in a dream and confirms that Mary’s account of what happened is in fact true. V. 20-21 - 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.” God changes his plans. “Don’t be afraid. Take Mary home and marry her. This is God’s work in her life and in your life. You are the man I have chosen for this historical moment to work in and through to accomplish great things in the world. His name is Jesus…Savior.”

And look at his obedience. V. 24-25 - 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. As soon as he wakes up, he does what God says. He trusts. He obeys. And he goes even further to ensure God’s miracle of the virgin birth is fully confirmed…he has no sexual relationship with her until after Jesus is born. What incredible integrity! What honor shown to her and to the Lord!

2. PROTECTOR

Joseph shows us a side of biblical manhood that is so sadly absent in the world today. He gladly takes his role to protect both Mary and Jesus. Too many men today are predators, not protectors. They are after what they can get from women…sexual fulfillment, emotional fulfillment, financial provision. Instead, God calls us to gladly, joyfully give ourselves away for the betterment and blessing on the lives of those around us. One of those ways is to protect those whom the Lord has placed in our lives.

- Joseph protected Mary from Stoning. Not only was it the culture’s response to shame and stone her to death, Joseph had the legal right to personally demand it. But he didn’t. He loved her and protected her.

- Joseph protected Mary from Shame. The fact that Joseph takes her home and marries her is very important. This keeps the public shaming away from her. It also keeps her from being a divorcee with a child. And divorced for infidelity. She would have been shunned by her family, her friends, and her community. She wouldn’t have been able to find work. If Joseph would have demanded his rights in this situation, it would have left Mary and Jesus destitute. But he protected her.

- Joseph protected Mary from Sorrow. After Jesus was born and all the Christmas festivities end, the Wise Men come a couple years later. After they leave, this happens:

Matthew 2:13-15 - 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.”

King Herod had just found out from the Wise Men that there is another king, called The King of the Jews. That was Herod’s title. This rouses suspicion and jealousy in Herod, and he goes on the rampage. But this is nothing new for Herod. In his suspicion and jealousy, he had already killed Mariamne, his wife, and her mother, Alexandra. He also killed three of his sons, Antipater, Alexander, and Aristobulus because his throne was threatened by their presence. When Herod was about to die in Jericho, he knew no one would mourn for his death, so he had a handful of distinguished citizens ordered to be killed at the very moment of his own death, so that at least some mourning would happen when he died. Herod had schemed and killed to get this position of King of the Jews. And Jesus had just been “born” King of the Jews. No way was he going to allow such things to happen. So he swoops in to Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:16-18 - 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

There were many grieving, sorrowful mothers in Bethlehem that day. But because Joseph had immediately obeyed God, he protected Mary from that sorrow. He protected Jesus from death.

3. PROVIDER

Matthew 2:19-23 - 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.

Again, God alters Joseph’s plans. Joseph is going to head back home to one area, but God sends him a different direction. God leads them eventually to Nazareth, what we know from Luke 2:4 is their hometown. Do you think that was hard to do? Sometimes the hardest people to be around are those who know us best. He goes home with obvious rumors circulating about his wife and about a child that might not be his. But there, in their hometown, Joseph provided well for his family.

- Joseph provided Economically – Joseph was a hard-working carpenter and provides the financial resources and a home for God’s Son to grow up in.

- Joseph provided Vocationally – Joseph taught Jesus the trade of carpentry. When Jewish boys turned 12, they could go one of two directions in life: 1) into the priesthood and had to leave home for the schooling; 2) following their father into whatever trade he was in. Jesus obviously went the trade route.

Matthew 13:55, people refer to Jesus as the son of a carpenter.

Mark 6:3, Jesus himself is referred to as a carpenter.

- Joseph provided Spiritually – he made sure their family obeyed all the OT Law. Luke 2 carries the account of Joseph’s biblical obedience.

Luke 2:21-24 - 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

They have Jesus circumcised on the 8th day, which was prescribed by OT law. They officially record his name as Jesus, in obedience to God’s word to Joseph. And they dedicate him to the Lord and offer the appropriate sacrifice at the temple. All of that was prescribed in the OT law.

Luke 2:39 - 39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

Every step of the way, Joseph obeyed God. In fact, Luke 2 is the last we hear of Joseph at all. He is absent once Jesus begins his public ministry at age 30. Likely at some point between Jesus being 12 and 30, Joseph dies. But he obviously had an enormous impact on Jesus’ life and development. Again, we don’t know a ton about Joseph, but what we do know is significant. Joseph is tuned in to God’s Word, and when God speaks, Joseph obeys.

What difference do you think that made on Jesus when he was growing up? You know, my father and I have numerous similarities. I startle myself every time I look in the mirror because my dad is looking back at me. When he concentrates, he puts his tongue on his back tooth that causes his jaw to stick out at an odd angle. I noticed it all my life. I know that is what he does, because I do the same thing when I concentrate. What similarities do you think Jesus had with Joseph? Do you think he held the hammer the same way dad did? Or had similar mannerisms? At the very least, we know Jesus picked up Joseph’s biggest character trait.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, before Jesus was crucified, he cried out to God for deliverance. He prays for that cup to pass him by. Then he prays, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Do you hear a little of Joseph’s accent in those words of obedience?

- God has placed you where you are to work in and through your life. Your job is to trust Him and obey Him.

- Joseph’s obedience saved Jesus. Jesus’ obedience saved you.