The Story of Joseph
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Core Idea: Jesus may not be the King we expected but He surely is the King we all need – He was born to save us from our sins and give us life. And this King promises that He will be with us always. Then may we have the eyes to see His beauty and know that He alone is worthy of our worship – worthy of losing everything for.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you, Hakyung, for sharing your story with us – and reminding us of the beauty of the gospel truth. Now, some of you here may be going through something similar – you’re devastated by your unfulfilled dreams, or you’re frustrated because what you have feels like it’s not enough – you want more. If this is you, I pray that your eyes will be opened to see that Christ alone satisfies; Christ alone liberates; Christ alone brings rest to your souls – He really is all that we need. May you taste and see that He alone is worthy of our pursuit.
Well, we are going through the first two chapters of Matthew this Advent. Last week, we looked at the genealogy of Jesus and were surprised to see that it was a genealogy of brokenness and sin. There were a lot of people who should’ve been left out but were left in, which taught us that no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter what was done to you, you can still be part of God’s family all because of what Christ has accomplished on the cross. Christmas is a message of grace and hope. Today, we’ll look at the birth of Jesus from the perspective of Joseph. Then if you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 1:18-25. Let me read this for us.
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 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. 21 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
There are three things I want to point out from this passage. Something about:
· JOSEPH
· THE CHILD
· THE PROMISE
1) JOSEPH
Let’s turn to verse 18. There’s simply no way Joseph saw any of this coming. Joseph wasn’t prepared for this. Joseph was pledged to be married to Mary. Now, this pledge was quite different from our concept of engagement because it was legally binding – in other words, it was as if they were already married. So, as you can imagine, he must have been filled with excitement and anticipation for their future together – of course, until the unthinkable happened. Mary was found to be with a child. Now, the readers are informed that the child is from the Holy Spirit, but Joseph wouldn’t have known this. Then can you imagine how devastating and heartbreaking this would have been for him? Can you imagine the confusion, anger, and pain? Now, who broke the news to him? Most likely, it was Mary. Then can you imagine what that conversation would’ve been like? “Joseph, I have something I need to tell you. I don’t know how to say this because I don’t really understand it myself – but I’m pregnant. But it’s not like I’ve been unfaithful. I know it’s hard to believe but an angel came to me and said that I had found favor with God and that I would conceive and give birth to a Son. And this isn’t just any child, but He will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord will give Him the throne of father David” (Lk. 1:30-33). One can imagine Mary trying to persuade Joseph with tears in her eyes – to prove her innocence. And one can imagine Joseph with tears in his eyes – not buying it. Maybe he even thought to himself, “Is she being serious? Did she lose her mind? Is that the best excuse she can come up with – an angel?”
Well, verse 19 clearly shows us that Joseph didn’t believe Mary. Matthew tells us that because Joseph was faithful to the law, hearing about her pregnancy, marriage to Mary was no longer an option for him. Nazareth, their hometown, was a small village. Word would spread quickly. He knew the consequences of taking Mary to be his wife. His reputation would be destroyed – something that he worked very hard for. Not only that but he would also constantly mistrust Mary – maybe even struggle with insecurity. Then it seemed like divorce was the only option. According to Jewish law, divorce was allowed in the case of adultery. In fact, if found guilty, Mary would be stoned. But because Joseph cared deeply about Mary, he decided to divorce her quietly – to protect her from public disgrace.
But God wasn’t going to allow this to happen. Verse 20 – we see that God graciously intervened. An angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and said to him, “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.” You know, it’s so easy to romanticize this story – we picture an angel and Joseph submitting himself in joyful obedience. But try putting yourself in Joseph’s shoes. If you were Joseph, would you believe the angel, or would you dismiss it by saying, “It’s only a dream”? Because let’s be honest – it still doesn’t change the fact that Joseph and Mary would experience slander and shame. It still doesn’t change the fact that they may be ridiculed, judged. Then this couldn’t have been an easy decision for Joseph. He knew what was at stake. He knew the cost – yet verse 24 tells us that Joseph “did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” He trusted God – so, he obeyed.
What do we learn from this? Two things. First, a crisis in life doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. Let’s think back to the moment when Joseph heard from Mary that she was pregnant – he must have felt betrayed, angry, sad, or even crushed. The woman he loves apparently has been unfaithful. And she had the audacity to tell him that she became pregnant through the Holy Spirit. She wasn’t just lying about her unfaithfulness, but she was also blaspheming God. I wonder if Joseph thought to himself, “What is going on here? Why is this happening to me? Everything was going well. Why is God doing this to me? My life is ruined.” And even after deciding to take Mary as his wife, he must have questioned from time to time, “Why did I say yes? Why do I have to give up so much?” You see, God entering the life of Joseph was in the form of a crisis – but this was exactly how God planned it all. Then this is what we learn: if you are going through a very difficult situation in life today, it cannot mean that God has abandoned you – in fact, it might actually mean that God is getting closer to you. It may mean that God is working in your life to accomplish His will. Of course, this is not easy to accept because you can’t help but ask, “How can something so painful, so hard, so unbearable be good?” Honestly, I don’t have an answer for that. But this is what Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” God never asks us to understand why things happen the way they do – in fact, He actually tells us not to lean on our own understanding but trust Him with all our hearts and submit to Him in all our ways – only then will He make our paths straight. It’s true that we may not understand why things happen the way they do but we understand who God is. This is how our faith grows – it’s not about being optimistic but believing that He is good and that He is working for the good of His people. The angel never really explained how the virgin birth worked. He never explained why God was doing this other than the fact that through this child, salvation will come. And despite the questions he must have had, Joseph obeyed. Brothers and sisters, may we also trust and obey in all circumstances.
Second, Joseph foreshadowed the cost of what it means to follow Christ. The truth is that the world we live in is hostile to Christianity. Living as a Christian will get harder and harder because the gospel goes against everything that this world holds dear. Then just like Joseph, for every person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the God of the universe, that He was born into the world as an infant, that He is the Savior who the world has been waiting for, there may be a heavy price to pay. Our obedience to God may open us up to ridicule. Our reputation may be compromised. It can complicate our lives. It can bring discomfort and cause us to be alienated. We may need to surrender our dreams and hopes. But that’s not all. Did you know that there’s no mention of Joseph in Matthew after the birth narrative? We know Mary was alive because she was at the crucifixion – but we don’t hear about Joseph at all. Then we can only assume that he must have died before Jesus started His ministry. In other words, Joseph never saw Jesus perform miracles, teach with authority, die on the cross, and rise again. Do you know what that means? It means that Joseph never got to see the fruit of his obedience. He didn’t get to witness how his faith-filled decision made a difference – and yet he remained faithful. And in the same way, we may not see the fruit of our work. No matter how much we give and sacrifice, everything can seem fruitless. Honestly, that would be very discouraging and disappointing. How can anyone live this way? The cost seems too heavy to bear. Then the question is, “Is He worth risking it all? Is He worth the cost?” And that leads to our next point.
2) THE CHILD
Verse 21 – the angel said to Joseph, “She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people.” Is He worth the cost? Absolutely. This child is the Messiah, the Savior King that the whole Israelites have been waiting for – He will save God’s people. In fact, the name Jesus in Hebrew is “Yeshua” which literally means “God saves.” This should’ve caused Joseph to celebrate and rejoice – the promised King is coming. But something the angel said was a bit odd. The angel said, “He will save His people from their sins.” That was not what they expected. The Jewish community expected the Messiah to overthrow Rome and bring glory and power back to Israel. In other words, they were waiting for a revolutionary king whose mission was to make Israel great again. Then do you see why what the angel said would’ve surprised Joseph and the original readers? They must have asked, “Wait, from our sins? Why do we need to be saved from our sins? Why is dealing with our sins more important, more urgent than a victory for Israel? If Jesus came only to save us from our sins, is He really the Messiah that we’ve been waiting for?”
To answer these questions, we must first understand what sin is. John Stott said, “The essence of sin is to take God’s place.” In other words, sin ultimately is the heart that desires to take God’s rightful throne for ourselves. When God created us, He intended that we would live under His righteous rule in perfect joy – worshiping Him, obeying Him, and therefore living in this unbroken fellowship with Him. But we didn’t just disobey God, we also rejected Him as our King. We traded our favor with God for the pursuit of our own pleasure and glory. Simply put, we wanted to be king – we wanted to sit on the throne of our lives. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It’s not that some sinned and some didn’t. No matter who we are or where we’re from, we are all sinful. Think of it this way: we’re not good people who occasionally do bad things; we’re bad people who occasionally do good things – but many times even those good things are tainted with selfish motives. This is so important to understand because sin is much more devastating than we think. Imagine that you have a cup of clean water. But what if someone added just a drop of deadly poison into it? Would you be able to drink it since it’s only a drop? Of course not, it’s been contaminated, defiled – if you drink it, you will surely die. And that’s what God sees in us. Regardless of how small our sin may be, sin is like deadly poison – it will surely kill us. And the most devastating truth is that we are not able to save ourselves – no matter how much we try, we will always fall short of what God desires of us. Then think about what Jesus said in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” What’s the point of witnessing this victory for Israel if what awaits you is death – the great equalizer for all people?
Then everything makes sense. It’s true that Jesus may not be the King they expected but He surely is the King we all need. Jesus wasn’t conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary to provide us with a compelling moral example. No, He was born to save us from our sins. He left the joy of heaven for this specific purpose. He entered our world of sin to save us from our sin and reconcile us to God so that we can have life again. And the way He accomplished this was shocking as well. The Bible tells us that He died for us. Listen to how Isaiah 53:5 describes this, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” He is the King of the universe, but He entered our world as a humble servant. He is holy, completely without sin, but He became sin for us. He is the only One deserving of praise and worship, but He was humiliated and rejected by all. He alone is the rightful Judge of all humanity, but He was judged by God for us. He is the Creator and the Giver of life, but He gave up His life for you and me. Christians, my prayer for you is that this truth will hit you differently today – in a fresh way. It’s so easy for us to hear this and just move on because we’ve heard it so much – we’re familiar with it. Then I pray that we would have the heart to grieve over our sins. When’s the last time you’ve humbly asked for forgiveness – repented with this heaviness in your hearts? How often do you abuse His grace – taking your sins lightly? Brothers and sisters, I pray that you would come and lay down your sins before the cross today – remembering that it cost the very life of Jesus to bring you life. Jesus was born in a manger to die for you and me. Then let me go back to the question I asked earlier: “Is He worth risking it all? Is He worth the cost?” Absolutely. He died for us so that we can have life and life to the full. But that’s not all.
3) THE PROMISE
Verse 22 – the angel told Joseph, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).” This is a direct quote from Isaiah 7:14 – and this is the context of that verse. Judah had been invaded by a group of nations and this obviously caused great fear among the people. Isaiah 7:2 says, “The hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.” So, to comfort them, God sent Isaiah to tell King Ahaz that this invasion will fail. God promised that He will preserve the people of Judah – and He simply asked Ahaz to trust Him. But Ahaz couldn’t believe it – he was paralyzed by fear. So, in His grace, God gave Ahaz a sign which is what we read in verse 23. God basically said, “Look for the sign I’m giving you – a virgin birth. When this happens, you’ll know that My promise will be fulfilled. Trust Me – salvation will come.” Now, history tells us that the invasion did fail but many years later, Judah also fell as well which led to 70 years in exile. There was no virgin birth. There was no salvation. Did God fail to fulfill His promise? Absolutely not because we see the virgin birth in Christ. God’s delay is not God’s denial. God didn’t design Jesus to be born through a virgin because it would make a good story; no, it had to be done this way to fulfill His promise – to show the world that salvation is finally here in the person of Jesus. And He will be called Immanuel – God with us.
What does this mean for us? Three things. First, Immanuel means that God desires to have a relationship with us. God didn’t send Jesus just to save us and leave us to be – no, He did that so that He can be with us and we with Him. And the amazing thing is that this relationship He desired wasn’t just for us to be His acquaintances, or the citizens of His Kingdom (though that’s true) – but to be called the children of the King. Just as Joseph adopted baby Jesus to be his child, God adopted us to be His children. To show you how mind-blowing this truth is, I want to read an article written by Pastor Russell Moore who shares his experience of adopting two children in Russia. It’s a little long – so, bear with me. “The creepiest sound I have ever heard was nothing at all. My wife, Maria, and I stood in the hallway of an orphanage somewhere in the former Soviet Union, on the first of two trips required for our petition to adopt. Orphanage staff led us down a hallway to greet the two 1-year-olds we hoped would become our sons. The horror wasn’t the filth and the stench, although we at times suppressed the urge to vomit and weep. The horror was the quiet of it all. The place was more silent than a funeral home by night. I stopped and pulled Maria’s elbow. ‘Why is it so quiet? The place is filled with babies.’ Here, if we listened carefully enough, we could hear babies rocking themselves back and forth. These children did not cry because infants eventually learn to stop crying if no one ever responds to their calls for food, for comfort, for love. No one ever responded to these children. So, they stopped. The silence continued as we entered the boys’ room. Little Sergei smiled at us, dancing up and down while holding the side of his crib. Little Maxim looked straight at us. But neither boy made a sound. We read them books. But there were no cries, no squeals, no groans. Every day we left at the appointed time in the same way we had entered: in silence. On the last day of the trip, Maria and I arrived at the moment we had dreaded since the minute we received our adoption referral. We had to tell the boys goodbye, as by law we had to return to the United States and wait for the legal paperwork to be completed before returning to pick them up for good. After hugging and kissing them, we walked out into the quiet hallway as Maria shook with tears. And that’s when we heard the scream. Little Maxim fell back in his crib and let out a loud cry. It seemed he knew, maybe for the first time, that he would be heard. On some primal level, he knew he had a father and mother now. Little Maxim’s scream changed everything. It was the moment, in his recognizing that he would be heard, that he went from being an orphan to being a son.” Brothers and sisters, Christmas tells us that we can now be heard. We can cry out and will not be abandoned. We will not be left behind. We will be desired. We will be treasured and sought after by the King not because of what we have or what we’ve accomplished, but simply because He delights in us. We matter and have worth simply because the King says so. Christmas tells us that our King desires a relationship with us.
Second, Immanuel means that we have infinite comfort in our suffering. When suffering comes, we often feel lonely. We can be surrounded by many people who love and encourage us, but it still doesn’t help – until we meet someone who’s gone through exactly the same thing. There’s this bond that gets created because it feels like they understand us. So, we pour out our hearts to them and we listen to them. When they comfort us, we feel comforted. Hebrews 2:18 says, “Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” Have you been betrayed? Have you been lonely? Have you been in need? Have you been rejected? So has He. Do you feel like your prayers are ignored? Jesus knows the pain of unanswered prayer because that’s what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me” (Matt. 26:39), He was turned down. Do you feel like God has hidden His face from you? So did Jesus. The only difference is that He didn’t just feel like He was abandoned – He was abandoned by God so that we can be with God. Brothers and sisters, Christ is with us, and He understands us. We can trust Him.
Lastly, Immanuel means that we can have unshakable courage in our service. Like I said before – it’s not easy to be a Christian in our world today. It can be costly. It can be inconvenient. It can be humiliating. Then how do we continue to serve the Lord without giving up? By remembering that He is with us. He will be with us when our reputations are tarnished, when we are ridiculed, when we are rejected, when we are judged, when we are ostracized because of our faith. How do we know this? Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, then three days later, He conquered the grave and rose from the dead. In the moment of His greatest weakness, despair, and darkness, He chose to endure the cross so that we could have life, so that He could be with us. If Jesus did this for us, there’s no place He would leave us alone. He will be with us. “Therefore, [let us] go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything [He has] commanded [us] [knowing that He is] with [us] always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus may not be the King we expected but He surely is the King we all need – He was born to save us from our sins and give us life. And this King promises that He will be with us always. May we have the eyes to see His beauty and know that He alone is worthy of our worship – worthy of losing everything for.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Have you ever gone through a crisis like Joseph? How do we fight to believe that God hasn’t abandoned us but is drawing near even through a crisis? Reflect on Proverbs 3:5-6 and share how this speaks to your life today.
2) Jesus was born to save His people from their sins. How can we as Christians remain in awe and wonder for this truth?
3) How does the name Immanuel encourage you today?