Joseph and the birth of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Call to worship
Welcome everyone!
Call to Worship
John 3:13-17 “No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”
LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!
“Revelation Song”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS
Lord,
“Even So Come”
Words and Music by Hillsong
“O Come O Come Emmanuel”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS
Lord,
SERMON
Introduction
Last Sunday I was not sure how I would approach the month of December. Of coarse, we want to hear about Christmas, but from what gospel? Or should I reach back into the OT and preach on the prophecies regarding Christ’s birth. But while I was preaching last Sunday, the thought came to me to preach the story from all four gospels.
So today we are going to look at the birth narrative from the gospel of Matthew. Each gospel presents the Christmas story from a different prospective. And in each gospel, there is a messenger sent from God to give a message to one of God’s chosen vessels.
In Matthew the focus is on Joseph and how he responds to the message from the angel of the Lord about the birth of Christ. And it seems fitting since we have just finished a series on Jospeh from the OT.
So let’s look at, “Joseph and the birth of Jesus” from Matthew 1.
Matthew 1:18–19 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.”
“Mary had been betrothed to Joseph”
We often think this means she was engaged like we in our Western culture today. But in that culture to be betrothed means that they had already entered into a legal agreement to be married.
When two people were betrothed, they entered a formal pre-nuptial contract before witnesses, which gave the man legal rights over the woman. These rights could only be broken by a formal process of divorce.
Also in most cases, the terms “husband” and “wife” were already being used during this time.
The betrothal period was so series, that if one of the partners happen to die before they were officially married, the other was known as a widow or widower.
Scripture makes it clear that Mary was found to be pregnant, “Before they came together”
This is referring to the absence of sexual relations between the two. As is with Christian beliefs today, the marriage bed was to remain pure until the couple was officially joined together in a covenant marriage.
When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, he was ready to end the marriage which was understandable and expected in those days.
(v 19) “But Joseph being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her”
I don’t want you to miss that description that God gives us about Joseph: HE WAS “A RIGHTEOUS MAN”
The word righteous here does not mean justified or being right before God in a judicial sense.
This does not speaking of NT salvation
The word means that He was an upright man who conformed to the expectations of God.
In other words, Joseph was a man who consistently did what was right in God’s eyes!
It doesn’t just mean he was simply a rule follower, for the Pharisees were rule followers but did not do right before God.
He was a God follower
He conformed to the expectations of God regardless of what culture or human emotions had to say.
Now as I prepared for this little Christmas series, I have studied all four gospel accounts pretty closely this week.
And I want to share with you an interesting insight that I found:
Over and over again, in the birth narratives of Jesus we find that most of the individuals who were directly involved with the incarnation are described as righteous or devout.
Let’s look at a few of them
Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.
Now Zachariahs was the father of John the Baptist. And John was the forerunner of Jesus.
And Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist at the same time that Mary was pregnant with Jesus.
And when they visited each other, the Bible says the John leaped in the womb of Elizabeth filled with the Holy Spirit when Mary came to visit her
Mary
And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Now we don’t find the word righteous here, but the description of her character tells us she is righteous.
She calls herself a bond slave of the Lord. That is someone who is totally sold out to God. A life that has been 100% presented to God as a living sacrifice to do with however He pleases!
Simeon
‘Luke 2:25-26
And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Notice the description of Simeon. He is man who is: righteous and devout.
What was his role in the birth narrative? It was to see the the Lord’s Christ and bless Him and prophesy over him. Jesus was only 8 days old at this time
Anna
And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.
Now what that means if her husband died only seven years after they had been married and she remained a widow until the age of 84.
Not only this, but she never left the temple serving night and day with fasting and prayers.
Again we do not find the word righteous, but it is clearly communicated in her character.
Counting Joseph we have 5 individuals who were directly involved in the birth of Jesus according to the will of God, who lived a righteous life!
Bridge
What can we take from this as Scriptural truth for us today?
God most often chooses men and women of righteous character to carry out His will
God most often chooses men and women of righteous character to carry out His will
There is a pattern in Scripture that reveals to us A MAJOR PART of the deciding factors in who God chooses to use.
Over and over those whom God chooses, are characterized as righteous in their character.
They were people who conformed themselves to the expectations of God
LETS GET EVEN MORTE SPECIFIC
What would you say, according to this story, was God’s will for Joseph?
It was to take Mary as his wife, raise up the child Jesus, and play a significant role in the incarnation of the Messiah
QUESTION: How did Joseph discover God’s will for his life!
ANSWER: He didn’t. It found him.
The key to discovering God’s will for your life, is to be first and foremost righteous, and then the will of God will find you
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
What comes first?
It s righteous living.
Presenting yourself on the alter of God’s grace each and every day!
What will happen when we live righteously?
We will come to know God’s will
God is saying to us today, if we will make it our ambition to live righteously, His will perfect and wonderful will will present itself to us as clear as day.
We wont have to go searching for it.
We will not have to wonder if we are in it
We we will learn to know it
And God’s will is infinitely better than any will of our own.
The next thing we see here is:
Three areas the angel addresses that encourages Joseph to accept God’s will
Three areas the angel addresses that encourages Joseph to accept God’s will
Matthew 1:20–23 “But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.””
Explanation
Here is Joseph contemplating his breakup with Mary.
And it wasn’t just a breakup, it was a legal matter that had to be done before witnesses.
But by a messenger of God, an angel comes to Jospeh in a dream and tells him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
Because the baby that she is carrying has been conceived by the Holy Spirit
How would you respond to that news?
If you were Joseph, and you had that dream, what would your response be?
Quite possibly a lot of prayer and seeking answers from God.
But what does the angel tell him?
“do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been “Conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” she will bear a son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins”
I see three areas in this address that are essential for us to accept will of God:
1) Courage “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid”
Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife
Why would there be fear in taking her as his wife?
Its the fear of the unknown!
Things are not going the way that he had planned them in his mind
God had intervened in the situation, and the life he planned is not the life he now had
Do you know why fear the common response when the will of God presents itself to us?
Because Almost always, what God wants us to do is counter-culture!
It goes against the flesh, it goes against the world, IT GOES AGAINST THE WAY MAN THINKS
Jospeh was clearly a righteous man and even went above and beyond to consider whether or not he should divorce Mary
Why? Because that is what The world does! That is what is normal! End the marriage, leave, don’t risk being hurt!
But God says, you have courage and go against the grain of this world and trust ME”
Don’t worry about what people think!
Don’t worry about what your friends will say!
Don’t worry about your co-workers
You keep your eyes on Me and watch what I will do through this!
We will never find ourselves in the will of God is we are not willing to courageously walk against the tides of this world
Be willing to stand!
We’re not standing alone!
WE are standing on the solid rock of Jesus Christ and you cannot fail as long and He is your foundation!
2) Belief “for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit”
This supernatural conception is as supernatural then as it would be for us today
There has only been one virgin in the entire history of the world that has had a child and that is Mary!
What the angel told Joseph must have been a major shock to him
There was no doctrine of the virgin birth available in the synagogues
I can only speculate that he has probably never heard of anyone ever having a child conceived by the Holy Spirit
It must have been absolutely unbelievable.
But he believed it
From my personal experience, every call into the will of God, requires a great level of faith and sacrifice
We must not think stepping into the will of God is not going to require great faith!
We must not think, God is going to lay out the future before you and tell you what this is going to look like!
The angel told Jospeh one thing: He will save people from their sins
He never mentioned the rejection from the world
He never mentioned the betrayal of Judas
He never mentioned the beating Jesus would take
He never mentioned the cross, the pain
God does not lay out the details, He just tells us how to take the first step
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
3) A love for people’s souls “you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins”
God’s will is always about the salvation of people
It may not always seem like that at times, but this is ALWAYS the end result
God called Joseph to take Mary as his wife, with the end result of people being saved from their sins
What is the role that Joseph played in the coming of Jesus?
He accepted him as his “adopted” son
And Joseph was from line of David whom which the OT Scriptures said the Messiah would come
Jesus rightfully then became a Son of David, supernaturally conceived, so that He may become fully man while still be fully God. (A Son of David and the Son of God)
Did Joseph understand all of this? Probably not
ALL HE NEEDED TO KNOW IS WHAT GOD WAS DOING WAS MUCH BIGGER THAN HE COULD EVER FATHOM.
And God will do, is take us and place us in difficult places, in uncomfortable places, in places where we go against the grain of the world to bring salvation to others through Jesus
It could be our family
It could be our friends
It could be someone we do not even know is watching
But we can be sure God always has the salvation of others in mind
Call Him “Jesus”
This comes from Psalm 130…psalm in which Israel is encouraged to “put your hope in the Lord” (v. 7). Why? Because, “He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins” (v. 8). Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, and it literally means “Jehovah is salvation.”
There is nothing greater that you and I could do with our lives than bring people to Jesus. there is no greater need in this world than for people to be saved from their sins.
There is no possibility of this ever happening apart from the will of God.
We can help people, love people, serve people, encourage people, witness to people, BUT WE WILL NEVER EVER WIN ONE SOUL APART FROM THE POWER AND WILL OF GOD.
Jesus means, “Jehovah is salvation”
There is no hope without God
And God saves according to God’s plan and God’s will
The only thing we can do is to Accept the invitation to join Him
The right response to the will of God is always immediate obedience
The right response to the will of God is always immediate obedience
Matthew 1:24–25 “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”
Explanation
I love how Joseph responds. It’s almost supernatural!
He wakes up from his dream.
He doesn’t go make a cup of coffee and break out the messianic scriptures from Isaiah to try and find Is 7:14 and study about the virgin birth prophesied To see if he wants to obey or not.
He doesn’t go and consult with the worldly wise of his day, and those who know the Binle better than him to se what they think.
He doesn't waste time trying to justify why he should do what the angel told him to do.
He doesn’t sit down and do a cost/benefit analysis to make his decision
As soon as he opened his eyes, he did what the angels commanded him!
Joseph said, if God said it, it is enough for me!
There is no need to think about it!
The very next item of business in his life was to obey God
Listen to what the Psalmist says:
I shall run the way of Your commandments,
For You will enlarge my heart.
I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
What God wants from us is immediate obedience
No hesitation
No time to give the devil a foothold to talk us out of it
Just plain and simple obedience
More than likely, an angel is not going to speak to you
How do you know what is God’s voice and what is not?
God will never say contradict His Word
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant— As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
Who is speaking by the mouth of the Holy Prophets?
It is God Himself!
You will know what God is saying when you read His book
There is nothing that can take the place of this wonderful book
No man’s wisdom can compare to the infinite knowledge of God
And when God presents His will to you, it will always line up with what He has already said
Application
Heres the secret to immediate obedience: Have a predetermined plan to obey
We must make the decision before God ever presents His will to us
It is having it settled in our hearts, day after day that no matter what God tells us to do, we will do it!
No matter how radical!
No matter how counter-culture
No matter how risky! You decide today that you will obey.
Conclusion
You may be in here, and never really stepped into the Will of God. Jesus said this, Matt 7:21
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
The first step of carrying out the will of God for your life, is laying down your life to Jesus Christ.
If you have not fully done that, will you do that today?
And this church will rejoice with you, and walk with you in the will of God.
~PRAYER~
RESPONSE
PUBLIC INVITATION
"Just As I Am”
Words and Music by Hillsong
OFFERING
We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.
BENEDICTION
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord cause His face to shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you, And give you peace.’”