Mary and Joseph
Changed by Christmas • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Introduction:
Transition to the Text: Over the Christmas season, we are going to be looking at how different people respond to the coming of Jesus. And we’re going to see that Jesus’ birth changed the world by changing people. Today we’ll look at how Jesus’ birth changed Mary and Joseph.
I believe these stories will be well known to you, but try to listen to them as if you hearing them for the first time.
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Luke
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).
24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
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).
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.
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.”
Matthew
Mathew 1:18-25
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Transition to the Big Idea: There are 2 stories here. There is Joseph and Mary. Both are going to be a part of bringing the Messiah (God’s son) into the world. Mary obviously plays a bigger role, but Joseph is an important part of bringing Jesus into the world.
Mary will carry the baby in her womb and suffer the ridicule of being seen as an adulteress.
Joseph will take raise Jesus as his adopted son so that Jesus will be directly in the line of King David.
Of course there is one little problem.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot, a vessel no one cares for? Why are he and his children hurled and cast into a land that they do not know?
29 O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord: “Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah.”
The line of kings was broken with Jeconiah because he was evil. Jeremiah prophesied that Jeconiah would never have one of his offspring sit on the throne of David. Now Joseph was in the line of Jeconiah so his biological son would not sit on the throne, but only his son could! But Jesus was only Joseph’s adopted son so he miraculously circumnavigated the curse of Jeconiah.
Big Idea: Respond with trust and faith to God’s call.
Big Idea: Respond with trust and faith to God’s call.
Transition to the Points: Now God may ask you to do something small or big. What we must remember is that no matter what God asks us to do, it is all a part of His plan, which means that He will be with us!
Main Point #1 - Don’t be afraid to be in God’s plan.
Main Point #1 - Don’t be afraid to be in God’s plan.
Explanation: As we approach both of these well known passages, I find it comforting that in both cases, the angel started what he was about to say with “Do not be afraid.”
Now Mary will be playing a much bigger role in bringing the Messiah into the world…obviously. And perhaps we naturally understand why she would be afraid. But it goes deeper than that. The very act of Joseph willing to divorce her quietly was one of extreme mercy. The law of Moses was clear....she should be stoned. He could have easily dragged her before the courts and had her stoned for adultery. She had a lot to be afraid of even before considering that on top of this she was going to be a new mom.
#1 - Childbirth is scary and I’ve only seen it from the perspective of watching it happen 3 times. Parenthood is terrifying. You are constantly worried about their safety. Will they succeed? Will they be smart? Athletic? Can you keep them alive? Can you imagine that the weight of carrying the Messiah and keeping him alive. Could she ruin God’s plan? But the angel says “Do not be afraid.”
We often overlook Joseph in this story. He is often pushed to the side and relegated to a side character…like Robin in Batman. But he’s a pretty important person in the prophesies related to the coming Messiah. Joseph perhaps had more to fear that even Mary.
Because when I look at Bible, God’s plan is seldom easy. In fact it is filled with adversity, trials and suffering. Just read where it details those who were in God’s plan. Abraham, Jacob, Josesph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David. And all of them played a part in God’s plan to bring the Messiah into the world through the people of Israel. And we come to Mary and Joseph. They knew the stories and the prophecies related to this Jesus. Now Mary had no reason to suspect that God would use her, but this isn’t the case with Joseph. Joseph was literally the heir to throne of David.
He’d probably heard these stories his whole life. Sitting around the passover table talking about King David and Solomon. Maybe Hezekiah and Josiah. (They probably did not talk about Jeconiah.)
Illustration: I don’t know about your family, but it seems that in my family around the Thanksgiving table at some point someone would bring up some ancestor that none of us knew we were related to. And we are supposed to somehow take pride in that lineage.
George Washington, King Arthur or one of the lost 10 tribes of Israel. We love looking back. But what about the present? And the future? The truth is who you are related to doesn’t matter. It’s today and tomorrow that matter.
Joseph’s family didn’t just look back at the kings of old…they looked forward to a future king…whose reign would never end....and somehow He’ll die but not die and save his people from their sins by His death.
But my guess is that as years and years went on, the waiting led to doubt. And for Joseph,even if the Messiah was coming, what role would he play? Probably not a big one for a carpenter living far from the city and throne of David. Plus their hadn’t been a kind in 1,000 years.
So when Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant…and it’s not his, he seems to act less out of anger and more out of complacency. He’s a righteous man who along with an entire generation had lost hope.
But that angel wanted to bring hope into a hopeless world. And God was going to use Joseph to accomplish his plan. The problem is this is not how the stories had been told? The carpenter and the young maiden bringing the Messiah into the world? Not hardly. And since God doesn’t typically reveal his plan all at once, the logical response to this would be fear.
Do not be afraid is a welcome encouragement. It seems to me based on what we know....Joseph feared most what other people thought. Even in the “divorce her quietly” he doesn’t want others to look down on her. And is there anything here that might suggest that they might look down on him even if he divorced her for legitimate reasons? Even though they were poor, Joseph’s family still probably had pride in their lineage. This situation was a mess.
But what encouragement does the angel give to Mary and Joseph? Do not fear! Why? Not you're going to get through this. Not I will be with you. Not even any of the promises of old.
The encouragement is, do not fear because this child is the long awaited Messiah. And he will save His people, including you, from their sins. This story is not about having faith in the midst of trying times. This story is about trusting God to fulfill His promises to send Jesus into the world.
Even for us today, we often say that God has a plan for your life. But if the plan you think God has for you doesn’t have Jesus at the center of it, it’s not God’s plan, it’s yours. God doesn’t fit into our plans. God puts us into His.
When it came to Mary, God was telling her that she would be the mother of the Messiah. Joseph is told that He would be Mary’s husband. Both of these role might have caused someone to be afraid. In both cases, they had something to be afraid, but the angel assures them that they need not be afraid.
#1 - Childbirth is scary and I’ve only seen it from the perspective of watching it happen 3 times. Parenthood is terrifying. You are constantly worried about their safety. Will they succeed? Will they be smart? Athletic? Can you keep them alive? Can you imagine that the weight of carrying the Messiah and keeping him alive. Could she ruin God’s plan?
Illustration:
Gospel Application: God’s plan always comes down to Jesus. From promising to send the Messiah into the world. To actually using Mary to bring him into the world. To Jesus dying on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. He rose from the dead and told His disciples to take His name and His story into the world that people might look Jesus and find salvation from their sins.
So what is our p
Mary brought Jesus into the world to be the Messiah. We take Jesus into the world through evangelism and missions that every tongue tribe and nations might know that he is the savior of the world.
Transition to Point #2: One thing that is important for us to realize in this is that in both of these cases, Mary and Joseph respond in faith not fear.
Main Point #2 - Respond with faith not fear.
Main Point #2 - Respond with faith not fear.
Explanation: I love Mary’s response. She asks a question, “How can this be?” Based on the angel’s answer to this question, we know that this wasn’t asked out of fear or doubt. It was asked out of curiosity. Mary had paid attention in health class and knew where babies came from. Whatever God in mind, she was good with, she just needed a little more information.
Joseph on the other hand doesn’t say a word. Based on the information he received, he just obeys.
There is probably a sermon on the differences between men and women here, but we’ll move on.
What interesting here, is that neither of them balk at this revelation. No why me? No I’m nobody. No send someone else.
This is remarkable considering if I were in their shoes, I would not have been so calm.
This is the biggest news that has hit the world in a long time. The messiah is coming. And they probably couldn’t even tell anyone. Who would believe them?
I wish I could tell you that because they were bringing the Messiah into the world would mean that it would be smooth sailing from here on out. But that would be foolish. Life was hard for this family.
First thing is we notice that when Mary and Joseph eventually travel to Bethlehem, they are alone. Which means that Joseph’s family had likely disowned him…perhaps for dishonoring the family. Shortly after Jesus’ birth Herod orders all babies under 2 years old to be killed so they flee into Egypt. Since Herod’s son sat on the throne after his death they have to living in hiding for nearly 30 years. Life was not easy. Bearing the Messiah was dangerous.
Responding the faith and not fear was no a one and done situation for Mary and Joseph. It became a lifestyle.
Illustration: We live in a world filled with fear. And people in power prey on that fear. We all know that Black Friday has gained a reputation of being chaotic and people getting stabbed or punched. The truth is it’s not that scary. Yet even this past week I saw an ad for a car dealership playing up the stereotype of how danger Black Friday is and suggesting you just come by a car....What?
Gospel Application: The truth is that the fact that Mary and Joseph need not be afraid was rooted not in God’s promise to keep them safe and without any pain (which God never promises to them or us and anyone else), but in the promise that the Messiah would grow up and save His people from their sins. There is it is. Jesus will accomplish the work He was sent here to do.
So for us today, we ought to respond in faith to the God who kept his promise of a savior. And no matter what happens in this life…cancer, criticism, sickness, death, Jesus grew up to die on a cross for our sins that we could have eternal life. So that in the face of death we might respond with faith and not fear.
Transition to Point #3: So in the face of God’s plan, we respond in faith and trust that God knows what He’s doing.
Main Point #3 - Trust God’s place for you in His plan.
Main Point #3 - Trust God’s place for you in His plan.
Explanation: Mary’s respond to this is one that we always look to. Her faith is amazing in light of the circumstances.
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
A beautiful picture of childlike faith. She was all in.
However, I was really amazed with Joseph’s response. Not so much the taking Mary to be his wife. Not even the not consummating the marriage until after Jesus was born.
It’s small in the second part of
25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
You see in that culture, it was the father’s responsibility to name the child. And even know it was God who named His son, Joseph was the earthly conduit for giving Jesus His name. This was Joseph’s part. His role was to adopt Jesus as His earthly son so that he would be the rightful heir to the throne of David.
Joseph is in the story for a few years. Jesus submitted to him and indicates that Jesus learns the family business. However when Jesus is 12 years old, on a trip to Jerusalem, when everyone else begins the return journey Jesus goes to the temple and stays there. After searching frantically for 2 days, they find Him. And He says,
Now Mary and Joseph had very different places in God’s plan. Just take Joseph for example. His role was to adopt Jesus as His earthly son so that he would be the rightful heir to the throne of David.
49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
From that point on we never hear from Joseph again and Jesus only acknowledges His heavenly father. Joseph had played his part.
Mary on the other hand we see all the way to the book of Acts. And Jesus cares for her even then by giving John charge of his mother.
Illustration: Many of us often wonder what our place in God’s plan is. We dream of doing big things for God. The truth is that most of us will be more like Joseph than Mary. We’ll play our small role and then that will be it.
Gospel Application: Mary and Joseph were tasked with bringing Jesus into the world in exact fulfillment of prophecy. This would change their lives or whatever lives they had planned. The question was how would they respond? They responded in faith.
For each of us, we have a responsibility too. Ours is to make disciples of all nations starting with ourselves. And then one person at a time taking the name of Jesus into our everyday world.
And sure, for many of us, sharing our faith is scary. But our response can be rooted in fear or in the knowledge that God has a plan to redeem humanity through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. Our role is simply to share it with the world.
Transition to Christmas Challenge:
Christmas Challenge: Invite someone to a Worship Service or North Hills event this Christmas season.
Christmas Challenge: Invite someone to a Worship Service or North Hills event this Christmas season.
And what better way to remind ourselves of these truths we believe than celebrating the Lord’s Supper.
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