Why Joseph

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Please make your donation to Visionathon today at vision.org.au. He was a simple man who worked hard and lived humbly. Nothing he said was recorded in the Bible, yet God chose him as the adoptive father of the Messiah. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah takes a closer look at Joseph, the protector, teacher, and earthly role model of faith and integrity for young Jesus. From the series, Why the Nativity, here's David to introduce his message, Why Joseph. Friends, is there any message that's more wonderful than the message of Christmas? Maybe Easter. I'm sure it's more powerful because Easter is truly the message of our salvation.

But the incarnation, the message of Jesus becoming a man, is beautiful. And it extends longer in the season as we celebrate it. As I'm recording this in the month of November, many have already started to celebrate Christmas, which does not really occur on the calendar until the 25th of December.

There is such a wonderful thing that happens. Even people who do not even understand what Christmas is all about celebrate it with all their hearts. Those of us who know what it's about, who know why we celebrate Christmas and whose birthday it is and what it all means, we have all the more reason to be filled with joy. Friends, in this rather dark season that we have been through and are going through, let us look to the light of Jesus and find the hope and encouragement that he brings. We're going to devote this whole month to talking about the real message of Christmas. Right now, let's open our Bibles in our hearts and let's learn about Joseph.

Today, I want to ask a question that's hardly ever asked during the Christmas season. He is sometimes referred to as the forgotten man of Christmas. He is Joseph, the man who was chosen to be the adoptive father of our Lord, the one who would protect the infancy of the Savior of the world. In the Word of God, Joseph stands silent.

He is spoken to, he is spoken about, but not a single syllable crosses his lips. He is viewed by many people at best as just a bit player, an extra, an incidental in the Christmas drama. According to Matthew's genealogy, Joseph was a royal person. He was a potential king, yet we know very little about him. He appears on the scene for just a moment and then he disappears. The only other time he is mentioned in the life of our Lord is when 12-year-old Jesus was inadvertently left in Jerusalem.

After that, Joseph is not mentioned again in the entire New Testament. We don't know very much about his outward appearance. From Mary's sacrifice of two turtle doves, we may assume that he was a poor man. We do know he was a carpenter and most probably a simple and practical man. He would have liked the feel of wood and stone. He would have found great satisfaction in building something useful. I imagine that he desired an orderly and ordinary life. I mean, he would pursue his craft.

He would maintain a good name in the community. Ultimately, he would, with the help of his parents, come together with a woman and they would be married. They would attend the synagogue.

They would raise a family. This was what Joseph's dream certainly must have been. And he was headed in that direction, proceeding now to prepare for that wedding he had long dreamed about.

Of course, you know, in the Jewish culture, unlike our own, the groom was the focus of the wedding. Joseph must have looked forward to the celebration and the simple life that would follow. He would take Mary into his household.

They would have children and this carpenter would fashion a well-constructed life. And then one day, totally out of the blue, everything for Joseph changed, changed so dramatically that he could never again be the same. If you know the story, you remember that after Gabriel had announced to Mary that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear the Messiah, Mary left town. The Bible says she left with haste.

She didn't tell Joseph about her visit from the angel. And while we do not know from Matthew's account where Mary went, when we get to Luke and read his account, it is given to us. Luke 1 39 and 40 says, Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste to a city of Judah.

And she entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth who was her relative. Knowing that she was to be the mother of our Lord, one can only imagine the conversations that Mary had with Elizabeth. What happened in Mary's heart and in her life was known just to her.

The reality of all of this had not yet fallen upon the ears of her husband. But we read of Joseph's discovery of Mary's baby in Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. When conception took place, we do not know. And, doubtless, Mary did not know either. But in due time she became aware of the fact that she was pregnant. After three months had passed, Mary returned home to Nazareth and Joseph could not have been prepared for what he was about to discover. There had been no physical union and yet here is Mary obviously with child. Surely there was a moment when Mary tried to explain to Joseph about the angel Gabriel in the message concerning the Messiah.

But how do you explain something like that? And a spousal among the Hebrews corresponded to our period of engagement. But it was much more binding. You see it was marked by a gift or a dowry for the bride and another gift was provided for the relatives and writings of betrothal were prepared by those in authority and the obligations in the agreements and among other things the amount of the dowry were stipulated. From the moment of the espousal, the woman was treated by everyone as though she were already married. So according to Matthew 1 18, the betrothal agreement had been signed, gifts had been made, friends and relatives in general knew that Joseph and Mary were engaged. And now Joseph discovers Mary's baby and the discovery of Mary's baby creates a dilemma for Joseph that we can quite try to understand but never truly understand. Matthew 1 19 says, then Joseph her husband being a just man and not willing to make Mary a public example was minded to put her away secretly. Mary's situation was so incredible to Joseph.

He considered all the options that were his based on the customs of his day. One of the slanders of the early Christians was that Jesus was born out of wedlock. They cited Joseph's failure to report to the authorities Mary's pregnancy as one of their evidences of this. Matthew does not deny that Mary had become pregnant before her marriage to Joseph was consummated. Matthew tells us that Joseph desired to shield Mary from shameful exposure and was going to quietly divorce her. But before Joseph had time to take any action, he was instructed in a dream that he should not be afraid to take Mary to be his wife. All that raced through Joseph's mind when he first learned of Mary's condition will never be known. The Bible says Joseph was not willing to make Mary a public example. He was minded or determined to put her away or divorce her secretly. Joseph took counsel in his heart and after mature consideration resolved that while he didn't know what to do, he still loved Mary and he didn't want her to be exposed to the criticism and perhaps even to the penalty.

Here were his options as he thought them through. First of all, I suppose he may have thought that Mary had been unfaithful to him and had committed adultery. But Joseph, this would have been impossible. Mary was a godly woman.

Joseph knew that she would never have violated her purity and their engagement agreement. I suppose he could have thought that she had been raped, but had this been so, she would have told him. And so he was left with this option, that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah.

Just as she had said, Joseph was a devout man, a Hebrew, and as he reasoned concerning this manner in his head, he would ponder the fact that Messiah was to be born of the house of David. And the Bible says he took counsel within himself. What could he do? He would dismiss her quietly and his decision could have been motivated by some of the following things. Number one, he may have decided to divorce her because he really did not know what else to do. To fail to dismiss Mary might represent failure to uphold the spirit of the law.

To dismiss her publicly was unthinkable. He did not consider her guilty. He was in a position of not being able to condemn or fully justify, and so he decided just to divorce her, but quietly without any public exposure. Possibly Mary did not explain much to Joseph, could not bring herself even to tell Joseph what she knew. So Joseph, in the absence of all of the facts, before having been visited by the angel, being a just man, reasoned that the proper course to pursue was to divorce her, but in such a way as not to bring her public criticism. Oh yes, this was a dilemma for Joseph. Perhaps Mary had told Joseph the real facts, and now Joseph believed her, but that didn't solve the problem. Knowing what Mary had been asked to do, Joseph might easily have thought that marriage to this woman now would be considered an unholy act.

He would divorce her. God had made a special vessel of this noble Hebrew woman that he loved, and so that he would not interfere with the purposes of God, he would set Mary aside so that all the purposes of God could be fulfilled in her. If this was what was going through Joseph's mind, then he was himself contemplating a noble thing. In order to be obedient to God, Joseph was willing to give up the woman that he loved dearly.

All of this circulating in his head, and then something happened. Joseph had a dream. Joseph's dream about Mary's baby is recorded for us in these next verses. In verse 20 we read, but while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that while Joseph was trying to sort all of this out in his mind, sleep overtook him, and he began to dream.

The word for dream in this text is a special word that means to have a vision during your sleep and not to have a vision while you're awake. Like the Joseph of the Old Testament, this New Testament Joseph would also receive his revelation in dreams. Both Joseph of the Old Testament and Joseph of the New Testament were dreamers.

In all, in the New Testament, Joseph had four different dreams, and they're detailed for us in Matthew's Gospel. In this, his first dream, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and relieved his burdened heart. The angel said, Joseph, the son of David.

It was providentially and prophetically ordered that this child should be of the lineage of David. Joseph was not Jesus' physical father, but by his marriage to Mary, he would give to Jesus the true legal status. The angel explained to Joseph that he should have no hesitation in taking Mary to be his wife because her pregnancy was of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph understood now beyond all doubt that the circumstances of Mary's pregnancy were ordered by the Lord. When Joseph understood the message from the Lord, he heard the Lord instruct him that the child's name would be Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. And Joseph called him by his name, and Jesus is his name. Matthew goes on to explain to us that this was done in order that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord through the prophets, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. God always keeps his word. And to the house of David, Isaiah wrote the words of Isaiah 7 14. And in that passage, the definite article appears before the word virgin.

He did not speak of a version. He spoke of the virgin, the one virgin, the virgin Mary. And the precise wording is carried over into the Greek of Matthew chapter one, where we read the same construction. In other words, both Isaiah and Matthew point to a very specific person, the virgin who shall bring a child into the world. Mary was a virgin who was with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph had discovered Mary's baby. He'd gone through the dilemma of Mary's baby. One night he had a dream about Mary's baby. And finally, he had to make a decision about Mary's baby.

We read in verses 24 and 25. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife and did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son. And he called his name Jesus. Without hesitation, Joseph rose up to publicly take Mary to be his wife. Doubtless, all the ceremonies of the usual wedding were involved, including the feast. And then he took her into his house, as was the custom.

Nothing was missing from the usual procedure. Joseph instantly obeyed the instruction of the Lord. And surely sometime later along the way, Joseph told Mary all about that night when he had that fateful dream. What happened in Joseph's life is a very interesting illustration of what often happens in our lives in a very simple way. Max Locato, in his typical freshness, describes Joseph's as being caught between what God says and what makes sense. Have you ever been caught there between what God says and what makes sense? Yet Joseph didn't let his confusion disrupt his obedience. He didn't know everything, but he did what he knew. And God protected it all along the way.

God made sure that everything that was in his divine plan would be carried out to the minutest detail. Notice verse 25 says, "'And Joseph did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus.'" What the text means is not that they were not acquainted, but that they were not intimate as a husband and wife until after Jesus was born.

You say, well, why would that be important? Simply because the holiness and purity of Jesus must be protected at all cost. This baby must doubtless be the son of the Holy Spirit and not the son of Joseph. And the Holy Spirit even in the scripture is so very particular to protect that.

Even here, just in one chapter in the book of Matthew, it is reiterated in so many ways. In verse 18 it says, "'She was found with child of the Holy Spirit before they came together.'" In verse 20 it says, "'That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.'" Verse 23 says, "'Behold, the virgin shall be with child.'" Verse 25 says, "'And he did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son.'" Let there be no question this child born to Mary was not Joseph's child.

It was the child of Almighty God conceived in her by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was chosen to be the adoptive father, and he played a magnificent role in that respect. So, the question is why Joseph? Why was Joseph chosen?

To fulfill God's plan. God needed a carpenter. He needed a man who was sturdy, and stable, and practical, yet sensitive to the voice of God. He needed someone who would stand quietly with the young virgin who was an object of ridicule and yet who carried in her womb the hope of the whole world. Joseph was strong but compassionate.

He was able to lead the tiring expedition to Bethlehem and to the stable to love and encourage the mother of Christ. Joseph as the man of the house was the teacher to give Jesus his first lessons in the law of God. And in Jerusalem, when the boy was 12 and it became evident that his first allegiance must be to another father, Joseph was the man to humbly and silently step back while God stepped forward. Amazingly, Joseph never spoke a word in the Christmas story, but what he did speaks volumes to us all. One of the great lessons that comes from the life of Joseph is this, that the most important thing in the whole world can happen to the least important people in the world. That the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords can take up residence in the most ordinary of lives. That the greatest somebody who ever lived can come to nobody's like Joseph and Mary and like you and like me. And it seems to me if we go through the scripture, we will find that there is a response God requires from us. And that response is the same response that was in the heart of Joseph. And here it is, Lord God, just tell me what to do and I will do it. I will be obedient anytime, any place, anywhere, anything, Lord God. I don't understand it and it doesn't make sense to me.

And as far as I know, it's never happened before in the history of the world. But if you say it, I will do it. Joseph and Mary could not possibly have known the eternal things that would happen from their obedience, but thank God they obeyed. And most of all, thank God our Lord Jesus Christ came to be our savior. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Well, tomorrow we'll go to the other side of the family and talk about Mary. Why Mary? She gets a lot more press than Joseph and in many respects is more important in the narrative because she actually is the human mother. She bore the body of Jesus in her womb. She was the answer to Isaiah's prophecy of a virgin giving birth. And we'll talk all about that tomorrow and again on Monday as we continue asking these questions. Why Joseph?

Why did Jesus become a man? And tomorrow, why Mary? You know, the daily challenges of this past year have had an effect, actually an accumulative effect on all of us, leaving people both weary and wary.

We're weary from the upsetting news that filled our screens every night for most of the year, and we're wary because we don't know what is ahead of us. But the good news is this, God is still in control. I remember in the run up to the election, I read Psalm 11. In the middle of the Psalm, it says, when the foundations of law and order are broken, what shall the righteous do? And the next verse says, the Lord is in his holy temple.

He rules in the affairs of men. And we'll see you right here tomorrow on this Good Station. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's current series, Why the Nativity, please visit our website, where you'll also find two free ways to help you stay connected, our monthly magazine Turning Points, and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org forward slash radio. Now when you do, ask for your copy of David 365 Day Devotional for 2021. It's called Strength for Today, and it's filled with biblical truth for the year ahead, and it's yours for a gift of any amount. And to keep your spirits bright through the holiday season, visit the Home for Christmas channel at turningpoint.tv, your free source for Christmas music, videos, messages, and more. The Home for Christmas channel at turningpoint.tv. I'm Gary Hoogfleet. Please join us tomorrow as we talk about this series, Why the Nativity. That's here on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.