JOSEPH - THE FORGOTTEN FATHER (Matthew 1:18-25)
INTRODUCTION:
As we come into this advent season, as we begin to consider again the incarnation of Jesus Christ, I want to spend the next three weeks looking at some of the people that were caught up in the events leading up to and surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. For this first week I want to look at Joseph, the forgotten father in the events of the incarnation.
A few months ago, I attended the wedding of a friend of mine, a friend since grade school. This friend was getting remarried having lost his wife several years ago to a tragic car accident. I was so happy for him. As I witnessed the marriage ceremony of my friend and his new bride, I could only imagine the dreams that they have for their new life together. All the adventures ahead of them, they looked so happy as they looked forward to their future life together.
This was true of Joseph as well as he looked to the future with his betrothed wife, Mary. His dreams for the future were probably quite different than the “American dream” but as a young man anticipating the upcoming marriage to his bride, he certainly had plans for their future. It was in the midst of this dreaming of the future that his life, his future, and his faith were tested.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Matthew 1:18-25. We will be in the book of Matthew during this advent season. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Matthew 1:18-25,
“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. 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.’ 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.” (Matthew 1:18–25, NASB95)[1]
BAD NEWS FOR JOSEPH (Matthew 1:18-20a)
We do not know when or how Joseph found out that his bride-to-be was pregnant. Was it before she went to see her relative Elizabeth or after she returned three months later? Did Joseph notice that Mary was getting bigger or did Mary tell him she was pregnant? No matter when or how Joseph found out you can imagine the difficult conversations he had with Mary. This whole awkward situation is described as Mary being found to be with child. The Christian Standard Bible says that it was discovered that Mary was pregnant before the couple married. How was it discovered? How was it found out? Remember at this point Joseph did not have the benefit of an angel visiting him. Even though Joseph and Mary were betrothed to one another, the custom of those days was that the year between the betrothal and the consummation of their marriage, the bride and groom spent very little time together.
Imagine Joseph’s shock when Mary told him that she was pregnant, they had little contact during that year, and they certainly had not been intimate. Can you imagine the silence in the room when Mary dropped this bombshell on Joseph, he must have been speechless? She would have gone on to tell him that she was not only pregnant, but the baby conceived in her was by the Holy Spirit! She would have told him of the angel’s visit and maybe she shared with Joseph the song that she had sang at Elizabeth’s home, a song of celebration. As you can imagine, Joseph was in no mood to celebrate. The thoughts that must have gone through his mind, the questions that must have tumbled out of his mouth. Mary, are you serious? How could you do this to me, to us? What do you mean that you are still a virgin? That’s impossible! Who did this to you? Where is he?
When we read this account in Matthew, we have the benefit of 2000 years of hindsight. For Joseph in that moment, he could not see ahead toward what God was doing in the world through his life, his life was simple, it seemed insignificant, he was just a carpenter. This child inside his betrothed may be the Son of God. This child may be the true and better David. This child may be the redeemer who will save his people from their sins and renew and restore the world, but for Joseph, this was his worst nightmare. To break a betrothal like this was considered worse than breaking a business contract. It required a divorce certificate. Joseph felt betrayed, he felt alone, he felt sick.
Put yourself in Joseph place. Joseph at this point had seen no angels. He was simply living his life as faithfully as he could, working as a carpenter or craftsman, working to build a life for his future family. He trusted Mary to be faithful to him and he had pledged his life to her. Yet, it seemed from the outside that she had betrayed him.
According to Matthew 1:20 Joseph did some serious thinking. We are not told how long God waited before sending the angel to Joseph. It could have been days after he learned of Mary’s pregnancy, it could have been weeks, we are not told. However long it was, there must have been some sleepless nights as Joseph considered all these things, wrestling with the confusion and uncertainty of what he had learned.
For Joseph there were really only two courses of action that he could take. In those days, if a betrothed bride had committed adultery and it was found out, there were two options. The first was quite drastic, Joseph could publicly shame her by bringing her before the religious authorities, this would result in forfeiting the dowry paid to her father and possibly the death of the betrothed by stoning. Consider the case of the adulterous woman brought to Jesus in John 8, the woman that Jesus rescued from public execution.
The other option was to divorce her privately. Even this option would cause Joseph embarrassment in the community, and he would be faced with questions from his colleagues, friends and family wanting to know what went wrong. But this option would allow him to obey his conscience and do what was best for Mary. On one hand, the righteous requirements of the Law would say, “you have to expose her error. This sin cannot go unpunished.” On the other hand, was the compassion and mercy of God’s law saying, “Do what is best for Mary.”
Matthew tells us that Joseph was a righteous man, and he tells us this before Joseph was told by the angel that child Mary carried was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph’s righteousness is seen in the fact that he is both committed to following the law, divorcing an unfaithful spouse, but doing so in the most selfless, compassionate way. We do not have a lot of information about Joseph, but we do know this; he was a faithful follower of God who would do the right thing even when it cost him the most. His righteousness was seen in his actions.
There is much for which to commend Joseph. His decision was not made out of immediate anger, he was not irrational or unstable, but he deliberately considered the options and weighed them against each other. For a young man who had his life turned upside down, Joseph demonstrated remarkable grace and composure. After taking the time and assessing the situation from all sides, also seeing the humanity of Mary, he made a choice that would be best for her.
GOOD NEWS FROM GOD (Matthew 1:20b-23)
Thanks to the Scriptures we know the reason Joseph did not go through with the divorce, God intervened and sent a heavenly messenger to visit Joseph, just as the angel had visited Mary. This angel that visited Joseph with God’s message came to him in a dream, which reminds us of another Joseph who received a message from God in dreams. Just as Jacob’s son in Genesis would be asked by God to endure a difficult life that was not of his own choosing and to bear the shame of sin that he did not commit, so this Joseph also would be asked to walk this difficult path and bear the shame of a child conceived out of wedlock.
Look in verse 20 at how Joseph is addressed by the angel. The angel refers to Joseph as the “son of David.” This shows us that God didn’t just pick some random first-century Jewish man to be the guardian of His Son. He picked a faithful son of David. The only other person in the New Testament to be referred to as a son of David is Jesus. This title came with authority, this title reminded Joseph of his royal lineage and prepared him for the task ahead. By using this title Matthew is telling his readers that Jesus is the rightful son of David. Paul later affirms this truth in the opening verses of Romans when he writes that Jesus is “…a descendant of David according to the flesh.” (Romans 1:3, NASB95)[2]
This angel that came to Joseph in his dream assured him that the baby in Mary’s womb was not the result of sin but was conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit. She had been chosen by God to be the mother of the Messiah, the mother of Jesus. We do not know how this made Joseph feel. Did he recall the Scriptures read in the temple and the words of the prophet that said the future Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). Just in case he did not recall this the angel reminded him by quoting the Scripture. Was Joseph overwhelmed that the fullness of time had come in his lifetime. The fulfillment of prophecy, the long-awaited promise had arrived, and he was chosen to participate in its fulfillment. Can you imagine the wonder, the awe, the worship that took place when Joseph told Mary that he believed her, that an angel had also visited him?
THE KING IS COMING (Matthew 1:23)
The truth of what we read here should cause us to worship as well. Take the time this December to slow down and feel the anticipation of the Old Testament saints as they awaited the first advent of Jesus. This event in the Christmas narrative reminds us of the faithfulness of God to His promises. The words spoken by Isaiah and the other prophets were not written for us to have something inspirational to write on cards and ornaments. No, they were the continuing revelation of God’s promise to send a redeemer, an Immanuel, a God-man to live among us and as the angel told Joseph, “to save His people from their sins.”
This is why Matthew opens so boldly with the claim that this Son of a carpenter in Nazareth was no ordinary man, but was and is the king, in the line of David, in fulfillment to God’s promise. Jesus had to be virgin born, not just because of Isaiah’s prophecy, but so He would be born free of the inherited curse of sin. As the new Adam, this Son would fulfill what the first Adam could not do. He would be even greater than the first Adam because He would also defeat sin and death that so corrupts the human race. Author and pastor David Platt writes, “In the virgin birth, Jesus did not inherit a sinful nature, nor did He inherit the guilt that all other humans inherit from Adam. …Jesus’ birth was a partial interruption in the line that came from Adam. A new Adam has come on the scene, a man who would not succumb to sin. In contrast to the first Adam, in Matthew, a man is born who would save from sin.”[3]
In the angel’s words to Joseph, Matthew sets forth Jesus as the rightful king who comes to save His people. He is the Creator, recreating and restoring what sin has corrupted. What a thought, something worth meditating on during this Christmas season.
Through his dream Joseph was reminded that this was no ordinary birth and that his role would not be that of an ordinary father. However, the angel in telling Joseph to name the baby to be born “Jesus” the angel was reminding Joseph of his stewardship. It was the father who named the sons in those days and by naming Him, this would essentially mean that Joseph was adopting Him as his own son. Joseph was assigned a leadership role in naming the future Son of God, Joseph, son of Adam, would steward this baby who would fulfill what the first Adam could not fulfill.
A FAITHFUL SON OF DAVID (Matthew 1:24-25)
The angel who appeared to Joseph in his dream appealed to Joseph in confirming the news of Mary’s pregnancy by the Holy Spirit. First, the angel appealed to Joseph’s lineage by calling him, as noted earlier, the son of David. Joseph had reason to be proud of this legacy, he was of royal ancestry. The angel seems to be saying to this young man whose world has been turned upside down, who is scared and worried about the future, the angel says, you are part of the people of God, you are David’s son. Second, the angel appeals to Joseph based on Scripture, that he will participate in fulfilling Scripture.
From this we learn two things about the man who would be the earthly father of Jesus: Joseph knew who he was, and second, he was committed to Scripture. This is no small thing. This is the way the Bible appeals to us today. Know who you are as a Christian and know what the Bible says. We are no different than the unsaved when we knowingly go against what God has said in His Word, and when we do this, we are forgetting who we are. We must remember that we are children of God, and this not only gives us security in our identity, it also comes with a different set of expectations on how we react to God’s Word, obedience is expected.
Joseph’s response to what he was told by the angel is what we would expect from a faithful son of David committed to God’s Word, verse 24 tells us, “And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,” (Matthew 1:24, NASB95)[4] He immediately obeyed even though he knew what this would mean for him. Take a moment to understand what it was that Joseph was signing up for by obeying God’s command. This was not an easy thing for Joseph. By marrying Mary, he would be scrutinized by everyone all the time. We saw how Joseph reacted to Mary’s news that she had conceived by the Holy Spirit, how do you think Joseph’s colleagues, friends, and family are going to react. Unlike Joseph, they would not have the benefit of an angelic visit. They would either have to believe him or reject him.
By taking Mary as his wife, Joseph would be giving up his reputation. Everybody would know that the child born to Mary was not born nine or ten months after they got married, they will know she was pregnant before that which means that Joseph and Mary had sex before they were married or Mary had been unfaithful to Joseph and as a result, they would be publicly shamed, socially excluded and rejected. By obeying God, Joseph was giving up everything he had worked for, his reputation in the community. For us it is easy to read over this event and not give it another thought, but as we remember Christ’s birth we should pause and consider how significant this decision was for Joseph. He would be an outcast among his own people. He would bear the shame for sins he did not commit. This shame only foreshadows the shame that this baby would one day bear for Joseph and Mary and all who placed their trust in this baby. Jesus would literally become sin for His people, so much so that God the Father, who cannot abide sin, turned His face away from His own Son. Isaiah in describing Jesus wrote, “He was despised and forsaken of men…” (Isaiah 53:3a, NASB95)[5]
Joseph could bear the shame in obeying God’s command, and we can bear the shame that sometimes comes with being a Christian because Jesus bore our shame. We can live as outcasts in a world dominated by the devil because Jesus was the ultimate outcast.
Joseph not only lost his reputation; he also lost his comfort and safety. Verse 25 tells us that he did not have intimate relations with Mary but kept her a virgin until Jesus was born. This was not something the angel told him to do. Joseph went above and beyond what was required when he said yes to God. Instead of asking, “what do I feel?” or “what do I want?” He asked, “What’s the right and best thing to do?”
Joseph sought the comfort and safety of Mary and the baby at all times. When Herod was searching for Jesus, Joseph again said yes to God when in a dream he was warned and told to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt. He again as a faithful son of David immediately obeyed. He put the interests of his family above his own comfort. Even though Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, he was Jesus’ earthly father in every sense of the word. Joseph raised Jesus as his own son, he exhibited the true spirit of adoption. It is a vivid picture of God’s adoption of us as His children in Christ. We can surmise, without the words written for us that Joseph patiently fathered Jesus, teaching Him the Old Testament Scriptures, teaching Him how to build in his carpentry shop, and modeling for his young son what faithful manhood looks like. Maybe this is one reason the rabbis at the temple were so impressed with Jesus. His teaching was that of the supernatural. He was God visiting them. But was some of His recall of the Old Testament due to the teaching He had heard at the feet of His earthly father?
CONCLUSION:
Nothing in Scripture tells us what happened to Joseph after he is mentioned in that visit by Jesus to the temple at age 12. Joseph just disappears from the pages of Scripture after that and because of this there is reason to believe that perhaps he met an untimely death. In every other passage of Scripture where the family of Jesus is mentioned, it is only Mary and Jesus’ siblings who are mentioned. The fact that Joseph was likely older than Mary and life expectancy for a first century peasant Jew was not great, it could be that losing His father was Jesus’ first instance of human suffering.
The Scriptures teach us that there was some division between Jesus and His brothers, who at one point did not believe Jesus was the Messiah, or the Son of God and in Mark 3:21 they even claim that Jesus had lost His senses. Was Jesus speaking from experience when He spoke of the way the gospel often divides families. What would have been the difference if Joseph had still been alive, would he have been able to be what was needed to keep the bonds together. Would he have rebuked Jesus’ brothers for their unbelief and rejection of Jesus? I know that only the Holy Spirit can turn unbelieving hearts to faith, but the absence of their father could have played a role. Thankfully, we know that James and Jude later believed, and James became a leader in the Jerusalem church and wrote the book of James and Jude wrote the little book of Jude.
It is at the cross where the absence of Joseph is really evident. Jesus, just before dying, asks John to care for His mother, Mary. In this event we see Jesus not only caring for Mary’s salvation and peace with God by dying for her sins but caring for her personal needs after He is gone. Joseph is not on the scene and as the firstborn son, it is Jesus’ responsibility to make sure His mother is cared for in His absence. He was following the Law to care for His parents in their old age, but He is also following the example of His earthly father who put the welfare of his family above his own comfort.
This is the legacy left by Joseph. He was an ordinary man willing to be used by an extraordinary God. He displayed a righteous character in a difficult situation. Joseph obeyed God’s command immediately. He was willing to suffer reputational harm and loss of comfort for the sake of God and others. He was the spiritual leader in his family. Finally, Joseph is a picture of Christ’s shame and reproach on our behalf. Joseph is a man barely mentioned in Scripture, forgotten mostly in church history, but remembered by God as a faithful servant. This can also be our legacy if we are willing, like Joseph, to say yes to God.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]Platt, David, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary: Exalting Jesus in Matthew. Nashville, TN : B&H, 2013.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.