Sermon Manuscript

[Video:  “The Characters of Christmas - Bumper” - 0”30]

If you have your Bibles, turn with me now to the book of Matthew chapter 1.  Today we’re going to be in verses 18-25.  As always, if you would like to follow along with us online you can do so by using our app.  It’s called Church Center and we use it each week.  So if you open the app and click on Sunday Services followed by Message Notes you will find everything you need for our time together this morning.

As you turn there and get prepared, let me quickly remind you that today we are continuing within our Christmas series called The Characters of Christmas where together we’ve been examining the stories of the people who were there during the birth of Jesus and learning about how the lessons God spoke into their lives still speak into ours.  And last week we began this series by examining the story of Zechariah.  Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were a righteous couple in desperate need of hope.  Because they had no child and no way of being provided for within their later years of life.  But then one day Zechariah met an angel while serving as a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem.  And the angel told him that God was going to answer his prayers and give him a son.  His wife Elizabeth, who was barren, would become pregnant.  And this son whose name would be John would be great in the eyes of God and prepare God’s people to meet Him.  And yet Zechariah didn’t believe him.  And as a result he had to be punished and he was unable to speak until his son named John was born.  But when given the chance to finally speak he praised God and prophesied over the child.  A man who had no hope had become filled with hope!  Because he had learned the hard way to believe in the promises of God!  And so we learned how to do the same.  To find hope in trusting in three different promises.  So if you missed last week and you are looking for hope this Christmas I want to encourage you to go online to our YouTube channel.  You can find it at YouTube.com/yourfountain and just listen to last week’s message.  My hope for you is that you will be greatly encouraged by what you hear.

Today we’re going to take a look at a second character within the Christmas story.  And his name is Joseph.  We don’t know much about Joseph but what Matthew tells us is that he was a righteous man who came from the bloodline of King David.  Matthew also tells us about how he handled the most unexpected and difficult situation of his life.  And here’s what he says beginning in verse 18.  Matthew writes:

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.

Alright.  So before we jump into this text let me just quickly share with you a little bit about the book of Matthew.  Because it’s important and if you’re not familiar with this book you need to know these details.  The book of Matthew was written to a Jewish audience in order to show them how Jesus was their long awaited and promised Messiah.  And every Jew knew that in order for anyone to be the Messiah they had to come from the bloodline of King David in order to fulfill the Davidic Covenant.  Because God had promised David that He would establish one from his bloodline who would reign and rule forever.  That story is found in 2 Samuel 7.  You can read it later but all Jews knew that the Messiah had to come from the bloodline of King David.  What they didn’t know and what Matthew didn’t know was that the Messiah would also be God Himself.  But in order for Jesus to fulfill God’s promises to His people He had to be able to trace His lineage back to King David.  And He could through Joseph.  That’s what Matthew establishes in verses 1-17.  

Then he tells the story of the birth of Jesus through Joseph not Mary.  The account of what happened to Mary is only found in the book of Luke and Seth is going to examine that for us in two weeks.  But here we have the story of Joseph and notice what Matthew tells us.  Take a look at this more closely.  First of all, notice that the events that Matthew is sharing took place “when Mary, his mother, had been betrothed to Joseph”.  Joseph is never described as the father of Jesus because God was Jesus’ Father.  Joseph was his earthly father but not his true Father.  Mary, however, is always described as his mother.  And these events take place when Joseph was betrothed to Mary.

So let’s stop and consider what betrothal is all about.  Because the Jewish wedding process was different from our own and Joseph and Mary are not “engaged” at this point.  They are “betrothed” which meant that they were legally married but had not come together physically.  And here’s how that worked.  Joseph’s father would have approached Mary’s family in order to establish the “bride price”.  It was a lump sum of money that Joseph would have to pay Mary’s family in order to marry her.  After that had been negotiated the families would have shared a meal together and explained the proposal to Mary herself.  They would have then given to her a cup to drink and when she took a drink of it that was the indication that she accepted their proposal.  So the proposal itself happened publicly between two families and not privately as ours often does.  And when she accepted at that point she was considered legally married.  However, they would not come together until Joseph paid the bride price.  So Joseph would leave, save up, and then he could come back at any point.  Mary had to be ready.  And when Joseph came and took Mary he would then immediately take her to the wedding ceremony which was a weeklong event in which all of their friends and family were part of.  And then on the first night of their “wedding week” the couple would consummate the marriage or come together physically.  That’s how it worked.  And all of those details are important.  

In fact, if you think about what Jesus did with His disciples in the Upper Room on the night He was betrayed when He gave to them a cup and told them to drink from it you can see what He was doing.  He was “proposing” to them.  He was offering to “marry them” spiritually.  He was inviting them to come into a brand new relationship with Him.  We call that the New Covenant.

So here Joseph and Mary are legally married.  This is why when Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant he resolves to “divorce her quietly”.  You don’t divorce someone you’re engaged to.  You divorce someone you’re married to.  And Joseph was a just and righteous man.  He doesn’t want to make a spectacle out of Mary and to shame her for what he thinks happened.  He just believes she’s sinned against God and him and does not want to marry her.

Second, notice that “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.”  God actually speaks to Joseph three times in dreams.  First here.  Then second when he is told to take the family to Egypt.  And then third when he is told to bring them back to Nazareth.  Three times God speaks to Joseph in dreams.  Here Joseph had been considering divorce when the angel came and spoke to Him.  And while we don’t know who the angel was it was likely Gabriel because he was the angel who spoke both to Zechariah and Mary in Luke 1.  We can’t say for sure but that’s a pretty good guess.  Either way this angel comes and says, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”  Angels often need to say “Don’t be afraid” but here this one says, “I know why you’re afraid.  You’re afraid of what Mary did and how that will affect your life.  But Mary has been faithful to you.  She was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.  And she will give birth to a son and you are to name Him Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.”  By the way, the name Jesus means "Yahweh saves” or “Jehovah saves”.  It was a common name in the first-century.  Equivalent to Joshua in the Old Testament.  But Joseph is told both how Mary has become pregnant and what he is supposed to do.  God wants him to marry her and to name her child Jesus because He’s going to save God’s people from their sins.  Amazing.

Third, though, notice that verse 22 tells us that “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet”.  In other words, what is happening here is a fulfillment of prophecy and what God had said would happen hundreds of years before.  Remember.  Last week we said that the Intertestamental Period was a period of 400 years of silence.  And that Zechariah’s son fulfilled what Malachi had foretold in Malachi 4:5-6.  However, “the prophet” Matthew speaks of here is not Malachi.  It’s “the prophet” or Isaiah.  Isaiah was the Messianic Prophet and so here Matthew writes to a Jewish audience to show them that the birth of Jesus was a fulfillment of what Isaiah had said God would do.  And in Isaiah 7:14 God had said, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).   So Isaiah had prophesied this about 700 years before this point.

Quick note on this prophecy.  Originally when Isaiah spoke this prophecy he spoke it to a king named King Ahaz who was a wicked and idolatrous king in Judah.  God had told Isaiah to ask the king for a sign and that He would do anything but this wicked and evil king refused to give God an answer and so God became upset.  And He told the king that by the time a virgin will conceive or roughly nine months that God would save His people from several kings and nations who had come to Jerusalem to wage war.  God was going to protect and defend His people.  They would be saved and know that God was with them or “Immanuel”.

But Matthew tells us here that that prophecy had a double meaning and a double fulfillment.  It not only meant that God’s people would be saved in the days of Isaiah but also that God’s people would be saved through the birth of Jesus His Son.  That’s huge.

However, here’s what we need to see here.  Joseph in this moment was a man who was in search of peace.  He had been told that his wife Mary was pregnant and he knew that he had not been involved.  He needed peace.  And the same is true for you and for me.  Throughout all of our lives we are going to have moments, seasons, and periods in which we are all in search of peace.  And it may be that some of us here this morning right now are searching for peace.  So we can relate to a guy like Joseph.  We, too, are looking for peace at Christmas.

So I want to press pause here for just a moment and invite a man to the stage who might be described as a “modern-day Joseph”.  His name is Kevin Dickson and he is a missionary with a group called Josiah Venture.  I met Kevin while serving at TCM two years ago and just recently we started supporting him as a church.  And Kevin grew up in California but moved to the Czech Republic where he and his family live.  So I’ve asked him to come and speak to you about how he became a missionary and how God has challenged him like Joseph in this area of peace.  Can we welcome Kevin this morning?  

(Applause)  

Very good.  Kevin came here late Friday night and we got to hang out quite a bit on Saturday.  And I’m fascinated by his story and what God has been doing.  So Kevin, can you introduce yourself and explain how you became a missionary in the Czech Republic and what you do now with Josiah Venture?

(Wait for Response)

Wow.  That’s a pretty amazing story.  God has taken you on quite the adventure.  Moving to a foreign country.  Meeting a young woman and starting a family.  Making the transition from being a teacher to becoming a missionary.  So my guess is that there have been many points along the way where you felt like Joseph.  God pushed you out of your comfort zone and forced you to trust in Him to find the peace you needed.  So can you share with us some times in which you needed peace and what God taught you in the process?

(Wait for Response)

Kevin, thank you for sharing with us.  Before I let you go is there anything else you would like to share with our congregation?  How can we support you and your efforts to further the Kingdom of God in the Czech Republic?

(Kevin shares any final thoughts and explains how we can support him.)

Very good.  Let’s give Kevin a round of applause and thank him this morning.  Ushers are now going to be coming to pass out to you two items this morning.  A card with information about Kevin and his latest newsletter.  Church family, I want to encourage you to take this home with you, read it, and pray about how you can join us in supporting Kevin and his ministry.

Can you give him a round of applause as he returns to his seat?

(Applause)

Alright.  So as we wrap up this morning let’s consider what Kevin has shared with us and go back to the story of Joseph.  Because in verses 24 and 25 we learn that when Joseph awoke from his sleep that he did what the angel had said to do and he took Mary to be his wife.  He also refused to be intimate with her until she gave birth to her son and when she did Joseph named her Child Jesus.  What an incredible man of faith and what an example for us as men of what it looks like to be sexually pure in a world filled with temptation.  Joseph is an incredible example to all of us of what it looks like to follow God through the trials of life and find peace.

So what do we learn from him?  What was it that this angel said which would have brought peace into the life of Joseph?  And how can we look into his life and into this message and find peace for us this Christmas?  Here’s three truths which can help.

First of all, remember that God knows your name.  It’s interesting that in the Christmas story when the angel of the Lord spoke to Zechariah last week, Joseph this week, and later when he speaks to Mary that he calls them by name.  “Zechariah, God has heard your prayers.”  “Mary, you have found favor with God.”  And here “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”  Each time the angel identified these people by name.  Here he said, “Joseph, I know who you are.  I know your name is Joseph which means ‘remover’ or ‘increaser’ and God is removing the shame of His people and will increase the numbers of His people through this Child.  He knows your name and He knows you are a son of David.  You are in the bloodline of the Messiah.  God knows exactly who you are, Joseph.”

And the same is true for you and me.  God knows your name.  He knows your background.  He knows your family.  He knows how you were raised and where you come from.  God knows what makes you special and unique.  He also knows what makes you different or difficult.  He knows both the good and the bad.  He knows everything about you.  And that’s Good News.  Because God’s knowledge of who you are means that when He calls upon you as He did here for Joseph you are the perfect person for the job.  You are the perfect person to be a friend, to be the spouse, to be the mom or dad or grandma or grandpa.  You are the perfect person to speak truth and share your faith with those who do not yet know God.  If God calls you to a role - whether that’s to be the earthly father of the Messiah or to be a missionary in a foreign land then he has chosen you for a reason.  He knows your name.

Second, remember that God knows your situation.  God knows your situation.  He knows if you, like Joseph, are righteous and are obeying Him.  He knows where you are right now in your walk with Him.  He also knows the unique challenges you are facing as a Christian, as a mother, as a father, as an employer or employee, as an American, as a Hoosier.  He knows what you face each and every day and He trusts you to be obedient to Him just as He trusted Joseph.

And then third and finally God knows your future.  Joseph didn’t know his future.  He didn’t know who this Child would be, how he would be able to raise the very Son of God, or how he would be able to provide.  He didn’t know what God would do in this Child or through this Child.  He didn’t know what this Child would know, what He would do, and He certainly didn’t know that one day Jesus would go to the cross and suffer and die for the sins of the world.  Nobody knew that and Joseph had passed away prior to those events ever taking place.  Joseph didn’t know a lot but what He did know was that God had a plan and a purpose for him.  He knew that God knew the future and he knew that God knew his future.  And that was enough to obey.

So what about you?  We all wish we knew the future.  We all wish we knew what tomorrow will bring or what we will face next year or in the next decade.  We’d all like to know how long we will work for our employer or if we have what we need to retire or what will happen to someone we love.  But we cannot know the future.  What we can know is the One who knows.  We can know God knows and we can put our faith in Him just like Joseph did.  That’s what we can do.  And that needs to be enough to bring us all the peace we need in life.

So let me wrap up in this way.  I don’t know where you are personally this morning in your walk with God.  For some of us we are just starting that journey and we’re not even sure who Jesus is.  For others, we’ve been walking with Him for a long time.  But the message I believe God had for Joseph is the same message He has for you and me.  The peace you most need in this life is found in a Person.  The Person of Jesus Christ.  You can search for peace through pleasure, through fortune and fame, or through so many different pursuits in life.  But at the end of the day what God wants you and me to know is the same truth Joseph was learning.  The peace you’re looking for is found in Jesus.  It’s found in completely turning your life over to God and following Him.  God told Joseph to name Him Jesus because “He would save His people from their sins.”  He would provide a way for you and me to have peace with God.

So the question is, “Will you receive the peace you need this Christmas?”  You can and you will when you search for it in Jesus.  The bottom line is this:

Find peace with God by turning your life over to Him in Jesus.

Let’s pray.

[Prayer:  For God to help us to find the peace we need through Jesus this Christmas.]

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