Joseph: The Forgotten Hero of Christmas

1. 0:12 Matthew 1, 18 through 25. 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.
2. 0:34 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 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.
3. 1:06 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet.
4. 1:22 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.
5. 1:39 He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. The word of the Lord. The word of the Lord Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel That mourns a lonely exile here Until the Son of God appears Oh, come, oh, come, oh, come, Panا 남, am, am, am Yeah, am, am Thank you.
6. 4:12 Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel.
7. 4:46 Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel. Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
8. 5:11 Rejoice, Emmanuel. Rejoice, Emmanuel.
9. 5:28 Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. You know what strikes me every Christmas is how little we know about the man God chose to raise his son?
10. 5:59 Joseph. I mean, each Christmas we sing songs to Jesus, rightly so. We even sing about stars and shepherds. Mary certainly gets a huge shout out. But what about Joseph?
11. 6:15 I mean, Mary gets what? Silent night? Mary, did you know? Breath of heaven? A way in a manger? And yet, Joseph, what does he get? A little bit of a cameo and a lot of responsibility. It's interesting that so little is known about this man, but maybe that's the point Matthew wants us to understand.
12. 6:41 And that no sermon was preached by him. No word was recorded out of his mouth. And yet, his quiet faithfulness helped change the world. And Joseph, as he became less, the son he was chosen to raise became more.
13. 7:03 And the message of Christmas and the mission of Joseph's life was simply this. That each Christmas we would be reminded that Jesus, the Savior, has come to save us from our sins.
14. 7:19 Would you pray with me? Lord, thank you for your word. It's true. And it's hard for us to get our minds around what this would have been like for Joseph and Mary. Young people.
15. 7:34 Hearts wandering. Dreams and ambitions and desires. Years. And yet, a huge interruption in their life. When your plan begins to unfold for them. You had something better for them than they could have ever imagined or dreamed.
16. 7:52 And yet, it wasn't easy. And I wonder today how many of us are in this room thinking, what is going on? Where are you, God? And perhaps this Christmas, we can be reminded that you, God, Emmanuel, are with us.
17. 8:11 You are for us. You will see us through. And your purposes will prevail. And we pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as we look at our text today, which was so beautifully read by red, we're struck with the beauty and the wonder of Christmas, are we not?
18. 8:31 I know some of you are looking at my outfit today and thinking, that's not beautiful or wonderful. Sorry about that. We had a wardrobe malfunction. My wife chose what I was wearing today and I wore it. So, but I wanted to make you feel better about what you're wearing.
19. 8:46 In fact, to make you feel really good today, I want you to turn to the person next to you and tell them, did you lose weight over Christmas? There you go. That's the greatest Christmas gift you might get this season. Well, as we're looking at the scripture here, we see that Matthew begins just straight forward.
20. 9:08 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. No fairy tale, no folklore, no legacy or legends. This is just how it happened. And so, I'm going to tell you the way it is. And then he dives in and his story is full of tension.
21. 9:25 We don't have time today, but this beautiful genealogy that Matthew lays out here. There's some complicated things when we add it up and look at the history of it all, but what is clear is that it's God-inspired and it's pointing to a greater reality that Jesus came through the line of David and he's the fulfillment of the eternal promise that David would one day have someone who would sit on a throne and whose reign would never end.
22. 9:54 And yet, in that very lineage, which is so honoring to Jesus and written to a particular Jewish audience, what's interesting is that it's laced with tension because there we read about both men and women in this lineage, both Jews and Gentiles in this lineage, both sinners and saints in this lineage.
23. 10:17 It's as though Matthew knows his audience, but he's trying to make it very clear that this child, this Savior, would be born to save all people, not just some, and that the hope of the world would rest on his shoulders.
24. 10:34 And this is the tension that Scripture leaves us with. And just when we're left thinking, wow, how could it be that Rahab the prostitute or David who slept with Uriah's wife Bathsheba would bring about the chosen one of God?
25. 10:52 But God uses broken things and broken stories to bring about his purposes. And in the midst of all this tension, he only goes deeper into it. Because here's Mary, who is now pregnant, probably about four months, so the bump is starting to show.
26. 11:10 She spent three months with her Aunt Elizabeth, who is ecstatic about what is going on. And yet Joseph, does he know? It seems like as he encounters this reality about three, four months into what's taking place, it's just bewildered.
27. 11:32 And being a kind but righteous man, he wants to quietly divorce Mary. Because this story is just too crazy. And the pressure and the looks that they're getting, his character that's now being challenged.
28. 11:52 Can you imagine that? It's just too much for him. And in the midst of that, an angel shows up. Verse 19 and 20. And the angel shows up in a dream.
29. 12:09 And I was wondering to myself, like, Lord, if you speak to me, it's going to have to be not just in a dream, because I have crazy dreams. But then I thought, well, what would be more normal? A burning bush? A divine light from heaven?
30. 12:24 A voice that I hear? Or some wild man coming, telling me what Jesus and God wants me to know? You choose your method, but the point is clear. God spoke, Joseph heard, and it changed everything.
31. 12:40 You see, Joseph was a man who was considering his circumstances. And he certainly didn't have all the answers. And maybe that's where you find yourself right now. You're wondering, what is going on?
32. 12:57 And why God would have put you in the circumstance? And you don't know exactly where you're going or how you're going to get there. But you believe this is where God's calling you to go. And so you're just putting one foot in front of the other, trying to follow God as best you can.
33. 13:13 And this is Joseph as he's contemplating all these things in his heart. Joseph likely isn't super educated. He certainly is not that old. He's definitely poor. When they made a sacrifice, they sacrificed a turtle dove, which was the smallest offering they would have made that the poor would have made.
34. 13:33 And yet this man who travels hundreds of miles to protect his wife and this child that he's been entrusted with, whose royal bloodline is used to fulfill the prophecies of 2 Samuel chapter 7, and who names the child just as he was commanded to, is faithful through it all in the midst of all the uncertainty and all the uncertainty and all the questions that I'm sure he had.
35. 14:02 And that's what faith looks like sometimes. It's not having all the answers, but it's having enough to take that next step forward. And that's what God called Joseph to do, and perhaps that's what he's calling you and I to do this Christmas.
36. 14:17 And when the angel appears, like every time an angel appears in Scripture, the angel says, do not fear. Do not be afraid. There's something about an angel of the Lord appearing that's really special.
37. 14:36 Anytime in Scripture we see an angel of the Lord appearing or God appearing, people fall on their face. They recognize the greatness that is in front of them and how really helpless they are. And so, the term from the angel and from God over and over again when people encounter an angel of the Lord, a message of the Lord, or God himself, is fear not.
38. 15:02 Do not be dismayed. You know, it's interesting in Scripture, it's written over 365 times. Actually, I think it's written 365 times on the money. Do not fear. Isn't that interesting? It's as though every day God wants us to remember once we fear Him, there's nothing else to fear.
39. 15:24 And this is the main, this is the message of the angel of the Lord to Joseph. Now, Matthew, for whatever reason, doesn't tell us who this angel of the Lord is, but Luke does. It's Gabriel, the mighty angel who would not only appear to the shepherds but also to Mary, the leader of God's army of angels, the greatest messenger and warrior of them all.
40. 15:48 This is a very important message. And this is why Gabriel is delivering it. And look at what he says to him. Verse 20, Joseph, son of David.
41. 16:04 Sometimes God has to remind us who we are because life will just beat us down. I'm sure Joseph didn't think too highly of himself. He was from a backwoods town. Didn't have a lot of things maybe going for him. But he knew right from wrong.
42. 16:20 And he was a faithful but quiet man. And the angel says to him, there's greatness in you. Joseph, son of David, one of the greatest men who ever walked the earth, the man after God's own heart, the greatest king of all of Israel's history.
43. 16:36 This is your bloodline. And this is whose blood you carry. And this is how God is going to use you to fulfill his word. God isn't just redeeming some circumstances. He's working out his plan and his purposes.
44. 16:52 And no matter what you and I face, chances are that he is at work too. The scripture says that all things work together for good to those who love God and have been called according to his purposes. Joseph is beginning to understand this literally in a new light.
45. 17:12 An angel tells Joseph something that is far beyond his and your and my understanding. For the wife that you are about to take, that you are betrothed to, what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
46. 17:29 Now, Joseph in this moment had to be dazed and confused because this is really beyond our understanding. But there's a context here that's important. You see, betrothal is more than engagement. It's a legally binding contract.
47. 17:44 In that day and age, mom and dad usually pick the spouse for their child. And so, Joseph's mom and dad had picked Mary. And they were now legally committed to be married. But they weren't allowed to make the marriage official by consummating it until after the marriage stay.
48. 18:02 Chances are this is a young couple. 13, 14, maybe 15 years old. And so, they're young. They're maybe in love. They're certainly excited and nervous about what's to come. They're trying to do the right thing.
49. 18:19 And here the angel shows up and says that you're not going to understand this. But what God is doing is something really special. And that child in Mary is no ordinary child. Imagine that.
50. 18:34 Imagine you're about to get married to someone. And you walk up and they're pregnant. What would you do? What would you think? What would you say? Imagine the questions you have. The feelings of betrayal and denial. All these things Joseph is wrestling through and yet the angel is saying, fear not.
51. 18:53 For God is doing something greater than you can understand. But he is with you and he's for you. And so, in this moment, all of a sudden, this child is the promised child that would save us from our sins.
52. 19:09 You see, Mary and Joseph, they were humble. And they were faithful. And they were obedient. But they were affected by sin. Just like every one of us is. Our great-great-great-great-grandmother and grandfather, Adam and Eve, they were sinless.
53. 19:28 And then they sinned. And they brought sin into the world. And all hell broke loose, literally. And ever since then, sin has been devastating us personally, relationally, and certainly in the world around us.
54. 19:45 And certainly separating us from God. And then Jesus comes along. Not affected by sin, but entering into a sinful world. You see, the scripture the scripture says, just as you know, you see, the scripture says, just as we can do this now, you see, as you see, the scripture says, just asдержives we can do it, our church says to Thank you. through one man's obedience, we would all be made righteous.
55. 20:03 So through, excuse me, just through one man's disobedience, we would all be made sinful. So through one man's obedience, we would all be made righteous. You see, Jesus is the second Adam.
56. 20:18 He's everything the first Adam should have been, but wasn't. And he comes into this world sinless. Mary and Joseph are sinful. That's why scripture doesn't call us to worship either one of them.
57. 20:34 It's why both of them humbly and quietly step into the background as Jesus takes center stage. Because he is the main focus. And they've been trusted with this great responsibility to bring this God man into the world. He was God.
58. 20:50 And that's how he walked on water and healed people and understood and knew what was in people's hearts. But he was also a man in that he bled. He laughed. He cried. He enjoyed friendship. He was tired. And eventually he hung on the cross in our place as only he could.
59. 21:09 Not to pay for his sins, but for ours. And his name, Jesus, it's a title. It's a purpose. Jesus. It means the Lord saves. Christ is not his last name. It was that he was the anointed Messiah.
60. 21:27 So when scripture says Jesus Christ, it's saying here is our Lord, the chosen one, the anointed one who came to save us. And this is what Christmas is all about. And this is the good news of the angel.
61. 21:42 And this is why Joseph was obedient in naming his son Jesus. Because he was born for one purpose. To save us from our sins. Not from discouragement. Not just to heal us physically.
62. 21:57 Not just to help us overcome anxiety and the challenges we face. And to make us feel his joy and his peace. These are all wonderful, wonderful benefits of the Lord. But the main purpose through which he came and for which he came was to save sinners.
63. 22:13 Because sin is behind everything that is wrong in us and in the world around us. And it is our greatest need. And that is why he came, lived, and died. And this is what the prophets foretold of.
64. 22:32 In verse 22 we see that Matthew is pointing us that all that this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophets. This isn't by chance. And this isn't just God redeeming and restoring. This is his plan.
65. 22:47 Galatians talks about in the fullness of time Christ showed up. This is the moment after 400 silent years where God would speak to his people yet again. And his light would shine so bright in a dark world. There were over 300 prophecies fulfilled.
66. 23:05 We don't have time to go through all of them this morning. But clearly in our text here there are three that are shining so bright. Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 which we read in the following verse. The virgin will be with child. This is a miracle.
67. 23:22 A divine miracle the world could never understand and has never seen before or since that a virgin would be with child. Jesus fulfills this prophecy. He also fulfills 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 12 through 13 where David was told that he would have an eternal throne and upon it a righteous king whose reign would never end.
68. 23:46 He's the fulfillment of Daniel chapter 7 and that the son of man would come and he would divinely rule on earth eternally. And so we see this concept of a God-man coming. We read in Jeremiah 31 of a new covenant and a new promise that God would write his law on our hearts and that he would be our God and we would be his people.
69. 24:11 And no longer would we say where is the Lord? But we would know him and he would know us. He is the fulfillment of Ezekiel 36 of the new covenant that God would do something new and fulfill the law that was to point to the only one who could fulfill it on our place.
70. 24:31 Christ. The chosen anointed one. The Lord who saves us. Jesus. And then verse 24 and 25. We see the faithfulness of Joseph.
71. 24:51 A man who is so quiet and said so little and yet his accent speaks so much louder than any word possibly could have. It said that the loudest sermon any of us will ever preach is how we live our life.
72. 25:07 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a famous German theologian and eventual martyr who stood against the Nazis during their rise to power in Germany. He said something along the lines that one act of obedience is greater than 100 sermons.
73. 25:28 And here is Joseph, a faithful, humble servant of our Lord who doesn't understand what's going on. Who doesn't understand what's going on but who in obedient acts as the Lord has commanded him.
74. 25:44 And that simple act helped change the world. I know I'm looking right now at an audience full of men in particular. Who are quietly trying to follow the Lord.
75. 26:02 Who are not preaching. People aren't paying attention to their posts on social media. They don't have a lot of notoriety or fame. But they are obedient faithful men who are seeking to honor the Lord.
76. 26:22 And I believe what the text is telling us here is that your quiet faithful obedience does not go unnoticed by the one who notices all things. And he is using you.
77. 26:37 He is for you. And your faith is going to leave a lasting legacy. And your children's children will one day thank you that you sought to honor the Lord.
78. 26:53 This past week my wife found an old Bible. It's just a little pocket New Testament. And in it I saw these highlights and these notes. And it wasn't my handwriting.
79. 27:10 And I don't remember having this Bible. And then I opened it up. And there was my father's name. Scripture after scripture noted and referenced. Passage after passage being highlighted. And even prayers in the back of this book.
80. 27:27 My father didn't always walk with the Lord. But when God got a hold of his life it changed everything in our family. He never preached a sermon. But he believed the Lord. And he trusted him until the end through it all.
81. 27:44 And the legacy that he has left our family. I believe it will stand the test of time. And for generations to come. We will thank God for him. And his faith. My father, Joseph, many of you are quiet, faithful men who are not seeking the spotlight but are serving in the shadows pointing to the only thing that matters this Christmas.
82. 28:15 And that is Christ our Lord has come. He is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Because he was born to rescue us from our greatest need. Which is that of our sin and our need for salvation.
83. 28:33 So keep letting your light shine on the light that shines brightest in a dark world this Christmas. Will you pray with me? Lord, we look to your word today. And we are reminded that the light has shown.
84. 28:51 And it is pierced through the darkness. And it is because that you love us and you are for us that we celebrate Christmas this season. We pray now that you, Jesus, would forgive us and save us.
85. 29:08 For the person that doesn't know you, Lord, that they would place their trust and faith in you. Lord, they're merely responding to the work that you've already begun in their hearts. And for each and every one of us in here who has declared you and recognized you as both our Lord and Savior, we come before you now and ask for your forgiveness too.
86. 29:28 We need you to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Save us and sustain us. And so this morning, we come before you. And we confess that we often celebrate Christmas without slowing down to remember why you came. And like Joseph, we face moments of fear and confusion and uncertainty.
87. 29:47 And too often, we trust ourselves more than we trust you. So we confess our sins to you now. The ones we regret, the ones we excuse, and the ones we try and hide. So we'll be right back. So we'll be right back. So let's go. And we confess that we have looked for peace and comfort, identity and achievement, and hope in things that cannot save.
88. 30:08 And now we privately confess our sins to you in this moment of silence. Thank you, Lord, that you did not wait for us to get our lives in order.
89. 30:30 You sent your son, Jesus, to save us from our sins. And so we bring our sins to you. And we receive your forgiveness with humility and gratitude. And we rest not in our obedience, but in your finished work.
90. 30:45 And by your grace, shape our lives like Joseph's, quietly, faithfully, deeply, as we trust and obey you, even when it's confusing and cost us something. We pray this in the strong and saving name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, this Christmas.
91. 31:05 Amen and amen. Thank you, and God bless you.

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