“18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”
When I was in high school one of the freshman girls got pregnant. That girl has since gotten married and has a beautiful family including that child who is now a young adult. However, as you can imagine, the road was bumpy at times. On the way to the hospital to deliver that baby that girl’s mother was still asking her, “now be honest. What happened? Did you have sex?” It seems that girl had been less than forthright with her parents about how exactly she got pregnant.
I can imagine similar conversations happening with Mary and her parents; “now be honest. What happened?” I can imagine a similar conversation happening between Joseph and Mary, “now be honest. What happened?” What would you do if your fiancé was pregnant; you knew the child wasn’t yours, but she was adamant that there was no other man? That sounds like an episode of Maury Povich. Such was the situation at the beginning of the New Testament.
The New Testament opens with a situation that required difficult obedience for both Mary and Joseph. We focused on Mary in our last study. Now we focus on Joseph. The virgin birth required difficult obedience from Joseph and we will see that claiming Christ always does. That’s the claim of this sermon: the virgin birth required difficult obedience from Joseph; claiming Christ always does.
We will see this in three points. First: Mary and Joseph. Second: the angel and Joseph. Third: Joseph’s obedience. We see the situation between Mary and Joseph in verses 18-19, the angel’s words to Joseph in verses 20-23, and Joseph’s obedience in verses 24-25.
First: Mary and Joseph. This passage begins with a rather sticky situation; verse 18, “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child…” That raises some questions, but a pattern of questionable births had already been established by Matthew. You see that in the genealogy which opens the gospel. That’s the story of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, which we studied for Advent two years ago.
Mary’s situation was actually stickier in the Ancient Near East than it would be in our culture because in that culture an engagement was as binding as a marriage. That’s why verse 19 refers to Joseph as “her husband.” So this wasn’t simply a seeming act of fornication—physical intimacy outside of marriage—this seemed to be adultery— physical intimacy with someone other than your spouse. This was and can still be proper grounds for divorce; verse 19, “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
Joseph wasn’t called righteous here because he planned to divorce Mary. Culturally it would have been quite difficult for Joseph to do anything else. As Craig Keener makes clear, “Mediterranean society viewed with contempt the weakness of a man who let his love for his wife outweigh his appropriate honor in repudiating her.” Remember that when he remains married to her.
Matthew isn’t telling us that Joseph’s righteousness consisted in planning to reject Mary. He is telling us that Joseph’s righteousness consisted in planning to handle the matter quietly. Joseph could have made the divorce proceedings vindictive; perhaps some of you have suffered that. He could have demanded financial restitution given that his parents had given a dowry. He could have made life very difficult for Mary’s father because, as Keener puts it, “as elsewhere in the Mediterranean world, fathers were guardians of their daughters’ virginity, arranged their marriages, and “gave” them to their husbands.” Now as a side note, there is still a lot of validity to that responsibility put upon fathers. There is a reason that you give them away in the wedding ceremony. Joseph could have disgraced Mary’s father publicly for failing in that role. He could have also disgraced Mary publicly in an attempt to clear his own good name. Her apparent act of adultery certainly communicated to everyone and anyone that Joseph was somehow an inadequate choice for a husband. Joseph, however, didn’t take any of those routes and Matthew tells us why: he was a righteous man.
God knew that Joseph was a righteous man. He knew that because He had worked that and was working that into Joseph. God didn’t just happen to stumble onto Joseph. He had been preparing Joseph. It’s worth remembering that today’s sanctification is often God’s preparation for tomorrow’s obedience.
Joseph was a man who wanted to obey. A quiet divorce seemed to be the most righteous option available to him and so that was his plan of action. It’s helpful to keep in mind that divorce can be a righteous decision in certain circumstances as you read the rest of Jesus’ words on divorce in the gospel of Matthew—in other words not all divorces are the same. We foster confusion in the church as well as both false guilt on one side and genuine lawlessness on the other side when we treat all divorces the same.
Joseph was a man who wanted to obey in the midst of Mary’s seeming unrighteousness. Now we know that it was only seeming unrighteousness because we know what Joseph didn’t know; we know the rest of verse 18, “she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”
It’s worth recognizing that Jesus’ coming seemed unrighteous. It’s worth noting that because his coming still seems unrighteous. As Jesus told his disciples, “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.” If you think that genuinely following Jesus will make you seem like a good person in the eyes of those who like being seen as “good people”, think again. Christlikeness often leaves you looking evil to the world and to moralists both of whom have come to call evil “good” and good “evil.” Being a Christian is no easy matter. Being Joseph was no easy matter.
Joseph had a decision to make. He was making what he thought was the most righteous decision available, but he was about to find out that he didn’t have all the facts. That’s our second point: the angel and Joseph.
As an overthinker, I find great solace in verse 20, “after he had considered this”, or as the Berean Bible puts it, “after he had pondered these things”, or, “when he thought on these things,” as the English Revised Version puts it. I spend a far too much time “pondering these things.” How many times do you think Joseph turned this situation with Mary around in his mind looking for another angle that might provide some insight? This helps you to see he was just trying to do his best.
Joseph, however, couldn’t come to any genuine insight on this matter because he lacked crucial information; that brings us to verse 20, ‘But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”’
God spoke to Joseph in a dream. Now ancients could tell the difference between a dream of revelation and a regular dream just as those of us who have heard God’s voice audibly or internally know the difference between that voice and our own conscience. Please don’t treat the ancients as if they were highly gullible people. We moderns pride ourselves on celebrating other cultures, and then treat past cultures as if they were idiots. GK Chesterton was right, “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes—our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”
In this dream, God told Joseph that Mary wasn’t unfaithful but rather that this was a work of the Holy Spirit. Joseph now knew that divorcing her would be unrighteous. Now Joseph knew, but since this was a dream only Joseph knew. God didn’t give this same dream to everyone that Joseph would ever encounter. That means that people would still make assumptions about Joseph. That means that people would still make assumptions about Jesus’ birth based on rumors. You see these assumptions come out later in Jesus’ life. In a heated argument with the Pharisees, they shot back, “we were not born of fornication.” In other words, “we weren’t born like you.”
Joseph knew that the righteous way forward was to absorb those assumptions, “because,” as the angel put it, “what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Claiming Christ would bring difficulties into Joseph’s life. It brings difficulties with the world, the flesh, and the devil into the lives of all who claim him.
God made clear to Joseph, however, just as He does to us that claiming Jesus is the obedient way forward; verse 21, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” The name Jesus, or Joshua in the Hebrew, means “the Lord saves.” The Old Testament Joshua is the pattern for that name. He was a conqueror. This second Joshua would conquer sin. Now if that sounds more spiritual than real remember the promise in the Garden of Eden. God promised Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” The angel was telling Joseph that Mary’s child was that promised child who would begin to put everything the way it ought to be. This salvation he had in mind was more than simply personal repentance. It was the kingdom of God, which the rest of the gospel of Matthew details.
Jesus was and is the king of that kingdom. That’s what’s going on with the angel calling Joseph, “Joseph son of David,” in verse 20. That’s what’s going on with the appeal to Isaiah’s prophecy about the virgin in verse 23, “the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” That prophecy was originally given to Ahaz, king of Judah, when Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, combined forces to march on Jerusalem. The Lord gave Isaiah a message for Ahaz, “Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood… for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin… The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.” God wanted Isaiah to remember that the power of those kings was mortal and the power behind the Davidic king was God. That’s why Isaiah said, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”
Isaiah offered Ahaz a sign that God would deliver Jerusalem from these invading armies. Ahaz refused the sign. He wasn’t planning on putting any trust in the Lord. He considered faith well-meaning hocus pocus that had nothing to do with the rough and tumble of real life. God was enraged by this failure of the Davidic king to recognize the divine power behind the throne and so he offered this sign of the virgin birth to show His power.
Now we can talk about the specifics of a likely probability of a fulfillment of that prophecy within a year or so through a young woman’s womb who was a virgin at the time Isaiah spoke, but our focus now is on Matthew’s reading of this prophecy. Matthew wants his readers to see that Jesus is the clearest picture of the power behind the Davidic king. He is the Davidic king who is God. You need to decide if you take him seriously or if you, like Ahaz, want nothing to do with this sign because you only care about the rough and tumble of real life.
Joseph now knew the rest of the story. Now that he knew, he obeyed; that’s our final point: the obedience of Joseph. Twice in our study of Abraham, we saw Abraham rise early to obey a difficult word from God. He rose up early to send away Ishmael. He rose up early to sacrifice Isaac. Here we see that Joseph was a true child of Abraham; verse 24, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”
Joseph’s obedience took the form of a specific action, which is the only form that obedience takes. Joseph took Mary home as his wife. In other words, he believed the word of God in the dream. You know that he believed God’s word because he acted on it. That’s how you know that you believe the word of God too. That’s how you know your children believe it.
Joseph and Mary were now married in every sense of the word other than physical intimacy. You see that in verse 25, “he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.” Joseph and Mary didn’t consummate their marriage lest there be any doubt about the virgin birth. Some have interpreted this season of celibacy to mean that Mary was a perpetual virgin, meaning that she was never intimate with Joseph or any other man. The translation “until she gave birth to a son” in verse 25 argues against that. The numerous references to Jesus’ brothers argue against that.
The idea that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus is troubling. It implies that sex within marriage was somehow unworthy of her. There is nothing dirty about sex within marriage. It is beautiful. There is something dangerous and deadly about sex outside of marriage, which was what Joseph thought Mary did, and something dangerous and deadly about not having sex when married which is what some believe Mary and Joseph did. Paul warned against not having sex when married because it is an invitation to immorality. If you find yourself there, please get to the root of what’s going on. Talk to a Christian marriage counselor.
So Joseph and Mary were intimate but not until after Jesus’ birth. When the baby was born, Joseph named him “Jesus” as God commanded; verse 25, “he gave him the name Jesus.” God told Joseph what to name this child. Did anybody tell you what to name your child? We had certain people offer serious, unsolicited, and repeated name suggestions for our children and it drove me nuts. This is our child. We will name him. Joseph didn’t get to name this child that cost him so much. Mary didn’t get to name this child that cost her so much.
Jesus’ birth involved costly obedience for Mary and Joseph and claiming him still does. The question is whether or not it’s worth it. That’s the question you will need to ask in an increasingly hostile culture. That’s the question you will need ask when what you know to be good is called “evil” and what you know to be evil is called “good”. Remember, Bible times is not limited to the past.
Mary thought claiming Jesus was worth it. Upon hearing the news that she would have this child she sang, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” Joseph thought it was worth it; “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” They claimed him with joy, and this is what they received, “he came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all; and his shelter was a stable and his cradle was a stall; with the poor and meek and lowly lived on earth our Savior holy.” Those two poor, meek, and lowly souls received Immanuel—God with us. That’s still what all the poor and meek and lowly who claim him receive. That was enough for Mary. That was enough for Joseph. If that’s not enough for you, nothing ever will be. Amen.