Matthew
gives us a glimpse the birth of Jesus through Joseph’s experience, how his
world’s turned upside down when he discovers Mary’s pregnant with a child that
isn't his. We're drawn into Joseph's struggle on what to do, since his wife
seems to be unfaithful, a woman he doesn't want to hurt, but someone he can no
longer see himself staying married to.
Matthew shows us Joseph's character, what his heart
is like; Joseph’s a man who follows God. He’s described as a "righteous" man, a man who faithfully follows
God's law, choosing God’s way every time. But Joseph’s also a compassionate
man, who doesn't want to embarrass or disgrace Mary, even though this is what he
believes she's done to him. Joseph wrestles in his mind and heart over the news
of Mary’s pregnancy and decides to act with grace and mercy. Joseph could have taken vengeance and he would have had
the law on his side. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 22, "If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin
pledged to be married and he sleeps with her, you shall take both of them to
the gate of that town and stone them to death—the young woman because she was
in a town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another
man’s wife."
Instead,
Joseph decides to follow Moses' guidelines on how to quietly get a divorce. Moses
writes in Deuteronomy 24:1 "If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to
him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a
certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house." This allows Joseph to keep this quiet and
private, protecting the dignity of everyone involved; following God's law, but
with a spirit of grace and mercy. We get a sense from Matthew, and from the
difficulty of the situation, that Joseph puts a lot of thought and prayer into his
decision. It's only after Joseph walks this difficult path that God enters the
picture with a different way.
God sends an angel. During the whole
time Joseph is agonizing through the problem of his marriage to Mary, God lets
Joseph work through his options; vengeance or a form of grace, both allowed in
his law. God isn't necessarily there to hold our hands when we need to make
decisions, even if they are hard and difficult decisions to make. God has given
us his Word and Spirit to guide us. God allows us to make harsher decisions in
the spirit of justice, and yet often giving us the option of grace, mercy and
love as well.
All our decisions need to honour God. Sometimes we need to make decisions on which
direction we should go, knowing that the decision we make will cause major
changes in who we are and what kind of person we will become. God normally doesn’t
appear and tell us directly, "Do
this or that." Do you have hard choices to make? Turn to the Bible for
wisdom, take a look at what God says, look at the principles and foundation
Jesus lays out for us on how to live. If it’s still not clear, there are those wise
people God has placed in your life who know you and can offer wisdom. There’s also
the wisdom and brains God has given you as Holy Spirit works in you, guiding
you through your conscience. Spend time in prayer. It’s amazing how often
prayer makes things clearer. As Matthew Henry writes, "It is the thoughtful, not the unthinking,
whom God will guide."
Joseph wants to be obedient to God, but he also wants to be grace-filled. It's only after Joseph makes his
decision that God shows up with another option; keep Mary as his wife and raise
her child as his own. Teach the boy Mary’s going to have, and help him to love
the law and keep it. The angel tells Joseph, “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. 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.” Joseph is told to give Mary's son the name Jesus. In naming the
boy, Joseph takes on the role of father to Jesus, adopting Jesus as his son,
thus inserting Jesus into the lineage of King David.
Joseph has a choice to make; obey the
commands of the angel or stick with his decision based on the law of Moses.
Matthew writes, "When Joseph woke up, he did what
the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But
he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave
him the name Jesus." Joseph obeys even though it means taking on
Mary's shame, and when the child is born, Joseph assumes the responsibility of
being Jesus' father, naming the boy Jesus as the angel had commanded.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that faith and
obedience are closely tied together. He writes that faith
demands obedience and without obedience there’s no faith. Bonhoeffer doesn’t
believe in a cheap or easy faith. When Jesus tells his followers, "If you love me, you will keep my commands,"
Bonhoeffer says, “Of Course!” The other side is this, if you don’t
follow Jesus' commands, you don’t love Jesus and have no faith. Following Jesus
is high commitment, all life demanding. Joseph gets this. He obeys even when
it's hard and will cost him respect and status within his community. He obeys
because God told him to do it. Joseph quietly and obediently does as God says,
following Jesus doesn’t always mean making a scene about it, mostly it’s just
saying “yes” to Jesus in all the small daily choices we make about who we are
and how we live with each other.
Eugene Peterson writes, “God's
Word makes things happen--he makes something happen in us. The imperative is a
primary verb form in Holy Scripture: "Let there be light… Go… Come… Repent…
Believe… Be still… Be healed… Get up…Ask… Love… Pray… and the intended
consequence of the imperative is obedience." Pay attention to Jesus
and listen, that’s how you discover who you are and where the Spirit’s leading
you, you discover who Jesus is and how he and the Holy Spirit are right here
with you, working in you and through you. This is faith that’s Jesus centered
and has its roots in his action in you.
Through Joseph's righteous obedience, God moves forward his plan of saving his people from their sin and
bringing new life to those who believe in Jesus; fulfilling the promises he
made to his people generations before. Mathew reminds us, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and
they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)."
God gives Jesus an earthly
father to teach him the things fathers
teach their children. Joseph teaches Jesus about God as the Scriptures as Deuteronomy 4 told
him to, "These words, which I am commanding you
today, shall be on your heart. Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so
that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from
your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their
children after them." And in Deuteronomy 7, "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk
of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you
lie down and when you rise up."
Joseph taught Jesus the stories of
who God is, how God has saved his people time after time in the past,
always keeping his covenant with them. Joseph taught Jesus the importance of
obeying God who has claimed them as his people and walked with them, shaping
them into a unique and peculiar people dedicated to God. Joseph’s an example for Jesus on what
obedience looks like, to obey even though it may make life difficult for a time,
or even when we don't understand what’s going on or why. Jesus later lives out
obedience tempered with grace, mercy and love as his father Joseph did.
We obey because our faith calls us to obedience to God, because our trust is in Jesus
who is Immanuel, God with us, who is working out all things for our good. It's what Jesus learns from Joseph and sees
modelled in Joseph's life that helps Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Jesus
wants nothing more than to change the road ahead, and he still says to God,
"Not my will, but yours be
done;" obediently
walking the road to the cross so we can experience forgiveness for our sin and
new life. The children and youth of our congregation need to see your obedience
in order to trust Jesus and get to know him. Your neighbours and co-workers and
anyone you’re trying to invite to follow Jesus with you need to see your how obedience
to Jesus changes your life and who you are for the better, how they experience Jesus’
love for them through you. Obedience and trust, a sign of your faith in Jesus,
how big is your sign?
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