JOSEPH’S CALL – Matthew 1:18-25

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on December 23, 2018 under 2018 |

Bethany Bible Church Christmas Sunday Message; December 23, 2018 from Matthew 1:18-25

Theme: The story of Joseph’s call teaches us about our Savior and His birth.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Please turn with me this morning to the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel—found on the very first page of the New Testament. It’s there, in verse 18, that we read;

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows … (Matthew 1:18a).

And here, we are given the first report, in all of the Bible, of the actual event that we celebrate on Christmas. Here, the Bible gives us the formal introduction to our Savior and to His life and ministry on our behalf.

We should be glad to hear it again and again.

I have learned, over time, that the very best way to preach on the subject of Christmas is to simply tell the story. It doesn’t need anything done to it to make it interesting. After all, how much more interesting could anything be than what this story declares to us? What could possibly be more relevant to us than the story of our salvation? It’s the story of how God the Father—in love for us poor, lost sinners—sent His Son into this world to become one of us, and to save us from our sins, and to bring us to heaven. It’s the very story that explains the meaning of what are perhaps the two most well-known and best-loved verses in the Bible;

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17).

And so, my plan this morning is to simply share the story—and, I hope, share it simply. Let’s walk together through the story of Christmas as it was seen through the eyes of a man named Joseph. And as we enjoy it together, may God the Holy Spirit renew our hearts with a sense of the wonder of our Savior’s birth; and a sense of gratitude for the love He has shown us in saving us from our sins.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; the story begins with these words;

After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit (v. 18b).

As important a person as he is to this story, we really know remarkably little about the background of this man Joseph. But among the things that we do know, we know that he was from the town of Nazareth in Galilee; and that he was betrothed to a young girl from his hometown who was named Mary.

A ‘betrothal’ back in those days was a very serious thing. It was as binding in its exclusivity as the marriage itself. And yet, this man discovered—before he and Mary had come together in marriage—that she was pregnant. What a blow this must have been to him! You can tell from what the Bible says about him that he loved her. His heart must have been dreadfully broken by this news.

But there was a part of the story that Joseph didn’t know. And to fully appreciate the whole story, we need to look backward a few months in time; back to the event that is told to us in another Gospel—the Gospel of Luke. In Luke 1, we’re told of how this young woman Mary was in Nazareth—perhaps busy in her parent’s home with preparations for her coming wedding day—when the angel Gabriel came to her. He told her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:28).

This was a very significant greeting. It was a greeting that had to do with the secret hope of every girl who grew up in the land of Israel—and especially of those who were of the lineage of King David; and that is the hope that she might be the one chosen by God to give birth to the promised Messiah. And here an angel comes to Mary of Nazareth—telling her that it is indeed she who is this ‘most blessed’ among women!

This wondrous greeting must have been a joyous thing for the angel Gabriel to give. But it troubled the tender young girl. And so, Gabriel went on to say to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (vv. 30-33).

The way that the angel gave her this glorious news must have made the impression upon Mary that she would begin to bear this promised Son immediately. And this caused her to ask how this could be—since she was not yet married and had no relations with a man. And it’s then that the angel told her what is perhaps the greatest and most holy mystery in all of God’s universe. He told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (v. 35). It was not necessary for Mary to fully grasp this—to fully understand what only God can do. It’s not necessary for us to fully understand it either. All that is needed is that we know and trust that God the Holy Spirit caused Mary to become pregnant without the use of a man; and that the Child she bore in her womb was the Son of God in human flesh.

The angel then told her that her relative Elizabeth—who, because of her husband’s priestly role, may have lived somewhere near Jerusalem—was also pregnant in her old age, and was already six months along in bearing the child who would be known as John the Baptist. “For with God,” Gabriel said, “nothing will be impossible” (v. 37).

Now; this would have been a hard thing for a pious young Jewish girl to accept. After all, she would have to suffer being an object of misunderstanding; and would have to endure a lot of talk in the town. She would be pregnant without being married.; and eyebrows would be raised against her. And yet, she believed the truth of what the angel had told her, and was willing to pay the price of God’s call on her life, and said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38). And with that, the angel left her; and Mary herself went away to see her relative Elizabeth.

It would seem that somewhere along the way, as Mary journeyed to go to Elizabeth, it happened. The Holy Spirit conceived the Holy Child in her womb. When she arrived, Elizabeth greeted her with almost the same exact words as the angel used—and in such a way as to suggest that Mary already bore the Child. As soon as Mary walked in, Elizabeth exclaimed with joy, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord” (vv. 42-45).

What a confirmation this must have been to Mary! What a comfort it must have been to her! What a wondrous event! It’s an event that we here today already know and believe and love. But it was an event about which Joseph knew absolutely nothing. He only knew that his bride-to-be had been away for a few months’ time; and now had returned to Nazareth with a child growing in her womb.

In Matthew 1:19, we’re told,

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly (v. 19).

There is much being told to us in that description of Joseph—that he was “a just man”. The word “just” can also be translated “righteous”; and this would be telling us that Joseph was not guilty of any wrongdoing or any impropriety with Mary. The child was not his. It also tells us that he was a reverent man. He believed in and faithfully followed God’s commandments. He knew that, if Mary bore a child from another man, then she could not be his wife. He had to end the engagement and put her away from himself. But it also tells us that he was a good and kind man. He did not want to add to her sorrow or shame or suffering. He loved her, and wanted to be kind to her and the child she bore. And so, he intended to put an end to their relationship in a private way—so as not to further humiliate her.

He was resolved in his heart to do both the right thing and the merciful thing. But it was a torment to him because he did not yet know the truth of what had happened—the truth that we know from Luke’s Gospel. And it’s then that we’re told in verse 20;

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit (v. 20).

We’re not told who this angel was; but I suspect that it was the angel Gabriel—the very same angel who brought this remarkable news to Mary—don’t you? And notice some of the details. Notice first what it is that the angel called Joseph. He called him “son of David”. If you were to read the first half of Matthew 1, you would read the genealogy of Joseph—beginning Abraham and traced down from King David through Solomon. This man Joseph had royal blood flowing through his veins as a descendant of King David and as an heir to the royal promises that God had given to David almost a thousand years before. God had promised to David that one who would come from his body would be given a kingdom that would be established forever—a kingdom that would never come to an end. Joseph had inherited that promise; and the unborn child of the woman Joseph married would also inherit that promise.

Then notice that the angel told Joseph not to be ‘afraid’ to take Mary as his wife. This was an assurance that Joseph would not be guilty of any wrongdoing in taking her as his wife. He would not violate the commandments of God in doing so. This is because no sin had been committed in her pregnancy. No violation of God’s standards of holiness had occurred at all. He could take her to himself with full integrity; because no other man had been involved.

It may be that Joseph—like Mary—wondered how such a thing could be. And so, finally, notice that the explanation of what had occurred was also given to him. He was told that that which is conceived in the womb of Mary was not of man but was of the Holy Spirit. Joseph would have been made to know—just as Mary had been made to know—that the Holy Spirit came upon her in a mysterious way, and that the power of the Highest had overshadowed her; and that therefore “that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

And then, Joseph was told even more;

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (v. 21).

Joseph was given the responsibility of giving the Child a name. Don’t let the significance of that slip by! That is a way of indicating to us that—along with taking Mary to himself as wife—he would also fully take the Child she bore to himself as his own; for when a man officially gave a child a name, it was an act that indicated his full acceptance of that child as his own. All of the promises from God that Joseph had inherited—all of the rights of royalty through the lineage of King David—would then be passed on to the Child in Mary’s womb when Joseph gave him a name.

And consider the name itself. It was not a name that Joseph himself had decided upon. It was the name that he was given by the angel to give to the Child—the very same name that Mary was also told to give to Him months before. In the Hebrew tongue, it’s the name Yeshua—or as we would say in English, “Joshua”. In the Greek language, it’s the name Iesous—or as we know it in English, “Jesus”. And in both languages, it’s a name that means “Yahweh Saves”. It is the name of the promised Messiah—the Savior; “for” as the angel said, “He will save His people from their sins”.

But do you notice that even though His name means “Yahweh Saves”, Joseph was not then merely told by the angel that “Yahweh”—the covenant name for the God of Israel—would be the one who will save His people from their sins? Rather, he said that it is this promised Child who would Himself save His people from their sins. That’s why He was given that name—“Yahweh Saves”. And so here, we’re told another remarkable thing about this Child; that He Himself is God in human flesh, and that He—as God incarnate who has come to dwell with His people—would be the One who saves His people from their sins.

We are shown this in the next thing that we read. In verses 22-23, we’re told;

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (vv. 22-23).

These words are given as an explanation of how the birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises of God’s prophetic word. And consider them carefully. First, notice that we’re being told that the remarkable conception of our Savior in the womb of Mary is something that had been promised in Scripture. Matthew is quoting from the prophet Isaiah—who wrote 750 years before Jesus was born—in Isaiah 7:14. Our Savior’s conception in the womb of Mary was the fulfillment of a promise from God.

Second, notice the promise itself. It is that a virgin shall be with child and bear a son. The word “virgin” can simply mean a young woman; and this specific prophecy had immediate application to a woman living in Isaiah’s time. But here, in the Gospel of Matthew, we are made to know that it was a prophecy that had a double meaning—and that its ultimate fulfillment was found in the fact that Mary—without the aid of a man—bore Jesus in her womb by the Holy Spirit. Just a short time after this prophecy—in Isaiah 9:6-7—we’re told;

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this (Isaiah 9:6-7).

And finally, notice that in that prophecy, we’re told that the Child would have another name. He would have the name “Immanuel”; which being translated means “God with us.” And that’s what Jesus is. He is the eternal Son of God clothed in human flesh—conceived in the womb of Mary—born into the human family to be God with us. Because He is “Immanuel”—“God with us”, He is able to truly be “Jesus” to us—“Yahweh Saves”.

Now; it must be that Joseph knew that this was more than just a dream. He acted, it seems, without delay. Verse 24 tells us;

Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife … (v. 24).

God, in His mercy, did not leave either Mary or her holy Child without an earthly protector and provider. What a great responsibility Joseph had! But what a great honor! And in the last verse, we’re told this final word about Joseph; that he took Mary as his wife,

and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son (v. 25a).

He kept his wife a virgin until the time that the Child was born; so that the testimony would be preserved that our Savior truly was born of a virgin, and that He truly had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that He truly was “the Son of God”.

And he called His name Jesus (v. 25b).

* * * * * * * * * * *

Now; this passage has taught us much about Joseph’s reaction to the Christmas story. But please take careful notice of what it teaches us about the Child Himself, whose birth we celebrate on Christmas.

First, notice His conception. His birth is not the real miracle of the story of Christmas. After all, the Bible seems to report that He was born in very much the same way as any of us were born. But it was not His birth—as wonderful as that birth was—that identifies Him to us as the Son of God. Rather, it was His conception. That was the true miracle. As was made very clear to Joseph, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of the Highest had overshadowed her in a mysterious way; and therefore that Holy One who was born of her is the Son of God. His birth is worthy of being celebrated because of who His conception shows Him to be.

Second, notice His royalty. His conception in the womb of Mary is the fulfillment of a great and glorious promise to the Jewish people—and for the hope of the whole world. He is that Child promised to be born of the virgin; the one upon whom the government will rest; the one who is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace; the Son of David whose reign will never end. What hope His birth is to this world!

And third, notice His ministry. He is called “Immanuel”; because in Him, God has taken up residence among men and dwells among us. And He is called “Jesus”; because He saves His people from their sins.

I hope that you never get tired of this story. And more, I hope that you have embraced Him as your Savior.

EA