The Courage of Joseph
Welcome!
Would you open your Bibles to…
Matt. 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
Matt. 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
Matt. 1:20 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.
Matt. 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Matt. 1:22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
Matt. 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matt. 1:24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,
Matt. 1:25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
Pray
Intro
√ The Christmas Story
The focus of the Christmas story is on the Christmas Child, and rightly so ~ no baby Jesus ~ no Christmas!
Yet, there is a cast of supporting characters that are essential to the telling of the story that we often overlook.
Each one plays an important (and God ordained) part in the unfolding drama of the ages as God implements His invasion plan to redeem Mankind.
So, I’m going to take leave of our study through the Gospel of Matthew and spend the month of December looking in-depth at some of the people selected by God to take part in the First Christmas…
The courage of Joseph
The faith of Mary
The hope of the Wiseman
…and finish with a look at Jesus, the love of God.
√ Joseph
We’ll begin our series by looking at a man in the Christmas story that is often overlooked because he’s in the background.
In nativity scenes he stands silently in the background, just behind the manger, where the baby Jesus is laid.
His name is Joseph and he seems to play a secondary role in the nativity story.
In fact, the Bible doesn’t record a single word that he spoke!
Then, after Jesus becomes a teenager Joseph disappears from the historical record!
Yet, just as Mary was selected by God to be the blessed woman who would bear the Messiah…
…so too was Joseph chosen to be Jesus’ step-father and entrusted with the task of protecting baby Jesus and his mother.
What was it that God esteemed in Joseph’s life that moved Him to entrust His greatest treasure…
…His Son, to this man?
In a word, courage!
Joseph had the courage to…
Live a morally upright life in an immoral world
Marry a pregnant girl who was not carrying his child
Protect his wife and stepson as he led them from
Perhaps that is why the Holy Spirit has included the story of Joseph to encourage each of us to live courageously, even if it means living dangerously, that we might do God’s will.
Ap. A man like me
Before we study the courage of Joseph, we must remember that Joseph was no different than you and me…
…he was an ordinary man of flesh and blood who lived in an extra-ordinary way because of his relationship with God.
To live right in a wrong world (vs. 18-19a)
Matt. 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.
Matt. 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man,
√ To live right in a wrong world
Note that Matthew tells us that Joseph was a “just” man. The word “just” comes to us from the Greek word “dikaios” which means…
“equitable-fair (in character or act); by implication, innocent, holy (absolutely or relatively): — just, right(-eous).”
That is to say that he was a man who consistently did what was right, regardless of the consequence, or what others might think…
…he did what was morally correct.
I’d suggest that doing things God’s way in a wicked world takes courage!
To do what’s right in spite of how you “feel”, or what others might say, or tempt you to do.
Joseph was a man who lived in a way that pleased God, in contrast to the unrighteousness that characterized so much of the “religious” leaders in his generation.
Ap. It takes courage to live a righteous life
Our generation is without doubt one of the most immoral in the history of Man!
Our society is loathe to call anything “immoral”, or “wrong”.
Rather, we live in a world that champions “diversity” which is simply another way of saying that they reject absolute truth.
Preferring instead to pretend that all ideas, religions and world views are equally valid.
In our world it takes guts, moral courage, to stand up and say that something is wrong because God says it is wrong!
We need men today like Joseph who will do what is right even when it’s not popular or easy.
To
handle disappointments with grace (vs. 18-19)
Matt. 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
√ To handle disappointments with grace
We see courage displayed in Joseph’s life in the way that he handles this very difficult situation…
…discovering that his bride-to-be is pregnant ~ and he’s not the father!
Ex. How would you react?
What would you do if you were in Joseph’s sandals?
Your bride-to-be shows up pregnant, you know that you’re not the father as you’ve not yet consummated the marriage…
…so the only logical explanation is that she’s been unfaithful to you ~ she’s an adulteress!
Most men would react with…
Shock ~ Joseph thought Mary was a pure and chaste young girl. To discover that she was pregnant must have turned his world upside down!
Sorrow ~ His dreams of a lifetime together would seem to be shattered.
Anger ~ Joseph must have felt betrayed. His manly pride would have made him want to act out, to attack someone ~ Mary or the “man” she’d been with.
But, the scripture reports that he…
“…not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”
That is, he restrained himself and any anger that he may have felt toward Mary and chose a path to protect her from public disgrace and even death!
That takes courage ~ moral courage to do the right thing when one’s pride has been crushed and one’s heart has been broken.
Joseph chose to manifest the character of His God, the God Who is the…
“Love that covers a multitude of sins”. ~ I Peter 4:8
That is, Joseph chose to do what God would have him to do and not what his emotions or his human nature would want to do.
To obey God when it’s costly (vs. 20-25)
Matt. 1:20 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.
Matt. 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Matt. 1:22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
Matt. 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Matt. 1:24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife,
Matt. 1:25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.
√ To obey God when it’s costly
Courage is defined as…
“The ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.”
I would add…
“To obey in the face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action.”
My point is that Joseph was now faced with a new, and more difficult choice.
To obey God and take Mary as his own wife would mean that he would now share in the unjust shame that would be heaped upon her.
If he divorced her, even privately, she alone would bear the shame of being pregnant out of wedlock.
But, if he took her as his wife then everyone would assume that the baby was his!
To take Mary as his wife required courage because it meant that for the rest of his life he would have to endure the whispers and disapproving looks of the people who would assume that he got her pregnant before they were married.
To obey God would cost Joseph his reputation as a “just man”, would tarnish his standing in the community, and would hurt him personally.
While what people thought of Joseph and Mary wouldn’t be fair…
…Joseph chose to face the injustice of life with courage because he knew that to obey God was more important than the praise of Men.
To protect the weak & innocent (vs. 13-18)
Matt. 2:13 Now when
they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream,
saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to
Matt. 2:14 When he
arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for
Matt. 2:15 and was
there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of
Matt. 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
Matt. 2:17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
Matt. 2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”
√ To protect the weak & innocent
We won’t cover this section of scripture in depth, rather, we just want to take note of Joseph’s courage in the face of real danger!
Matthew tells us that Herod sought to kill Jesus and dispatched troops with instructions to kill all the boys 2 years old and younger.
It wouldn’t take much time for the soldiers to get there!
So, in the middle of the night Joseph gets word from an
Angel that he needs to get Mary and Jesus and head to
Joseph had to get everything together for a trip across the desert, at night, through hostile territory…
…all the while trying to stay ahead of the pursuing soldiers!
Not an easy task with a baby and his mother ~ can’t move very fast!
Ex. Guys ~ just trying to get your family to church on time can be a challenge!
Now imagine what it was like for Joseph!
He’s got soldiers behind him, thieves laying in wait before him (remember ~ they’ve got treasure with them)…
…and a long journey through the Sinai dessert on foot with a baby and his mom!
Yet, we read that Joseph responded immediately to God’s direction!
That takes courage!
Joseph had the courage to face the dangers in life.
Close
√ The courage of Joseph
The next time you see a Nativity Scene remember to look for Joseph.
He’ll be the ordinary looking guy standing in the background admiring God’s Son.
When you see him, remember his courage.
Joseph was a courageous man because of his relationship with God.
He was able to face his fears and do what was right because he trusted God.
He may not have always understood God’s ways…
…but he was confident that God’s plan was best and that God would be with him every step of the way.
That gave him the courage to do what needed to be done.
Ap. Are you a courageous man?
We need courageous men today…
Men with the courage to live an ordinary life if that’s what God has appointed them to do ~ to just show up and provide for their families.
Men with the courage to face life’s disappointments with grace and love ~ to treat their wife and children with kindness and love even when hurt.
Men with the courage to share the injustices of life to protect those they love.
Men with the courage to lay down their life to protect those that God has entrusted to their care.
Our wives and children need us to be men with courage, to lead them with love and to protect them from this world.
√ Courage comes from God
Courage is cultivated in our time with the Lord.
The more you know Him, the more courageous you’ll be because you’ll grow to trust Him in every situation in life.
As we look toward the celebration of the birth of our Savior let’s remember Joseph whom God selected to watch over His Son…
…because he was a real man of courage.