Highlights from Sunday: Believe In Christmas - Joseph Believed

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Believe In Christmas: Joseph Believed
Matthew 1:18-25


Introduction

The theme…I believe in Christmas! Each family has their own traditions for Christmas. What’s the point of Christmas? I am going to tell you an ancient story. One that includes many spectacular things. An angry king who is afraid of losing his throne and is willing to do anything including murder to keep it. Shepherds who witness an act of God and come seeking His face. Men who come from a far off place seeking out answers to the questions they have from the placement of the stars. All of this begins in a small village town called Nazareth. A young woman who is engaged to be married receives a visit from a messenger from God. She will become pregnant with a child.  A young man is faced with the choice of believing in the impossible and walking by faith in God or acting on his own understanding. This couple is chosen by God to raise His only Son, to parent the Messiah of the world. What God planned since before the foundation of the world was now taking place…and it all began in a town with a regular man and a woman.

Big Idea: Do you believe that God can do miraculous things?
Read: Matthew 1:18 25

:18-19 (The Situation)

The birth of Jesus Christ. This is how Jesus Christ came to be in this place we call earth. This is interesting because we know that Jesus existed as the Word or the second part of the trinity since forever. The word used here for birth purposefully means Christ’s beginning here on earth as a human being.

His name
  •   Jesus “Jehovah is salvation
  •   Christ “anointed or Messiah”
  •   His official name at birth would not have included Christ…He was Jesus son of Joseph or of Nazareth
  •   His name actually means God is reaching out to mankind out of love and grace to save us

The engagement
  •  Mary is betrothed to marry Joseph
    •   Betroth
      •   To promise to marry by one’s truth – pledge
      •   Usually took place one year before the marriage
      •   From the time of betrothal the woman was regarded as the lawful wife of the man to whom she was betrothed (Deut. 28:30; Judg. 14:2, 8)
      •   Anyone violating a betrothal would be dealt with as if it were a marriage
    •   What does that tell us about this situation?
      •   Mary and Joseph were legally bound together
      •   Unfaithfulness would have deadly consequences
      •   There was a lot more at stake here than what meets the eye
      •   Mary and Joseph had not yet been intimate, so a pregnancy would be a problem.
  •  Joseph is faced with a question
    •   Joseph is righteous
      •   observing divine laws, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God.
    •   Because he is righteous what does he do?
      •   Divorces her quietly
      •   Does not deliver her to public disgrace
        •  To make an example of her
      •   Planned to divorce her quietly
        •  Out of his love for God and for Mary
        •  He would divorce her quietly

  Application:

 In the midst of all of the amazing things that are happening here…don’t miss a very important application from Joseph. What is Joseph? Righteous. Because Joseph is righteous what does he intend to do? Divorce Mary quietly so she won’t be subject to public disgrace. If Mary had indeed committed adultery she would have deserved much worse right? Because Joseph was a righteous man and loved God he extended God’s grace and forgiveness to Mary.

What about us? Are we not quick to hand out justice in the name of our Lord but failing to hand out an equal measure of grace and forgiveness? Joseph teaches us that there is a way to do what is right, to issue consequences in a loving way. There’s a difference!

:20-21 (The Impossible Event)

 Joseph is thinking his decision over
 A visit from an angel
 “Behold!”
Hebrew style narrative, Marker used to liven up to change scene, to emphasize an idea, to
call attention to detail. 
An angel or messenger
  •   Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife
  •   Do not hesitate to marry her
  •   Do not be afraid of ruining your family name by marrying her

 What has conceived in her is from God and not a product of a man. She is still virtuous. She has not committed adultery. What do you think Joseph is thinking right now? Simple anatomy and biology.

 “She will bear a son”
  Not just a son but The Son
 “You shall call His name Jesus”
The father is essentially responsible for naming the child, so it makes sense that the angel tells Joseph the name. But it makes complete sense that The Father (God) would name Jesus why? He is His Son. In Bible times names meant a lot. Children were named after situations they were born in or parents or what their future would hold. Jesus is named “Because He will save His people from their sins.” Who are His people here? Who is referred to here? Those who come to know Him as Lord and Savior.

:22-23 (Prophecy Fulfilled)

  “This took place to fulfill…”
 To bring to pass or accomplish
  “What was spoken by the Lord through the prophet”
 From the prophet Isaiah from the book of Isaiah written hundreds of years before.
  “The virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14)

This is a messianic prophecy about the birth of Jesus Christ given to a king named Ahaz who was ruling Judah at the time as a sign that two other nations who were pitted against him would not succeed and would fall before this prophecy came to pass. When Jesus was born and fulfilled this prophecy, these nations were fallen and the prophecy was proved true. What does this do for us? What does this sign do for our faith? God is working. God has a plan and it is being realized in Jesus Christ. He is in control and is working in our lives. This prophecy was also meant to strengthen our faith in Jesus and to believe in who He is and what He came to do.

:24-25 (Obedience)

  “he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him”
This phrase is not given much attention but is very important. Joseph makes his decision. He chooses to obey the Lord, to believe the miracle and to face the consequences that his wife is pregnant and with no husband.
  “kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son”
Mary would remain a virgin and thus fulfill the prophecy of a virgin giving birth to Jesus. With that we learn that Joseph and Mary made many sacrifices in order to participate in this wonderful work that the Lord had given them to do.

 Conclusion

What does all of this mean for us? We have all heard this story year after year. We all know the miracles that happened and stand in awe of God’s awesome power. But what should we take home today? What do we learn from Joseph here? What was it that he did? He accepted God’s commands in his life. Joseph could have easily divorced Mary and found a lady who would have been a better candidate for marriage, but he believed in God’s word! He acted in faith that Mary was indeed part of something that had never happened before.

What is God commanding in your life today? What awesome activity is He asking you to trust Him in? Are you willing to do that today? Are you willing to trust Him beyond everything that makes sense and step out in faith? Throughout this story, we see God stepping into this world so that we could step into another one of His. God came down here for us and is inviting us to come there with Him and He has done this through His Son Jesus Christ. Since forever He has had this plan and the evidence of this is found throughout Scripture and is realized in one person…

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