Shownotes
Welcome to Day 2289 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Characters of Christmas-1 Joseph, The Unsung Hero of Christmas – Daily Wisdom
Putnam Church Message – 11/27/2022 The Characters of Christmas: Joseph, the Unsung Hero of Christmas Last week, we studied one of the most miraculous historical events in a message titled A Miraculous Resurrection. The focus was on the three essential principles of the resurrection:- The resurrection of Jesus assures us of God’s forgiveness.
- The resurrection of Jesus assures us of God’s power.
- The resurrection assures us of God’s ultimate triumph at the end of history.
Transcripts
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Characters of Christmas-1 Joseph, The Unsung Hero of Christmas – Daily Wisdom
/:The Characters of Christmas: Joseph, the Unsung Hero of Christmas
Last week, we studied one of the most miraculous historical events in a message titled A Miraculous Resurrection. The focus was on the three essential principles of the resurrection:
The resurrection of Jesus assures us of God’s forgiveness.
The resurrection of Jesus assures us of God’s power.
The resurrection assures us of God’s ultimate triumph at the end of history.
We will break from our series of the Good News according to John the Apostle, where we have three more messages to finish up the entire book of John. Starting today, we begin an Advent series exploring five characters of Christmas, beginning with Joseph, The Unsung Hero.
, on page:Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] 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,[c] 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 conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” [d] (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 did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
When you crack open the Christmas story, you’ll find it populated by now-familiar characters. Some, like Mary, have loomed large on the pages of church history. Others, like Joseph, seem to fade into the background. And still others, like Simeon and Anna, are obscure figures, bit players whom the gospel writers insisted on including in their accounts.
This Christmas, I’d like to invite you to explore the lives of several people we see around our nativity sets, huddled around the manger and those making their cameo appearances in the drama of God-made flesh. We should become familiar with them not because their lives are the story’s point, but because their lives, like ours, point ultimately to the one character whose birth changed the world: Jesus Christ. He is the light that illuminates their lives and, if we believe, can illuminate our own.
From the fall in the garden down through the ages, God promised His people that He would send a Messiah, a Redeemer who would be that Light, not only to the Jewish people, whom He had called out to be light, but we are also called to be the light to the entire world. The prophet Isaiah spoke of this day:
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone. (Isa. 9:2)
So, as we reflect on this Christmas season, I invite you to look afresh at the story of Jesus as told through the lives of those who found their way to the manger, or are some part of the Christmas story who intersect with the story we tell ourselves every year around fireplaces, in churches, and hidden places around the world. And let’s let the characters of Christmas point us back to the One whose light illuminates us all.
And so, let us explore the role of Joseph in the Christmas story. He surely had plans as a young man betrothed but not yet married to his bride. So, he worked hard as a carpenter to provide for his soon-to-be bride and any children they may have. But, amid this dream, his life, future, and faith would be tested.
Joseph’s Unexpected (Bad) News
We don’t know precisely how Joseph found out that his fiancée was pregnant, but we can imagine the difficult conversations he must have had with Mary. I love how Matthew sums up all this awkwardness with the understated phrase “she was found to be pregnant” (Matt. 1:18). Did she tell him before she hurried off to visit her relative, Elizabeth, or when she returned up to three months later when she might be starting to show? Regardless, when Joseph found out, he hadn’t yet benefitted from the angelic visit. Instead, he only had the word of Mary, whom he likely hardly knew. Moreover, even though they were engaged to be married, the custom of those days was that in the year between the engagement and the consummation of their marriage, the bride and groom spent little time together. Instead, he was probably busy with carpentry work and building their room on his parent’s home.
Imagine Joseph’s shock when Mary told him that she was pregnant. Unlike today, where sexual activity is assumed among couples in serious relationships, Joseph and Mary had not been intimate. Joseph likely responded with stunned silence. She told him that she was not only pregnant, but that her baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit! Mary believed she saw an angel and may have even written a celebration song, but Joseph was likely in no mood to party. Mary, are you serious? How could you do this to me? What do you mean you are still a virgin? That’s impossible! Who did this to you? Where is he?
We read Matthew’s account with the benefit of two thousand years of hindsight. We’re going through our Advent readings and planning our Christmas calendar. We’re putting up cute little nativity scenes and having our kids or grandkids dress up like Joseph and Mary.
But at this moment, when the shock of his situation hit him, Joseph couldn’t see ahead toward what God was doing in the world through his seemingly inconsequential life. /This child inside his fiancée may be the Son of God. /This child may be the true and better David. /This child may save people from their sins and renew and restore the world, /but for Joseph, this was his worst nightmare. One commentator says breaking an engagement like this is worse than breaking a business contract. Joseph felt betrayed. He felt alone. He felt stuck. What would he tell his family and friends?
Put yourself in his sandals. He hadn’t seen any angels. He was just faithfully living his life, working as a carpenter, and doing his best to build a life for his future family. He trusted Mary to be faithful and devout and had pledged his life to her. And yet, it seemed she had betrayed him.
Matthew says in 1:20 that “as he considered this.” Joseph had some serious thinking to do. We don’t know how long God waited between Gabriel’s visit to Mary and the subsequent visit to Joseph. Was it months? weeks? days? We know he likely didn’t get any sleep in this time of uncertainty and confusion. So we can imagine Joseph’s fitful nights, pacing, restless, considering these things.
Joseph really only had two choices. In those days, if a betrothed bride was found to have committed adultery, there were two options. The plan of action most men would have taken is quite drastic. Joseph could publicly shame her by bringing her before the religious authorities, resulting in the forfeiture of the dowry he paid to her father and possibly even her death by stoning. Consider the case of the adulterous woman in John 8, whom Jesus rescues from public execution.
The alternative would be to divorce her privately. He would still endure embarrassment in his community and face questions from his peers and family about what went wrong,/ but he’d also obey his conscience and do what was best for Mary.
There is much to stop and commend, even in this seeming footnote to the Christmas story. Joseph didn’t decide out of immediate anger. He wasn’t irrational and unstable. Instead, he demonstrated remarkable grace and poise for a younger man who had just seen his life turn upside down. He took time and assessed the situation and, seeing Mary's humanity, made the choice that would be best for her.
God’s Good News
We know Joseph didn’t go through with a divorce because God sent a heavenly messenger to visit Joseph—just as an angel had visited Mary. This time, God spoke to Joseph through a dream, recalling a divine word spoken to another Joseph. Just as Jacob’s son in Genesis /would be asked by God to endure a difficult life he didn’t envision/ and to bear the shame of sins he didn’t commit, /so too would this Joseph.
And see how the angel addresses his subject. He refers to Joseph as a “son of David.” God didn’t pick just any first-century Jewish man to steward the life of His Son. He chose a faithful son of David. The only other person in the New Testament to be referred to as a son of David is Jesus. This title came with authority, reminding Joseph of his royal lineage and preparing him for the task ahead. Matthew also tells his readers that Jesus was a rightful son of David, something Paul later affirmed when he said in Romans that Jesus is a son of David “according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3).
Then the angel assured Joseph that the baby in Mary’s womb was not the fruit of sin, but was conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, God had chosen her as the mother of Jesus. We don’t know how this made Joseph feel. We don’t know if he recalled the Scriptures read in the temple and the words of the prophet that described the future Messiah coming from a young virgin (Isaiah 7), but just in case, the angel reminded him of the Scripture. Perhaps this reality overwhelmed him, that this “fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4- 7) had arrived. The march of salvation history,/ the fulfillment of prophecy,/ and the long-awaited promise/was on his doorstep and in his life. What a holy moment this must have been for Joseph. What a time to celebrate with holy awe and kneel in humble adoration!
The Rightful King
It should also cause us to stop and worship as well. This is why we should slow down in December and feel the anticipation of Old Testament saints as they awaited Jesus’ first advent. This episode in the Christmas narrative reminds us of God’s great faithfulness to His promises. Those words Isaiah and other prophets spoke were not just inspirational tidings to put on holiday cards and Christmas ornaments. They were a continuation of God’s promise to send a redeemer, an Immanuel, a God-man to live among us and, to quote the angel, “save his people from their sins.”
This is why Matthew boldly claims that this son of a carpenter from Nazareth was no ordinary man, but was a king, in the line of David, fulfilling God’s promise. Jesus had to be virgin born in that He had to be free of the inherited curse of sin. As the new Adam, Jesus would fulfill what the first Adam could not do. Moreover, He would defeat the sin and death that corrupts the human race.
The angel reminded Joseph that this was no ordinary birth and his role would not be that of a typical father. And yet, in telling Joseph to name the baby “Jesus,” he reminded Joseph of his stewardship. The father named the sons in those days, and by naming him, Joseph would essentially adopt Jesus. Unlike other earthly fathers, he would not be able to pick a name of his choosing, and yet, like Adam, whom God tasked with naming the animals, Joseph would be assigned a leadership role in naming the future Son of God. Joseph, son of Adam, would steward this baby who would fulfill what the first Adam could not fulfill.
A Devout Son of David
I find the way the angel appeared to Joseph in confirming the news of Mary’s pregnancy interesting. As we noted above, he first called him the “son of David,” appealing to the pride of his legacy. You are of royal ancestry; he seems to be saying to this scared man, you are part of the people of God. Then, second, he appeals to him based on Scripture. This is, the angel reminds him, to fulfill Scripture.
This tells us two things about the man who would be the earthly guardian of Jesus: he knew who he was and was committed to Scripture. This is no small thing. This is how the Bible appeals to followers of Jesus today:/ Know who you are as a Christian and what the Bible says.
And Joseph’s response was what you’d expect from a devout son of David committed to the Scriptures: he immediately obeyed. Matthew tells us, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” (1:24).
Joseph had immediate obedience to a difficult mission. Contrast this response to the prophet Jonah, who was also called to a difficult mission. Jonah didn’t wake up and go to Nineveh immediately. Instead, he tried to find a way around God’s mission. Joseph’s obedience to God cost him the right to value his own reputation. Many Christians today, probably much older than Joseph and claiming the power of the Holy Spirit, have yet to learn his lesson!
Joseph was a man of few words. We don’t know much about him at all. But we do know he was a man of simple faithfulness. He did the next right thing in front of him. So much of following God is asking, “What is the next right move?”
And let’s consider, for a moment, what Joseph was signing up for. This was no easy assignment. In marrying Mary, he would be subject to endless scrutiny. If you think he reacted strangely, at first, to Mary’s conception by the Holy Spirit, how well do you think others in his immediate circle would respond? Unlike Joseph, they would not have the benefit of an angelic visit. They would have to take his word or reject him.
In listening to the voice of God, Joseph was giving up his reputation. Think about the significance of Joseph marrying his pregnant wife in his society:
Everybody in that shame-and-honor society will know that this child was not born nine or ten months after they got married; they will know she was already pregnant. So that would mean Joseph and Mary had sex before marriage, or she was unfaithful to him, and as a result, they would be shamed, socially excluded, and rejected. They were probably poor, to begin with, and now they are going to be second-class citizens forever!
By saying yes to God, Joseph was saying no to everything he had worked for, including his reputation in the community. It’s easy for us to glance over this and not give it another thought as we read this part of Matthew’s gospel this Christmas, but we should pause and consider how significant this decision was. Joseph would be an outsider among his people. He would bear the shame for sins he didn’t commit. And yet it only foreshadows the shame that this baby would one day bear on behalf of Joseph and Mary and all who know Jesus. This is why Jesus would later sweat drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus would literally become sin for His people, /so much so that the Father, /who cannot abide sin,/ turned His face away from His own Son. He was, to quote Isaiah, He was despised and rejected (Isa. 53:3 ).
Joseph would lose not only his reputation but also his comfort and safety. He would also not be intimate with Mary until Jesus was born. This was not something the angel told him to do. But he went above and beyond what was required to say yes to God. Rather than asking, “How do I feel?” Joseph continually asked, “What’s the right and best thing to do?”
When Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus, since his family was from Bethlehem, they expected to be able to stay with family members. It may have been that the Inn was not the only place without room for them to lodge. They were outcasts in their own family.
We learn later in Matthew that once Herod heard of the birth of Jesus and sought to kill Him, Joseph was commanded by God to take the young infant and his wife Mary and leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt. But, again, we tend to overlook this detail as we read Scripture. But let’s imagine the difficulty of travel in those days: the added expenses and severing ties with family and friends. And yet, when the angel appeared to Joseph in another dream, Joseph didn’t hesitate. Again, he immediately obeyed God’s voice and went to Egypt./ In this journey to Egypt, we again see echoes of the Old Testament, where another Joseph was summoned to a hard life in Egypt to save the people of God and Abraham and Sarah’s journey to Egypt for food amid famine. This is why Hosea references this history, when he says of God’s care for Israel, “I called my son out of Egypt.” (11:1).
This speaks to Joseph’s faithfulness and character. He put the interests of his family above his comfort. I’m sure the transient nature of their early family life hurt his carpentry business. In addition, living as a refugee in Egypt, where he likely joined other Jewish exiles, probably made his life more difficult. And yet, even though Joseph was not Jesus’ biological Father, he was Jesus’ earthly Father in every sense of the word. He adopted Jesus as his own and cared for Him. This is why the genealogies use Joseph’s name to trace Jesus’ heritage.
nistry as recorded in Matthew:54 He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” 55 Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph,[a] Simon, and Judas. 56 All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” 57 And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” 58 And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.
Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? When Jesus began His ministry, His Father (Joseph) was better known than He. Jesus was, in His childhood, defined by His Father. It’s hard for us to fathom, but Jesus, fully God yet fully human, likely learned most of what He knew from Joseph. The Scripture Jesus quoted when tempted in the wilderness was probably first heard from the lips of Joseph. The care He showed toward the weak and vulnerable was probably first exhibited by the self-sacrifice of His earthly dad.
n His hometown say in Matthew:Joseph’s Legacy
Ultimately, we don’t know what happens to Joseph after he is mentioned in that visit by Jesus to the temple at the age of twelve. He doesn’t show up again in the Scriptures, and there is reason to believe that perhaps he met an untimely death.
In every other passage of Scripture where the family is featured, only Mary and Jesus’ siblings are mentioned. Given that Joseph was likely older than Mary and life expectancy for a first-century peasant Jew was not great, it could be that losing His Father was Jesus’ first instance of human suffering.
re for His mother, Mary (John:And so this is Joseph’s legacy. We are barely mentioned in Scripture, forgotten mostly in church history, but remembered by God as a faithful servant. And for most of us, this can also be our legacy if we are willing, like Joseph, to say yes to God.
(Bulletin Insert – Read the six points of Joseph, the Unsung Hero of Christmas)
Next week, our characters of Christmas are A Christmas Miracle: Zechariah and Elizabeth, so please read Luke 1 in preparation for next week.