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Pastor Vic's Message
"Being right when it looks wrong."
Christmas from Joseph’s
perspective
December 7, 2008
Matthew 1
Today is the
second Sunday of Advent. Advent means a coming. This is the time of year we
remember Jesus' first coming and look forward to His Second Coming. Christmas
is a fulfillment of the past and a hope for the future. Christmas is a time to
look both ways.
One of Jesus’
last commands was to watch and pray. We tend to be pretty sloppy at watching
and observing. I do not read and ponder the signs of the times too well. I was
thinking this week about how the economy will affect churches. What is the
Lord trying to say to us? Are we looking for God’s activity in all this?
If I asked each of you to sketch a friend on paper, how many of us would
recognize the sketch you made? But if you had practiced, if you took time and
looked at your friend and drew him from the front, side, different angles, if
you practiced drawing and seeing how the eyes fit in relation to the nose and
face, if you began to see how the cheek bones added different shadows, if you
could see the unique folds in the ears and the shape of the other features,
then if I asked you to sketch your friend, it would be much more accurate and
maybe we would recognize your sketch.
Now apply that to your Bible study. If I asked you to sketch God, how accurate
would your description be? Would your drawing be Christian or cultic? But if
you had been searching the Scriptures and comparing one feature with another,
if you had been looking at the relationship of different truths, then your
description would be more accurate.
When you read the Word, do you really see? Do you have eyes but do not see?
Turn to Matthew 1:1. What do you see? This verse tells you several things
about the author. What do you see? 1. He intends to write a book and this is
the beginning. 2. This book is a genealogy. Not an extensive genealogy, but
just of one person named Jesus Christ. The focus is Jesus. 3. The writer must
mean something different by the word 'son' than I do. I only have one Father.
4. Genealogies are very important to the writer. 5. The writer thinks he has
found something important. Apparently to be a descendent of both Abraham and
David was very special. There seems to be a reason Matthew included 4 women in
the genealogy.
What does all this mean? It means Matthew is writing to Jews, but with a few
surprises. They were really impressed with family lineage. For them the
ancestor was always more important than the offspring. Within the norm God has
a surprise. Jesus is more important than Abraham and David. In Matthew’s
letter, the reader is expected to understand Jewish customs. The reader is
expected to think very highly of Moses and the prophets.
Now what is Matthew saying in our Scripture today? This Jesus is Christ in
nature and title. This Jesus is greater than David and Abraham. One branch of
Judaism identified the Messiah as the Son of Abraham. Another branch
indentified the Messiah as the Son of David. The name David is 3 letters in
Hebrew ‘dwd’. To the Jew the letter ‘d’ had the value of 4 and the letter ‘w’
had the value of 6. This Jesus is the climax of God’s plan. This Jesus is a
name above all names.
The first 17 verses are written because of verse 18. They did not have embryo
transplants at that time. It was impossible for a woman to become pregnant
without coming together with a man. Mary received an embryo by a miracle of
the Holy Spirit and it had never happened before. She became a surrogate
mother.
There was a Jewish scandal. A young girl has been seduced by some deceitful
man who said he was an angel. Was it Joseph who slept with Mary before the
engagement period was complete? That is why righteous men required an
engagement period. Mary was probably 13 years old. She was probably more naïve
than our girls here. She did not watch movies and TV. She was not involved
with sexual chat on her cell phone. She had always been a good girl.
Let’s pretend. Joseph was older than Mary so think about a 20 year old like
John writing up a contract before witnesses with the parents of a 13 year old
girl. John is a very godly young man so he will wait one year before he brings
Mary home. During their engagement they were never alone, but they were
married. We had a cousin that made that commitment. She never kissed Sherman
until their wedding ceremony. Joseph now has legal rights over Mary. To get
out of the engagement required a divorce. Then 6 months later it becomes
obvious that Mary is pregnant.
The birth of Jesus is wrapped in scandal and surprises. Read the genealogy
notice the scandal and surprises.
In the KJV look at the long list of begats. In the NIV notice all the fathers
and the surprise that Joseph was different. Joseph does not begat Jesus. He
receives Jesus. All other fathers caused their sons to be born, but not
Joseph. Jesus was born to Joseph. Literally the Greek reads, “Joseph the
husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus.” Joseph was a step-father.
This is a surprise in the genealogy! The active verb is repeated for every
link in the family except the last. The repeated active verb becomes a divine
passive. “He begat” becomes “he was begotten”. The fathers were the active
agents until Joseph, then God becomes the active agent and Joseph receives the
action. Joseph is the passive agent. Joseph is Jesus’ legal parent.
Why does Matthew use lists of 14? Some say 14 refers to the phases of the moon
or tides. And in the rhythms of God’s grace, Jesus came. 14 is the number of
David’s name. 3x14 is 6 sevens and Jesus would be the 7th seven. 3x14 is 42
which was the last normal period before Pentecost and the year of Jubilee. 42
was a period of years before the conclusion. Maybe Matthew just wants to
surprise us. It is clearly said that God had a plan. There was a design behind
the history of God’s people.
Between Abraham and Jesus, Luke has 56 names, compared to Matthew’s 41.
Matthew structured history to state clearly that God had a plan.
Jesus did not come by the will or decision of man. We cannot make God appear.
Neither can we cause ourselves to become Christians. We believe Jesus and
choose to follow Him. He is the gift of God. In one sense we receive this
gift.
If you read through the first chapter a few times, you begin to sense that you
are seeing through a man's eyes. We are looking at Jesus' birth from Joseph's
point of view. Maybe Matthew interviewed Joseph. Maybe Joseph wrote a diary.
As he looks back on his ancestors, he is amazed that God would bless him.
Why are 4 women included in this genealogy? The 4 women mentioned were sinners
or foreigners. The Messiah’s lineage included scandal and surprises. Maybe
Mary still had a poor reputation. Maybe Matthew is reminding us that God can
use people with poor reputations. God may even use me. Even with dirty spots
in my past, God blesses me. God surprises us by using the weak, scandalous,
and irregular. The women in the past then remind us that God often works in
the most unusual ways.
When you pause to think about it, you too will be amazed that God could ever
love you and forgive you of your sin, but He did and He does. You may have
something in your past that you are very ashamed of, but God accepts you just
as you are, forgives you, and tells you, “Go and sin no more.” If you keep
sinning you are under God’s curse. If you walk in His ways you are blessed.
Jesus is the same word as Joshua and means 'God is Saviour' or ‘God is
salvation’.
Christ and/or Messiah mean 'anointed one' or priest.
Son of David means he is in line for the throne. It was a title used by the
prophets.
Son of Abraham means he is a real Jew. Salvation history begins with God’s
promise to Abraham. Matthew was concerned about our salvation more than our
creation.
Verse 18 says, the birth of Jesus Christ was like this, but he says very
little about the birth. His focus is on the obedience of Joseph. Mary’s
pregnancy is attributed to the Holy Spirit. What does that mean?
What were Joseph’s thoughts? His first thought was that she was unfaithful.
Maybe Mary tried to explain, but she was too naive to be believed. Somebody
must have seduced her and said he was an angel. God had not spoken through
angels for 400 years. Joseph tried to figure out the why and how. He struggled
to reconcile the facts and his love.
Verse 19 suggests Joseph had a dilemma. “Being a righteous man” compelled him
to keep the letter of the law. His options were limited. He could expose her
sin and have her stoned. That would be the righteous thing to do. He could
divorce her publicly or divorce her privately. But a real righteous man lets
love balance righteousness. A real righteous man can keep the law with a heart
of love. As a righteous man he did not want to marry a girl so obviously
guilty of sin, so he decided on private divorce proceedings.
Joseph couldn’t marry her. He would be either admitting his guilt or stating
that he did not want holy children so he would marry a non-virgin.
God surprised him in a dream and changed his strategy. Joseph took on Mary’s
obvious sin. It would be common knowledge then that the child was his. Joseph
became willing to appear like an unrighteous man and publicly declare that he
was the father of this child. Joseph was willing to obey God and lose his
reputation. Joseph was not willing to hurt Mary for the sake of his reputation
in the church. Love compelled him to handle the matter privately. Love covers
a multitude of sins. His love compelled Him to take some of Mary's burden as
his own.
Joseph was a righteous man. This means he was a conscientious Jew. He had
committed himself to observing the Law. He could have killed Mary and been
labeled a good Jew. He could be righteously wrong. We can sometimes be wrong
with our rightness. We can sometimes do more harm than good by doing what the
law says. Righteousness is worthless without love.
Matthew does not tell us if Mary and Joseph discussed the issue, but God sent
an angel to help Joseph get some sleep. We don't know how many sleepless
nights he had, but after he had finally fallen asleep one night, an angel came
and said:
1. You are a
Son of David, be bold. Life is not always easy.
2. Don't fear what you do not understand.
3. Mary is your wife, not someone else’s.
4. The child is from God, not Mary’s sin. This is God’s action.
5. You are to name Him. He is your son legally in the world’s eyes.
Now skip to verse 24. What does a good man or good woman do? Everything God
tells them to do.
1. He obeyed
2. He got married
3. He took responsibility for the child.
Joseph’s obedience and submission to God is as remarkable as Mary’s.
If we say 'yes', God works all for good. God’s plan will probably be different
from our plan. He will probably surprise us again.
Look back at verses 21-23. Matthew gives us the purpose for writing his book.
He gives us enough information to confirm that Jesus is the One the prophets
have been looking forward to. Jesus is the name above all names.
This is a fulfillment of Isaiah with a surprise twist. The name ‘Jesus’ meant
salvation or God saves. He will not save his people from Roman political
tyranny but from sin. He will also bring God’s presence to men.
Joseph is not the focus, but he was part of God keeping His promises. Mary is
really not the focus either, but she is part of God keeping His promises. The
genealogies are not really important, but they confirm that Jesus fulfils the
promise. The angel is really not important, but he confirms that Jesus is from
God and God keeps His promises. The surprise is that He will save them from
the consequences of their sins. That was not the common expectation.
All the promises are fulfilled in Jesus. Name above all names. Emmanuel. God
with us. The Word that remains. Jesus has come and He is coming again. That is
Advent. God’s presence is with us. Not just the kings, priests and prophets,
but with us. What a surprise!
Joseph demonstrates the dilemma of the righteous in an unrighteous culture.
Our culture encourages us to consume love rather than to be love.
Our dominant culture has expectations of us and tries to squeeze us into a
consumer mould. Joseph had some expectations, but was willing to set those
aside for God’s surprises.
Advent is about the surprise arrival of the Light of the World. The angels
come with light. The wise men come with light. My Christmas is filled with
lights. Advent is about light shining in a dark world.
Read Isaiah 60:1-3. The light of the world is a person. The light of the world
is Jesus.
Darkness is a metaphor of the desperate situations in life. Darkness is
descriptive of a sinful world, a sinful life. Darkness is descriptive of life
without God. Before God spoke to creation the world was in darkness. Before
God speaks to our hearts, they are full of darkness. Jesus is the light of
salvation.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Like a man who has always
lived in a cave. The darkness is all he knows. The only movement he sees is
shadows on the wall. What can you do to let him know there is a world of
Light? Point to the Light of the World.
Into the country and culture of Jews, God sent a Light to show us what He is
like. They had no '60 Minutes' or '20/20' to investigate all the facts that
came together for Christmas. Little miracles were happening all around, but no
one put the pieces together for several years.
In the routine of Jewish ritual and tradition, God is saying, "I love you."
God has never stopped speaking, but even today, many have a hearing problem.
The atheists in Seattle do not hear.
However, scattered throughout the country were some good listeners, devout
believers, expecting God to send a King. They were looking for a political and
spiritual leader that would deliver them from the phony priests and
politicians. But God did not quite use the language they were expecting. They
thought God would speak like he always had, but He just said, "Jesus." They
thought God would speak in the spectacular, but He spoke quietly to the heart.
Without the media coverage, only a few people knew of the angel that came to
Zechariah in Jerusalem (Luke 1:5-25). It was a very private setting when the
angel came to Mary in Nazareth (Luke 1:26-38). Also it was private when the
angel came to Joseph in Nazareth (Matthew 1:18-25). There was just a small
group of shepherds who heard the angels sing that night (Luke 2:1-21). When
Simeon and Anna held the child and God whispered, "I love you," most passed it
off as the ecstasy of old age (Luke 2:22-39). The angel later told Joseph to
escape to Egypt, but no one paid too much attention to the miracles of
Christmas. Angels had not appeared like this for over 400 years. Mary just
does not understand.
This Christmas God will still be speaking in peoples lives. It will probably
be in quiet ways and we may not understand the impact of all the little things
that are happening. However if we had eyes to see the power of God at work in
our lives, we would hear Him still saying, "I love you." Jesus is born. "God
so loved the world that He gave His Son..." Will you receive God’s gift in
your heart?
Sunday
Morning Family Worship -- 9:00 a.m.
Vic Dunton,
Chaplain
Phone: (503) 829-8591
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