At this time of the year families come together to share in their Christmas traditions: …decorating the Christmas tree… hanging stockings…traveling to visit family and friends…going to candle light service…many people enjoy driving around the neighborhood looking at the lights decorating people’s homes.
As you drive around you inevitably come across various nativity scenes displaying the birth of Jesus…most families put up Nativity scenes in their house… we have one in our foyer.
The cast of characters associated with the story of Jesus’ birth is colorful and memorable …there is the obvious cast of characters…the baby Jesus…Mary… …the angels …the assorted animals—donkeys, cows, sheep—the wise men…you can always tell who they are because they’re the ones carrying gifts and wearing crowns.
Then there are the shepherds of various ages and sizes…but just as it is with most Nativity sets there are some extra figures that no one knows exactly the identity of…these extra figures just add to the confusion of…which one is Joseph?
Is he the old man leaning on his staff…the more romantic souls in the family said Mary wouldn’t want a crotchety old man like that so he must be the young shepherd with broad shoulders…problem is…Joseph wasn’t a shepherd…he wouldn’t be carrying a staff…so the debate is…which one is Joseph?
In reality Joseph is the forgotten man of Christmas…he’s silent…surprisingly Joseph doesn’t say a word in Scripture…he’s like an extra…like one of those characters in a movie that gets a credit in the cast of characters…but no one has ever considered him central or significant to the story.
It shouldn’t be that way with Joseph…because he is a significant part of this story…it’s said that actions speak louder than words…if that’s true Joseph’s actions spoke so loudly that he should be recognized for something.
In the midst of the story of the miraculous birth of Jesus, we find an ordinary man…many of us don’t view biblical characters as ordinary…many times we attribute to them almost super-human powers…giving them Hollywood celebrity status…but that’s not the case…they were just ordinary people.
God uses ordinary people to do EXTRAORDINARY THINGS.
Take a good look at who you were when you got called into the Christian life… for most…we were just going through life…think about those you know who are Christians:
…I don’t many who are influential people
…not many from high-society families
…not many who have notable recognition
God at times…deliberately chooses people who culture overlooks to complete His purposes…in this case…Joseph is remarkable in what he was willing to do…without saying a word in doing it…which is just the opposite from most of the other cast of characters associated with the story of Jesus’s birth.
We recognize these characters by their unique speaking parts …the archangel Gabriel makes three appearances…one to announce to Zacharias that Elizabeth would be having a son…to Mary that she was to be the mother of our Savior…and to joseph to announce the Child’s name and his role as the earthly stepfather.
Mary in turn offers a hymn of thanksgiving [Luke 1:16-48].
The Angels announce the birth of the Savior, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14).
The wise men, desperate in their search to find the newborn King, say: “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”
The shepherds became the early evangelists…after the announcement of the angelic choir and upon finding Jesus, Luke says, “And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child” (Lk 2:17).
SO…Gabriel brings the news of the upcoming births…Mary sings a praiseful solo…the angels bring heavenly greetings…the wise men worship…shepherds preach…and as worthless as King Herod was…even he had a speaking part… BUT… Joseph is silent.
All it says of Joseph was “he was a just man” …he has no speaking part…no notable lines are attributed to him…no sound bites…no quotes…only silence …in fact…if we search the Gospels, they do not contain even a single word uttered from the mouth of Jesus’ earthly father.
He appears on the stage of history for a few moments and then disappears…he is the lone and often forgotten silent member of the cast.
He becomes engaged to a young girl…he’s worked hard to establish an income to support his new bride and begin a family…he’s in love…he’s committed to Mary…he believes she loves him until the news that his bride is pregnant.
Joseph did have options…heart-broken and betrayed he could have responded by publicly shaming her…admittedly…her explanation of the pregnancy that God did it is a little unbelievable.
Joseph could have turned her over to the authorities to be stoned on one of two charges…adultery…or she could have been stoned on the charge of blasphemy.
In a society where adultery and prostitution came with a high price it would have been easy for Joseph to just put away Mary…we live in a society where doing the right thing…most of the time is the unpopular thing to do.
If Mary had been a typical American teenager Joseph could have paid $200 to get an abortion…it’s easy…it’s quick…it’s cheap…and just like that, you can make the problem go away…half-million teenage girls take that option every year.
However, Joseph chooses the path of mercy…he was “a righteous man and unwilling to put her to shame,” so not wanting to make a spectacle out of her… he “resolved to divorce her…not openly…but quietly.”
In Matthew’s account [1:19-25] of the birth of Jesus nowhere in those verses do we hear Joseph’s voice…He was a man God could trust to be strong in the midst of crisis…despite the social stigma of Mary’s pregnancy…Joseph remained committed to do the right things…in other words he was a man of honor.
Joseph is irreplaceable in the story of Jesus’ birth…his importance cannot be overstated…he did exactly as he was instructed:
[24] When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the
angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
Through his silent actions, Joseph teaches us three lessons.
The first lesson is…Forgive rather than avenge
Even before Gabriel appears to him in a dream…before receiving any divine explanation…Joseph had already chosen mercy…certainly he could have asked a lot of questions here: “How could you do this to me? Who’s the father?” …But no words are recorded, only tenderness.
Remember Joseph and Mary both had family in Bethlehem…that’s why they’re there… “to register for the census, each to his own city” …don’t think that drew some conversation from his family…friends…and relatives when Joseph rolls into town with his pregnant girlfriend.
Joseph was sensitive…he would not hurt Mary no matter what he thought she had done to him…he treated Mary with extreme kindness, not wanting to cause her further shame, when he could have demanded a bitter sentence…he chose to forgive rather than avenge.
That is the meaning of the statement that Joseph was a righteous man…He was a person who would fulfill his obligation to Mary…to not only do what was right… but also to care for her in the context of his relationship to her.
There is much we can learn from Joseph’s example of being righteous…maybe you’ve never been in a position quite like Joseph’s…but we’ve all been wronged by other people…we all know what it is like to be hurt or offended.
How do you react when you are wronged? …if we are truly righteous, then we will do right by others, even when they have done us wrong.
A second lesson that we learn from Joseph is…obey God and trust Him fully
[Matt. 1:24] ~ Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife…with Joseph, there is no hesitation …he understood clearly what God expected of him and was ready to obey.
In Joseph’s situation it would have been easy to follow what his heart dictated and act on human reasoning…after all, he had all the valid reasons to put away Mary and even punish her for her perceived betrayal.
He would obey in spite of the fact that this child of divine promise would be born under a cloud of adultery… Joseph believed God and obeyed Him…he would take Mary to be his wife…being sensitive to her shame…suffering the remarks of having a wife pregnant prior to their wedding.
Most people would never accept that kind of challenge… in a time when he was confused…and a lot of uncertainty may have been bothering him…he just obeyed God and put His trust…not in himself…or in somebody else…but in God!
That is the type of obedience that we must all have as Christians…though things might not seem to make sense…we can have the confidence that God is always in complete control.
We may not know what the future holds…but God does…He is the One who will direct the path of a righteous person.
The third lesson we learn from Joseph…It takes courage & faith to obey God
Christianity is not for the weak…it’s a way of life that demands lots of courage and faith…Joseph possessed both those qualities.
Joseph knew that following God’s command would damage his reputation and credibility as a man…then in addition to the embarrassment of Mary’s pregnancy after Jesus’ birth…Joseph is told to take Mary and the infant to Egypt…what???
Leave behind an established carpenter’s trade and business…leave family and friends to go to a foreign country where no one knows you…this gets crazier as it goes along…BUT…Joseph did as he was commanded.
Here’s what Christian obedience is…it’s doing what God has said…it’s not doing what others say…or doing what others say God has said to do…or doing what you wish God has said… obedience is having the faith to trust that God knows what He’s doing.
As Christians we are not called on to do the easy things…we are called to do the right thing…make the right decision …the right choice in Joseph’s case was to follow the instruction of God.
Joseph was a man who responded to God in obedience despite being just an extra character in the nativity scene…having never been recorded as saying a single word in Scripture…next to Mary…Joseph was rewarded as the greatest figure in the life of the Son of God.
Truthfully, Joseph is the unsung hero of Christ’s early life…it’s vital to believe in God, but unless we are ready to obey Him, then our belief is useless…we just completed a six-month study of the Sermon on the Mount…and that sermon can be summed up in a single sentence:
How to live a life that is dedicated to and pleasing to God, a life free from hypocrisy, full of love…grace…wisdom…and discernment.
Joseph exhibited all those qualities…he put himself in a position to be used by God and God used him…the life of Joseph poses some serious questions to us…are you a righteous person? …Do you treat others with kindness…mercy …and forgiveness even when you think you’ve been mistreated?
Are you living a life of obedience? …do you know God’s Word and His will for your life? …more importantly…are you willing to follow His will no matter what the cost?
Throughout this season and throughout the rest of your life, I pray that you will take with you the lessons learned from a simple carpenter.