26-1004p - Detailed Summary

Jim opens the evening service as part two of the study of Joseph the carpenter. He reminds the congregation that Scripture records not a single word from Joseph, so Joseph’s character has to be read from his actions. He is a man of faith, and God uses good men like him.

The morning lesson had taken up Joseph’s and Mary’s genealogies and the importance of godly families. The evening lesson turns to the events that define Joseph’s character. Because the biblical material on Joseph is limited, Jim says the study will be largely a reading of Scripture, and that revisiting these stories is worthwhile.

For context Jim reads Matthew 1:18–25. The birth of Jesus Christ came about after Mary, betrothed to Joseph, was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit before they came together. Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, so he planned to send her away secretly.

While he was considering this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and addressed him as Joseph, son of David. The angel told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because the child conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. She would bear a son, and Joseph was to name him Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins. All of this fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: the virgin would be with child and bear a son, and they would call his name Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Joseph awoke and did as the angel commanded. He took Mary as his wife, kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son, and called his name Jesus.

For further context Jim turns to Luke’s gospel and the angel Gabriel’s announcement of God’s plan of salvation to Mary, Luke 1:26–38. In the sixth month Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth in Galilee, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

Gabriel greeted her as the favored one and told her the Lord was with her. Mary was greatly troubled and tried to discern what sort of greeting this was. The angel told her not to be afraid, for she had found favor with God. She would conceive and bear a son, and she was to call his name Jesus. He would be great and would be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God would give him the throne of his father David, he would reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there would be no end. Jim pauses there for comment.

Jim’s aside begins with Gabriel’s rank as a messenger. God sent one of his top messengers, the angel who had told Zacharias that he stands in the presence of God. Gabriel had recently visited Zacharias, a priest and the husband of Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin. Zacharias was at the [alter] of incense in the temple, outside the Holy of Holies, when the angel appeared beside the table. Jim notes that the smoke of the incense represents the prayers of the saints, so it was fitting that the angel stood there and told Zacharias his prayers had been answered.

Zacharias was befuddled. God had heard his prayers concerning his wife. He had likely prayed for years for a child, but Elizabeth was barren. The angel said he would have a son who would come in the spirit of Elijah and prepare the way for the Messiah. Zacharias questioned the angel with doubt and reasoned wrongly from their advanced age. Jim says he forgot Abraham and Sarah, who had Isaac late in life and were nearly twice Zacharias’s age. Nothing is impossible for God.

Jim recalls from the morning lesson that priests who served in the temple were between thirty and fifty. If Zacharias was advanced in years, he was probably near fifty. Jim pauses to say he suddenly feels old and wonders what he is doing there when he should be relaxed and retired, then answers himself: this is not that temple; it is the temple God lives in now, and they serve him until they are ready to go.

Because of his unbelief, Zacharias was punished. Gabriel, whether indignant or not, told him that he stands in the presence of God, effectively read him the riot act for not believing, and took away his speech until he named his son. Zacharias then had to come out of the temple and gesture what had happened. Gabriel’s role was to carry important messages from heaven in the plan of salvation. He told Mary twice that God favored her and that God would be with her.

Returning to Luke 1, Jim reads Mary’s question: how can this be, since she is a virgin? The angel answered that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, so the child would be called holy, the Son of God. He also told her that her relative Elizabeth had conceived in her old age and was in her sixth month, though she had been called barren, for nothing is impossible with God. Mary answered that she was the servant of the Lord, and that it should be to her according to his word. The angel then departed.

Jim contrasts the attitudes. Zechariah was an older man who should have known better after a lifetime of serving God. Young Mary had a wonderful heart and the perfect response: may it be as the Lord has said; she was the Lord’s servant, without questioning or doubting. Jim takes that as the reason God chose her and called her favored of God.

Jim returns to Matthew 1:18–19. After Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit, Joseph, a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Jim explains that in the Old Testament a betrothal was a binding legal marriage contract, unlike a modern engagement, which can be broken without even a letter. A betrothal required a certificate of divorce entered in the legal system. Joseph’s plan to do it quietly speaks volumes about him.

A betrothed woman was legally the wife of her betrothed, and infidelity in that period was treated as adultery and was punishable by death. The agreement typically involved a written contract or witnessed agreement and payment of a bride price, the mohar, by the groom’s family to the bride’s family. The contract was as binding as marriage, and biblical law protected it. Jim cites Deuteronomy 20:7 for the rule that a man pledged to a woman who had not yet married her should return home, lest he die in battle and another marry her, and Deuteronomy 24:5 for the rule that a newly married man must not be sent to war or pressed into duty, but is free for one year to stay home and bring joy to his wife. Marriage, including betrothal, was protected by law because marriage is that serious.

Jim reads Matthew 1:20–21. As Joseph considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for what was conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She would bear a son, and he was to name him Jesus, for he would save his people from their sins. Joseph had been sleeping on the quiet divorce, mulling it over, and slipped into a dream, perhaps induced by the angel so the angel could speak to him. Jim thinks the angel was probably Gabriel, because Gabriel later appears by name in Joseph’s dreams. The angel revealed God’s plan, explained how Mary became pregnant, and identified the child.

Matthew 1:22–25 ties the events to the prophet’s word that the virgin would conceive and bear a son called Emmanuel, God with us. When Joseph woke, he did as the angel commanded: he took his wife, did not know her until she had given birth to a son, and called his name Jesus. Jim calls Joseph a man of action. He did not delay. He understood the enormity of the situation and, the moment he woke, took care of the Lord’s business and took Mary as his wife. His self-control is another mark of character. He lived with Mary but did not come to her as a husband until after the child was born, restraining his desire for his wife.

Jim reads Luke 2:1–7. A decree from Caesar Augustus required registration, the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone went to his own town. Joseph went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the city of David in Judah, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Jim simply notes that this is the birth of Christ, and that Joseph was there as a husband should be.

He then reads Luke 2:13–19. An angel and a multitude of the heavenly host praised God, saying glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill toward men. After the angels left, the shepherds went with haste to Bethlehem and found Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. They reported what had been told them about the child, and all who heard it wondered. Mary treasured these things and pondered them in her heart. Jim says the shepherds’ witness of what the angels had told them would have confirmed for Joseph that all of this was real, that Mary was a good woman, that there had been no impropriety, and that she really was carrying the Messiah, the expected Savior of the world.

Jim reads Matthew 2:13–15. After the visitors departed, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and remain there until told otherwise, because Herod was about to search for the child to destroy him. Joseph rose, took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt until Herod’s death, fulfilling the word, “Out of Egypt I will call my son.”

Jim sets this on the heels of the Magi’s visit. Herod had tried to learn the whereabouts of the king born in Israel and wanted to kill the child at once. The Lord warned the Magi in a dream to go home another way. Herod, incensed, remembered when the Magi had seen the star, did the arithmetic, and decided to kill every child two years old and under in the area so that he would kill the newborn king. His men slaughtered hundreds of children. God had other plans, which is why the angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt until Herod died.

Jim reads Matthew 2:19–23. After Herod died, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream in Egypt and told him to rise, take the child and his mother, and go to Israel, because those who sought the child’s life were dead. Joseph did so. When he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Warned in a dream, he withdrew to Galilee and lived in Nazareth, so that what the prophets had spoken might be fulfilled and the child would be called a Nazarene.

Jim gathers the pattern. Again and again Joseph is dedicated to the plan and to the baby he must care for with Mary. He does exactly as he is told, without question and without hesitation. He protects the child and hides him from those who want to kill him. Not enough good things, Jim says, can be said about Joseph.

Jim reads Luke 2:39–52. After they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, presenting Jesus at the temple, they returned to Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. His parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Feast of the Passover. Jim takes that yearly journey as evidence of Joseph’s dedication, because Passover was one of the three required festivals for which all the men of Israel had to travel to Jerusalem. Joseph was a devout follower of the law.

When Jesus was twelve they went up according to custom. After the feast, as they returned, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents supposed he was in the group, went a day’s journey, then searched among relatives and acquaintances. Not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. His parents were astonished. Mary asked why he had treated them so; his father and she had been searching in great distress. Jesus answered, why were they looking for him; did they not know he must be in his Father’s house? They did not understand. He went down with them to Nazareth and was submissive to them. Mary treasured these things in her heart, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Jim says this is the last we hear of Joseph. He may not appear to have a large role in the Bible, but in Jesus’ life his role was huge. He taught him the law, taught him a trade, and protected him. He did the work of God, of a husband, and of a father. In Jim’s opinion that makes him worthy of the hall of fame in Hebrews 11. He would fit with Abraham, who was called to leave his country; Joseph also was called to leave his country, and to look after a child who was not even his own. Scripture calls him a just man. He was full of compassion, kindness, and mercy in the way he treated Mary. Then the record falls silent.

Jim closes by saying that is all right, because people come and go. Joseph is in paradise, waiting for the great day when his son will call him out of the grave. One day the congregation will hear that call as well. Either they will be alive when he comes and will hear the trumpet blast, or they will be in the grave and will hear him call. His angels will gather them, they will meet in the air, and they will live with God forever in heaven.

He offers the invitation: if anyone has reason for the prayers of the church, or needs help in any way, now is the time to come forward and make that desire known. He thanks them for their attention.