SLIDES

The Biblical Characters Impacted by Jesus Birth 

Joseph

Introduction

The birth and death of Jesus has positively and/or negatively impacted the lives of billions of people around the world for the last 2000 years. If you are a believer in Jesus, your life has been affected. You have received eternal life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, all the blessings in heavenly places, and much, much, more.

In this series we are going to discuss the lives of biblical characters whose lives were touched and impacted by the birth of Jesus. We will not be able to cover all the characters this year. The Lord willing, we will continue this series during next year’s Christmas season.

Luke 2:34

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel...

John 3:18

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

 As we see from these verses, Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection would have profound blessings, difficulties, and /or consequences on everyone who has lived, is living, and will live. The grace that Jesus’ death and resurrection provided and offers to the world can either be a blessing, if accepted, or a curse if not accepted as we just saw in John 3:18.

As we investigate the lives of several people who were impacted from the birth of Jesus, let us put ourselves in their shoes of these men and women and think about how we might have acted or reacted when we encountered the Messiah. Let us look at the Christmas story through their eyes and see if we find something new that makes the Christmas story and Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection more meaningful to us.

Let’s begin with Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph.

Joseph

I’m sure all of you remember your wedding day.  You and your spouse to be were excited but nervous. Neither of you had a clue about what marriage would be like.  If you did envision something about your future life with your spouse to be, it probably did not occur as you envisioned it. You repeated your vows of “for better or worse and in sickness and in health,” not envisioning being sick, being the caregiver for a spouse when they were sick, trips to the doctor or the emergency room, the blessings and the difficulties of rearing children, etc.  One thing that was not envisioned on that day was getting old, but here we are.

I’m sure the things that Joseph was envisioning about his life with Mary was different than what a man in the 20 or 21st century in America would envision. At the time we meet Joseph in the Scriptures, he was betrothed to Mary.  The customs of marriage were much different than they are today.

Joseph was betrothed to Mary. Betrothal was a custom among the Jews where a man and woman were committed to become married at a future time. Usually, the parents of each would arrange the couple and plan for them to be wed, but sometimes the arrangement would be made by the couple themselves. The Bible does not indicate the circumstances of the betrothal of Joseph and Mary.

While the Bible does not specifically state how old Mary was when Jesus was born, most Christian historians speculate that she was around 15 years of age at the time of Jesus’ birth. According to Jewish customs at the time, a young woman might become betrothed to a young man as early as 12 years of age, though the consummation of their marriage through ceremony and physical intimacy would not happen until they were legally married, usually about a year after the betrothal. A Jewish marriage consisted of two parts. The first was the betrothal which consisted of a legally signed and witnessed document called ketubah and a financial bride’s price called a dowry. This was considered the beginning of marriage, and since it was legally binding, the pledge could not be broken except by a bill of divorce called a Get. This is the reason Joseph is referred to as the husband of Mary in Matthew 1:19 where we first meet Joseph in Scripture in the genealogy of Jesus.

Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

The second aspect was the marriage ceremony. 

Why did God choose Joseph to be the earthly father of the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.  First, he was chosen because he was a descendant of King David. The Messiah was prophesied to be a descendant of King David as we see in 2 Samuel 7:8-17.

8   “Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel.

9   “I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.

10   “I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly,

11   even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you.

12   “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.

13   “He shall build a house (dynasty) for My name, and I will establish the throne (right to rule) of his kingdom forever.

14   “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men,

15   but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

16   “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

17   In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

From the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew, we see that Joseph was a descendant of King David in 1:6 , 17.

6. Jesse was the father of David the King. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Since the Messiah must be a descendant of King David, anyone claiming to be the Messiah for the last 2000 years must demonstrate that he is a descendant of King David. Jesus is the only one that can do that. All of the genealogical records were destroyed when the Romans sacked and set fire to the Temple in AD 70. Jesus two genealogies in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 demonstrate that He is a descendant of King David. Jesus had the legal right to sit on the Throne of David because both Mary, who gave birth to him, and Joseph who legally adopted him were descendants of King David.  An adopted son had the same rights as a natural born son.

In God’s eyes, being a descendant of David was not the only qualification needed to be the father of the Messiah.

Matthew 1:19a

19a   And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man...

Joseph was chosen because he was a descendant of King David, But he was also chosen because he was a righteous man.

God did not want any descendant of David being the human father of the Messiah, He wanted a righteous man to rear him. Joseph was godly and honorable. He was a man who loved the Lord and was obedient to the Law of Moses. 

Everything seemed to be going great until Matthew 1:18.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

The betrothal was on schedule until Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant. Not only was she pregnant, but she told him she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, not by having sexual relations with another man. Wouldn’t you like to have been a fly on the wall when Mary told Joseph the news about her being pregnant. You could have knocked him over with a feather. Some of us today would respond with something like “Yeah, right,” or “really.” He may have responded with something like “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?” This news rocked his world. He felt betrayed and alone.

He was stunned and very hurt. He was also angry, not only being told that she was pregnant but she had the all of telling him that it was pregnant by the Holy Sprint instead. Put yourself in his shoes. How would you feel? How do you think that you would respond? What would Mary and Joseph’s mother and father think, if they were still alive. What would his friends think and those in the synagogue where they lived. I have no idea where this was. Nevertheless, this would change his life. It might take a long time for Joseph to emotionally get over the hurt and shame of this unbelievable news.  Well, Joseph apparently did not believe her because of what we see from verse 19 that will look in a minute.

Joseph had two choices. In those days, if a betrothed bride were 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 would face questions of his peers and family for what went wrong, but he’d also be obeying his conscience and doing what is best for Mary. Douglas O’Donnell envisions this agonizing decision in his book, All Authority in heaven and on Earth, p.41.

“On one shoulder Joseph has the righteous requirements of God’s Law whispering in his ear, “You have to expose her error. This sin cannot go unpunished.” On the other shoulder is the compassion and mercy of God’s Law.”

Verse 19 tells us what Joseph decided to do.

And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.

Note again that Joseph and Mary had completed the first stage of being married. Under the traditions of Jewish betrothal, they were husband and wife.  Even though he was hurt, in pain, and felt disgraced and betrayed, he showed grace to Mary. He would give her a bill of divorce (get) and would send her to another town during the pregnancy and to give birth to the baby.  He was doing what was best for her. Even though he was disgraced, he refused to disgrace her. Jesus saw this spirit of grace modeled by Joseph in their home.

If Mary’s announcement was a shock to Joseph, the next bit of news would be a greater shock and would be much to contemplate and ruminate on for many years as we see in verse 20.

20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

Wow, what a turnaround. Note an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. He confirmed what Mary had told him. Now Joseph was to do a 180 and was to complete the second part of the Jewish marriage.  He was told that not only was she not only with child by the Holy Spirit, but this child would be the Messiah and was to be named Jesus which means God saves. This angel of the Lord also told him that it was also a fulfillment of a prophecy that Isaiah made 700 years before the birth of Jesus that He would save His people from their sins. This would be the Messiah’s mission. He would also be Immanuel, God that would dwell with the people of Israel.  There is no indication in Scripture that anyone called Him Emmanuel. Emmanuel describes more of what he would do rather than a name for Him to be called. This was heavy duty stuff that Joseph had just been told. It was a lot to digest.

Again, would you not like to be a fly on the wall when Joseph and Mary met again to discuss their future as husband and wife. Do you think that Joseph should have apologized to Mary for not believing her? Even though an angel of the Lord clarified the situation to Joseph, if living,  were the parents skeptical of what they were told?

Knowing people, we know that most of their friends and the people of their synagogue did not believe the story of the angel visiting Joseph and what he told him. There were people who did not buy Joseph’s story and probably still wanted to kick them out of the synagogue and some probably still wanted to stone her and the man who made her pregnant, if they could find out who he was. For the remainder of her pregnancy, both Joseph and Mary probably had to deal with continual sneers and ridicule. Another question is whether Joseph’s business suffered because of the situation at hand. This entire situation changed both of their lives as long as they lived.

After Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had to endure some difficult situations. Later in Matthew when Herod heard of the birth of Jesus, he sought to have him killed. Joseph was commanded by God to take the young infant and his wife Mary and leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt because Herod would have every child two years old and younger in Bethlehem murdered. He heard from the Magi that the Messiah had been born. Herod wanted no competition for he was the King of the Jews.

Again, we tend to pass over some of details as we read Scripture. But let’s imagine the difficulty of travel in those days: the added expenses, and the severing of ties with family and friends. And yet when the angel appeared to Joseph in another dream, Joseph didn’t hesitate. He, again, immediately obeyed the voice of God and went to Egypt. Did Joseph or could Joseph work while in Egypt to support his family? They could have lived on what the gold, frankincense, and myrrh given by the Maji would being. You know that gold is a precious metal. Frankincense, and myrrh were expensive spices. When they were told to return to Israel, they moved Nazareth as prophesied in Scripture that, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” as seen in Matthew 2:23.

We do know one thing, even though their reputation suffered and regardless of how people treated them, they both were obedient to God’s will for their lives. There were other struggles for the family and things to ponder as we will see as we discuss other biblical characters that were impacted by Jesus’ life.

Things on which to reflect 

Let’s think about and discuss some of the lessons we can learn from the life of Joseph as it relates to Jesus.

1. Joseph was an ordinary man willing to be used by an extraordinary God. God is calling ordinary people to be part of the extraordinary story He is telling in the world. Are you willing to step into the mission that God calls you?

2. Joseph displayed righteous character in a difficult situation. In what way are you being tested today? What shortcuts to glory are you being offered? How can you display Christian character in a way that sets you apart in your home, your workplace, and your family?

3. Joseph obeyed immediately several times. Whenever he was commanded to do something, he did it without questioning God. God may not be speaking to you in an audible voice or through an angel, but He speaks to us through His Word, Christian friends, circumstances, and through the Holy Spirit. Are you willing to obey, even in the hard things? What hard and difficult calling is God tasking you with today? You may be retired from a secular job, but not from the service for the Lord.

4. Joseph was willing to suffer harm of his reputation and loss of comfort for the sake of God and others. In what way is God calling you to sacrifice personal comfort and loss of reputation for the sake of others in your care and for the cause of Christ?

5. Joseph took spiritual leadership in his family. He was an example to his family.  In what ways is God calling you to be an example to your children and grandchildren. In what ways does He want you to listen to His voice and be an influence toward godliness and maturity to your family, friends, and others?

6. Joseph is a picture of Christ’s shame and reproach on our behalf. The baby Joseph was to bring up would one day suffer the shame and reproach of the world to save Joseph, Mary, and us from our sins. Have you taken time today to thank Jesus, our suffering servant, for dying on the cross and paying for our sins and the sins of our family and giving us new life?

In our next lesson, we will discuss how the birth of Jesus changed and impacted Mary’s life.

Questions and/or Comments

SELAH