Matthew 1:18-19

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

I love it. This is a real story. It has real hardships. Immediately we have to focus in on the fact that Joseph sees Mary and she is already pregnant. Can you imagine? Your heart is set on marrying this woman. You’ve waited for the right time, the right opportunity to make her your wife. She is a woman of virtue. She has kept herself pure. Listen…the scripture says Joseph was a righteous man. He did and kept the way of the Law. He was a good man, and let me translate the word good here, Joseph was a holy man. He desired and had a passion for doing things God’s way. Marrying a woman that sleeps around is not his idea of the right thing…but that is exactly what is presented before him. If you piece the Gospels together…Mary didn’t appear pregnant before she left to see her cousin Elizabeth…no…she shows up that way once she gets back.

That’s when things get weird…right?

Joseph see’s that his bride to be might not be as virtuous as he thought. I am sure he started to look at the situation a bit differently. You see in those days if a woman is caught like that she could possibly have been stoned. That was the cultural. Joseph had every right to not want Mary. I can’t say for sure, but I know if it were me, I would be angry…and wouldn’t I deserve the right? Joseph loved her…and let’s be real here…if my wife or soon to be wife comes up to me and says that she is pregnant with God’s baby, I might not say that I’ve heard that before, but I’m sure not going to I believe her…because that isn’t how babies are made. Women can’t have babies by themselves. It takes two to make that dance happen. Are you still with me?

So here is the thing. Mary isn’t lying. She is telling the truth, but Joseph just can’t believe what is so entirely impossible…and yet he is not without compassion for her...because he loves her. Read verse 19 with me again…

“Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

As hurt as Joseph was he couldn’t hurt Mary. He didn’t want to expose her publically; rather he sought out a solution to divorce her quietly. It isn’t pretty but it was compassionate, sensitive, and loving. He could have made a spectacle, but he didn’t. That wasn’t what Joseph was all about.

Matthew 1:20-25

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. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

But after he had considered this…

Joseph considered all that he would do to separate himself from Mary. He had a plan…but here is the thing, God has a plan and God reveals it to Joseph in a dream. Can I state the obvious? I’ve had a lot of dreams. I’ve had some dreams that I really thought were God dreams. I’ve had dreams that I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are just a figment of my imagination. So why is this dream so convincing? Why this dream? Yea, it dealt with his circumstance…but why believe it, when it pointed to something so utterly impossible.

Listen…

John 10:14 reads…

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…”

And again in John 10:27…

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Joseph knew God because he was a man of God. That means he prayed, he spoke with God, he followed after God. Joseph knew this was a God dream because he was a man who knew God. Can we say that about ourselves? When God speaks to us, do we struggle to know if it’s Him? Let me just say that even as much as I pray and seek to understand God that even I struggle in this area. However, let me also say that in my struggle to hear from God only makes me pursue God more. I want to know him. I want to hear his voice. I want to recognize his voice pattern, like He recognizes mine.

What happens next is phenomenal. Joseph wakes up and is absolutely obedient. Matthew doesn’t give us some drawn out “prophet Jonah” like conversation in which Joseph questions God’s will and design for his life. There is no conversation because for Joseph, God said it and that was enough. Let me point out something obvious here…God gives great responsibility, great vision, and great courage to those who are obedient. Joseph is obedient. He even abstains from being with her as the Lord commanded. That isn’t an easy task for newlyweds. Newlyweds enjoy being newlyweds.

An obedient man or woman of God has a heart that bleeds for God. It desires to do the things of God. It desires to be in communion with God. It wants what God wants.

We know the rest of the story. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a Savior is given. He is Christ the Lord. Jesus is birthed right into the middle of a huge drama that is unfolding. God as man is birthed into the world. That is huge. It was so big that it split time and history. Can you imagine the enormous magnitude of this entire thing? Now can you imagine it in the hands of a 15 year old virgin girl and a young Jewish man? Can you say nervous, scared, and freaked out a bit? This was monumental. This was epic.

Unfortunately the drama doesn’t end there. No from there it just gets scary.

Matthew Chapter 2 paints a grim picture for the first few days of Jesus. The child’s life was in danger from the moment He came out of the womb.

Matthew 1:18

"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

Herod, in an effort to kill off any opposing prophesied threat, decided to put to death every male child below the age of 2 in Bethlehem. I can’t help but think of all the movies that I’ve seen portray the birth of Jesus. I can see the angels singing “Joy to the World” and everyone is so happy and blessed that the Redeemer has come…but when I read Matthews account, I can’t hear the music over the cries (the scripture says there was great weeping and mourning) of small children being butchered by the hands of jealous evil men. Of course Christ is spared because once again God can count on Joseph to understand and know His voice. They are of like hearts and like passions at this point, and seek to protect that which is precious to both of them…the child Jesus.

So Joseph lives on the run. He flees to Egypt.

Egypt…twice now a place of refuge for God’s people, once with Joseph and now with Jesus, was to be a temporary home. There they stayed until the people that had once sought to kill them all were dead. God speaks to Joseph again and now it’s time to go back.

As I read and studied over this I can’t help but see something obvious. God speaks and Joseph obeys. It’s rather simple and yet we mess it up more than anything. We are so wicked in our hearts. We question and question. We are so stubborn and stiff-necked, as the KJV would say. Oh, how the Lord desires a man that is obedient.

“Obedience is the road to freedom, humility the road to pleasure, unity the road to personality.” C.S. Lewis

Obedience is nothing more than sanctification. It is the living proof that you have become part of something greater. It is the outward physical evidence of an inward spiritual change. Paul said in Romans that God’s will is for you to be conformed unto the image of Christ. We are to be replica’s of the first born of God.