Sermon Tone Analysis

Joseph Shows Us God's Way to Cope with a Crisis

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(New version prepared December 4, 2022)

MESSAGE:

*One of Dave Berry's favorite childhood Christmas memories was the annual Children's Christmas Program at his church in Armonk, New York.

Dave said, "Shepherd was my favorite role, -- because you got to carry a stick.

Many were the happy rehearsal hours we shepherds spent whacking each other with sticks."

*But nobody wanted to be Joseph, because "Joseph had to hang around with Mary who was played by a girl.

You had to wait backstage with this girl, and walk in with this girl.

Needless to say, you felt like a total goof, which was not helped by the fact that the shepherds and Three Wise Men were constantly suggesting that you really liked this girl.

So during the program Joseph tried to keep the maximum allowable distance from Mary, as though she was carrying some kind of deadly bacteria."

(1)

*Being Joseph wasn't easy, in the Christmas play, and it surely wasn't easy in the real world either.

Mike Fogerson explained that "Joseph and Mary had been planning a wedding when God told them to prepare a nursery.

*Verse 18 tells us that 'Mary was betrothed to Joseph.'

That meant a whole lot more than being engaged today.

Hebrew marriages had two stages.

In the first stage called 'betrothal,' the couple was considered to be legally married, even though they did not live together as man and wife.

*This period of being separate, but legally married could last as long as a year, and it was far more binding than modern engagements.

Only divorce could break it apart.

And if they had been unfaithful to each other, it would have been counted as adultery punishable by death under Old Testament law.

(2)

*Joseph and Mary had been joyfully making plans for a wedding.

But then Mary gave him the shocking news that she was pregnant.

Talk about a crisis for Joseph!

With those unbelievable words from Mary, Joseph's world began to fall apart, so "the first time we see him in the Bible, Joseph was planning a divorce."

(3)

*Crisis at Christmas.

The hospitals don't empty out at Christmas.

The funeral homes don't close down.

Marriage problems don't magically go away.

Rebellious children don't always come to their senses.

Dreams still get shattered.

People still get hurt.

*There will be crises at Christmas and every other day of the year.

But Joseph shows us how to cope with any crisis that comes our way.

1. FIRST: WE MUST PURSUE GOD'S PLAN FOR OUR LIVES.

*Verse 18 shows us the Lord's unique plan for Joseph and Mary.

Here God's Word says: "The birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit."

*Think about the plan Joseph had for his life.

I'm sure he was planning for a good life.

But he probably thought he would have a simple life: Build up his carpentry business, marry Mary, have lots of children, follow the Lord, strive to be a good and righteous man.

*Joseph had planned for a simple life, but God had other plans.

Joseph could have never imagined the mission that God had planned for his life: "Me the adoptive father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the promised Messiah?

My life story in God's Word?

No way!" (4)

*Joseph thought he would have a simple life.

But God had a different plan.

And in today's Scripture, Joseph got to the point where he was open to God's plan.

Joseph fully embraced God's plan, even though it took him to difficult places in life, and that's what God wants us to do.

*How do we know that Joseph embraced God's plan for his life?

Verses 24-25 tell us that after Joseph had that Heaven sent dream, he "DID as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.

And he called His name Jesus."

*Joseph was totally committed to do everything God asked Him to do.

He obeyed God.

He took great care of Mary and little Jesus.

Where would Mary and Jesus have been without Joseph?

He stood in the gap to provide for them and protect them.

*Think about that trip to Bethlehem they had to make just before Jesus was born.

They had to go, because of the Roman census.

They also had to go, because God had prophesied that His Son would be born in Bethlehem.

Mary was very pregnant when they made that 70-mile journey to Bethlehem.

They were on foot, or maybe Mary was able to ride a donkey.

*How do you get a very pregnant woman anywhere?

The answer is: very carefully.

Joseph safely got Mary to Bethlehem.

Then he safely got Mary and Jesus to Egypt when Herod tried to kill the young king.

That was a journey of at least 90 miles.

*Joseph also provided love and guidance during the early years of the Lord's life.

In Luke 2, he made sure that Jesus was circumcised, and he took baby Jesus to the Temple to obey the law of redemption.

Later, Joseph took Jesus to synagogue every week.

The family also took Jesus to Jerusalem for the important feasts every year.

And the last time we see Joseph in the Bible was when the family had gone up to Jerusalem for Passover.

Joseph took the best possible care of his family.

*Here in vs. 24, Joseph did what God wanted him to, and the whole world was changed.

He did what God told him to do, even in the crises, and that is what God wants us to do too.

He wants us to follow His plan for our lives.

*Christians: God has plans for our lives that are far greater than we can imagine.

His plan for your life stretches out for millions of years into all eternity.

And we can't begin to see it all, but He wants us to start looking in that direction.

*In Revelation 3:17-18, Jesus told the Laodicean church that they were blind.

And Jesus said: "I counsel you to anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see."

This Scripture reminds me that so often in life we are looking at this thing we've got to do, or this thing we need, or this thing we want, or this thing we enjoy.

But God wants us to look beyond the earthly things of life and see the eternal things.

*That's why in Jeremiah 33:3, the Lord says: "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

And in Ephesians 3:20, Paul tells Christians that God "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think."

God has more in store for our lives than we can possibly imagine.

And we need to keep pursuing His plan for our lives, even when we find ourselves in a crisis.

2. WE ALSO NEED TO KEEP GROWING IN GOD'S GOODNESS.

*Joseph is a great example for us today.

What a good and godly man he was!

And we can see this truth in vs. 18-20.

Again, God's Word says:

18.

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

19.

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

20.

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

*Notice that Joseph was morally pure.

That's why he was so concerned when he found out that Mary was going to have a baby.

But Jesus was born through a miracle of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph and Mary had both kept God's standards of moral purity.

*Many people today have been deceived into thinking that this is not important.