Michael Youssef - Joseph, A Man of Character
Blessed Christmas season. You know, we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ because he came from heaven to save us and redeem us. And what a privilege for us to know him as Savior and Lord. He said to Thomas, he said, you believe in me Thomas because you saw, blessed are those who believe that have not seen. And we are blessed this Christmas season. May the Lord give you joy.
There are some wonderful things, amazing things that we can learn from Joseph, the adopted father of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, culturally and historically, we know that Joseph probably was around 16 years old at that time because that’s when boys got married and he was engaged to the Virgin Mary, who most likely she was 14 years old at the time that they were engaged. Even though Jesus was virgin born Son of God, and yet many people identified him at that time, now I want to transport you 2,000 years. At that time they identified him as the son of Joseph.
As a matter of fact, in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 13, verses 54 all the way to 56, the Jews in the time of Jesus were absolutely mesmerized. Who is this one who’s raising the dead, healing the sick, and opening the eyes of the blind? They were absolutely mesmerized by that and they were speechless and they did not know what to say. So they said, is he not the son of the «tekton»? Now, «tekton» is the Greek word for any person at that time who worked with wood. They were saying, isn’t he the «tekton’s» son? How is he doing all this? See most of these «tektons» at the time, they were known for their patience. They were known for their kindness.
So the question is this, what would all that tell us about Joseph, the adopted father of the Lord Jesus Christ? Listen carefully please, because it tells us a great deal. First of all, it tells us that God the Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, the Almighty God, Yahweh, was not going to entrust his one and only eternal Son with whom he coexisted before the foundation of the world. He was not gonna entrust him just to anybody. Another question, why did God not choose a priest to be the adopted father? After all he enters into the holy of holies and he offers sacrifices.
Why didn’t he choose a lawyer whom they called scribe? He was very learned in all of the Jewish laws. Why didn’t he entrust a Pharisee? My goodness, they were the best when it comes to observing the facade of religion. But no, God the Father entrusted his one and only eternal Son with whom he coexisted since before eternity to a humble «tekton». Now I want to tell you why. Listen carefully, please. What God the Father said a 1000 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea is of vital importance because that reveals to us something about God himself.
When God asked the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 16, and he said to him go to the home of Jesse and I want you to anoint one of his sons, he’s gonna be a king over Israel. And Samuel was so impressed with the big boys, the learned boys of Jesse, all the older boys. And God said, no, no, no, none of them. There’s a little one somewhere. So they waited until little David, the shepherd, came in. And God said, this is the man. And God then taught Samuel a lesson, taught all of us a lesson. He said, man looks about the outward appearance. Man’s looked at the outward appearance, but God looks upon the heart. And God looked down and he saw the heart of Joseph and he said, this humble man is gonna take care of my one and only eternal Son, Jesus.
Man looks at the outward appearance. And we’ve been doing it ever since, but God looks at the heart. Now don’t miss this, very important, very important. Don’t miss it. Fathers, I don’t have to tell you this, psychologists have been telling us this for years, for generations. Fathers play enormous role in shaping our lives. But I want to tell you today on the authority of God’s Word that knowing and experiencing your heavenly Father and the grace of your heavenly Father is what matters the most.
And our heavenly Father deals with us ever so lovingly, ever so mercifully, and ever so justly. But I also want to tell you this, every father, every mother, every stepfather, every stepmother, every grandfather, every grandmother, we have been privileged to raise children for God. Matthew chapter 1, verses 18 and 19 first, fasten your seatbelt because Matthew starts with this very important event. Event that thousands of years have been waiting for. He starts that event beginning with a scandal. Yep, you heard me right, scandal. This is a scandal of any proportion. While Joseph and Mary were engaged, Mary becomes pregnant and Joseph was not the father. That’s all he knew.
Now I cannot exaggerate to you, just trust me, okay? Not in everything, but in this one. I cannot exaggerate to you the cultural norms of the day, of the horrendous scandal that was. And Joseph’s very first reaction to this shocking news, it actually reveals to us who he is. Imagine the shock and imagine his reaction. Now of course, 2,000 years later, all faithful believers in Jesus know that Mary was faithful, it’s not that she was not faithful to Joseph and that Mary had to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit of God himself.
Now we know all of that because we know the Old Testament prophecies. Seven hundred years before Christ, Isaiah said, the virgin shall have a child. So we know the Old Testament. Even though it was 700 years before Christ, we know the gospel writers explanation of what had happened. We know the epistles, we’re explaining to us why he has to be sinless in order to deliver and save sinners. We know all of that. We even know that it was absolutely imperative for him who saves us to be born of a virgin. But put yourself in Joseph sandals, okay? Put yourself in his sandals. Think of his first reaction. Think of his first thoughts, first feelings. Think of how this was tormenting to his soul and to his heart and his spirit. We all know now that the rumour-mongers and Christ haters levied false accusations at Mary.
But in Matthew chapter 1, verse 19 makes it very clear that this troubling scenario, this difficult, this scandal is precisely what Joseph thought must have taken place. After all, what does he know? Here’s something else I don’t want you to miss. Please don’t miss this. Verse 19, Matthew chapter 1, verse 19. Matthew said, Joseph was a righteous man. Joseph was a righteous man. That the next line tells us exactly why he called him a righteous man because he did not want to humiliate Mary, he decided to call off the wedding and break off the engagement quietly, quietly. Listen to me. It is of uttermost importance to understand, you’ll miss the whole point if you don’t, that in Jesus, God came from heaven.
In Jesus, God took on human flesh. In Jesus, God entered into humanity. In Jesus, God is now divine, human, all at the same time. But at that time, Joseph could not comprehend all of that. All he could see is that they have not consummated the marriage and Mary’s pregnant. And once Mary becomes visibly pregnant, oh, the gossips in town. Did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Did you hear? Question, what would Joseph do in those kind of circumstances? If he followed the tradition of the day, he would have gone to the priest and he would have told the priest, I have not slept with my wife, my betrothed, but she is pregnant and in public square.
And then most likely, most probably, Mary would be treated as an adulteress and back then she would be humiliated, scorned, and her family disgraced forever. But if the situation is reversed and people assume that Joseph is the father, in that case, Joseph becomes guilty of the same thing. Is the guilty party. And he would accept the stigma and the shame that goes with it for the rest of his life. So back to Matthew 1:19. Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man. He did not want to humiliate her, so he was going to break the engagement quietly.
If Joseph can teach us anything, and he has a lot to teach us, and especially for us fathers, grandfathers, and husbands, he teaches us that grace and mercy are God-like characteristics. There is no telling how many times our Lord Jesus Christ as he’s growing up as a young baby, then a boy, teenager, there is no telling how many times growing up he observed that characteristics in his adopted father Joseph. How often has he seen Joseph showing mercy to those who have wronged him? How many times Joseph was gracious to those who have hurt him. How often Joseph exercised forgiveness, so much so that our Lord Jesus Christ, when he hung on the cross in the midst of his agony, in the midst of his pain, spiritual and emotional and physical pain, he could cry out to his real Father and says, «Father, forgive them for they know not what they’re doing».
Listen, thank God. Good as this all of this is, it’s not the end of the story. Thank God. The merciful and gracious heavenly Father sent an angel to Joseph. Verses 20 and 21, Matthew 1: «The angel said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God himself. She shall give birth to a son and you will call him Jesus.'» Why? Yeshua, «Because his name means Savior. Savior. He will save his people from their sin».
What did the angel say, don’t be afraid? He was saying to him, don’t be afraid. Do not be afraid of this mission that God has entrusted you with. Do not be afraid to raise up this child who is the Son of God. Do not be afraid to raise up God’s Son for he will not only redeem you, but he’s gonna redeem millions of people through their ages. Do not be afraid to pour yourself into him for he’s gonna pour his life for you and for many. Don’t be afraid to embrace God’s plan of salvation for the world. Do not be afraid of this enormous responsibility. Do not be afraid to play a major role in God’s salvation plan for those who believe in his Son. Do not be afraid to nurture this boy because he spiritually will nurture you and millions of others.
So let me ask you this, what about you? What about you? What about you watching around the world, what about you? You’ve heard God calling you numerous occasions, numerous Christmases or Easters or whatever. You’ve heard the call of God so many times. Somebody witnessed to you about him. Somebody invited you. Come to Jesus as your only Savior. Come to him out of sin to salvation, out of death to life. Come to him out of guilt and shame to peace and joy. Come to him out of your own preconceived idea of who God is, what God should do or shouldn’t do. To come to him and accept his gift of forgiveness and eternal life for you.
And probably felt some conviction at the time, but then he let the matter go. Got busy with life, forgot about the fact that God calls everyone everywhere to repent, for he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world by this man Jesus, and as a proof he raised him from the dead. What are you afraid of? You might not hear an angel telling you not to be afraid, but surely you hear God himself in his word saying, don’t be afraid. Come to me. I love you. My son died for you. Don’t be afraid to commit your life to my son who came from heaven to bear your sin and mine.
I don’t need to tell you that Christmas is not about celebrations and parties. We made it that way. It’s not about gifts and decorations. We made it that way. It’s not even about family, as we try to think and family and friends. Good as these things may be. Christmas is about God calling you to come to his Son. For that babe in Bethlehem, 33 years later died a dreadful death on the cross sinless for sinners. Why? To pay for the wages of all the sins of everyone who would come to him. Then he rose again from the dead and that victorious resurrection on the third day is to assure us of our own resurrection. Will you accept his call? Will you accept his mission for your life?