And he named him Jesus

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 12/30/18

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^NRS Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. ²⁰ But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." ²² All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." ²⁴ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, ²⁵ but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Today we celebrate the 5th day of Christmas as we continue the journey that began on Christmas Day. Remember that the days are counted from sundown to sundown so the first day would have been from sundown the 25th to sundown the 26th, the first day. So much has been told about the story of Jesus, his birth narrative including the wise men and the shepherds. But little is known about his earthly father, Joseph. Who was Joseph? What happened to him and why is his presence so important to the story of Jesus?

Matthew includes Joseph in his genealogy featuring that the birthright of Jesus in the lineage of David comes through the male side of the family. Luke on the other hand, brings the lineage through Mary which biological is correct. That they both are part of the lineage of David is important to whether those demanding that to be correct follow a male or female genealogy to get there. We, Protestants and specifically Methodists understand that Jesus is divinely born and is the Son of God and God incarnate so the lineage only makes a difference in justifying His right to be proclaimed the Messiah. Joseph becomes Jesus father in all ways that fathers raise their sons, make them a part of their families and teach those values along the way. Joseph is one way, becomes for us the perfect example of an adoptive parent, never differentiating between his true bloodline children and Jesus. As an aside, there has been great debate over the generations whether the siblings of Jesus, James, Joses, Judah, Simon, and unnamed sisters in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 are His stepbrothers and sisters or half brothers and sisters. We will never know the answer to that question in our physical lives. But suffice it to say, how they are related is not as important to us as that they are.

Joseph comes into the story from the beginning, though only Matthew and Luke include him. Joseph is likely a younger man, though that has been argued down through the centuries as well, who has requested Mary to be his wife. In those days, Joseph would not have been allowed to marry until he was established on his own right and had a home of his own. Once that was established he could then marry the woman of his choice. By the way, if we go down that bunny trail, if he was in fact widowed, there would have been no need to wait to marry so their marriage would have happened quickly and Mary being unmarried would not make much sense in that version of the story.

Joseph has chosen Mary. She is likely 14 or 15 years of age as we gather from the story we share. We know the story of Mary and the angel and the pregnancy. What we also know is that Joseph is on the sidelines of the story following the birth but very much a part of the birth story.

Matthew begins this story in the first chapter. He introduces Joseph as a righteous man and his unwillingness to expose her to public disgrace says a lot about who he is. You see, in that day and time he could very well have sent her to be stoned for being pregnant and unwed. He could at the very least have her thrown out of the town with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Matthew wants us to know that he is a righteous man. In that, day and time to use that word would make a connection with Noah, a righteous man that God used to start the world anew. Or Job who was the ultimate expression of faith. Matthew goes on to tell us that an angel of the Lord who told him what was going on visited Joseph. He was also was told to name Him Jesus. The story continues that Joseph awoke from his dream and did exactly what God commanded him to do. Would you have done the same? Jesus birth story is a story of unwavering faith in the midst of supernatural goings on. Most people would have pushed against the will of God but not Joseph and Mary. Joseph shares with us what a faithful man of God looks like. To go against the grain, the rumors and the shame thrust upon him and Mary because of this pregnancy. 

Joseph takes Mary for his wife and they go to Bethlehem to fulfill the prophecy concerning the birth of the Messiah as well as comply with the Roman requirement for registering. There Jesus is born. The story could well have ended for Joseph at this point but it does not.

Here the continuation of this story in Matthew chapter 2.

^NRS Matthew 2:13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."  14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod.

Joseph now must leave all that he knows, his family and likely his business to move to Egypt to keep Jesus safe. In some ways we now follow and Abraham story for Joseph. What trade does he do in Egypt? How does he take care of his family? The Gold given by the Magi certainly helps during this time. But was it enough? We never get this part of the story.  

So we continue the story in Matthew chapter 2, verses 19-23:

^NRS Matthew 2:19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ²⁰ "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." ²¹ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. ²³ There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."

There we hear nothing else until Jesus is around 12. We can surmise some things about what happens in those early years. First, Joseph would have to regain the trust and respect of the town and regain his business and trade. That would have taken some time and would have taxed anyone, especially a person under the circumstances of Jesus. We know that Joseph was a dutiful father who taught his son the trade he knew. I would guess that Joseph was a righteous father who taught his son the ways of being a Hebrew. Jesus would have grown up learning the Law of Moses, memorizing the Torah at an early age and working hard to learn how to be a carpenter. Joseph could very well have simply ignored Jesus and let Mary raise him but that is likely not the way of it. Joseph was a loving father who cared for Jesus as his son, just as an adoptive parent does every day of an adoptive child’s life. Joseph was a righteous man of God.

After bringing Jesus to the Temple at age twelve, we have no record of Joseph. Some believe that he dies before Jesus turns 30 and begins his ministry but there is no biblical record. When Jesus is on the cross, he asks John to take Mary as his mother, which would only be done if she were a widow at that moment. But the truth is, we just don’t know. What we do know is that Joseph, a righteous man, raised Jesus to be the man God called Him to be. Joseph named Him upon His birth, a name in Hebrew that is Yeshua. Yeshua, commonly translated Joshua which means, to deliver, to rescue is also translated for us, Jesus.

As we celebrate the birth narrative in this season we call Christmas, let us men become Joseph like, righteous, willing to do the will of God and willing to love those who are not our own by birth. Let us become the people God is calling us to be. Will you?