Joseph and the Dark Night of Jesus’ Birth…
Intro: Well Merry Christmas. My name is Matt Johnson and today we are celebrating the birth of King Jesus. A king born in a stable – who truly understands, knows and rules for the common people – because he is one of us. So please join me in prayer as we begin…
Prayer: Well for many people – Christmas is one of the most confusing holidays to grasp. Christians generally view Christmas as THE HOLY DAY that marks the birth of King Jesus. Christmas is a Christian festival, just like Ramadan is a Muslim festival or Diwali is a Hindu festival. Only its complicated – because we know Jesus wasn’t really born on the 25th December 0AD. (The best guess for Jesus’ birth is around September-October 4BC (because King Herod still appears at Jesus’ birth). We know Herod died in 4BC. So why does the church celebrate Jesus’ birth on the 25th December?
Well traditionally – 1) THE ROMANS worshiped Saturnalia – the god of Saturn in late December and 2) THE EUROPEAN PAGANS worshiped the sun on the winter solstice (around the 25th December). But after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire – POPE JULIUS decreed in about 350AD that the official day for celebrating the birth of Jesus would be the 25th December. The logic seems to be – that if people celebrated Jesus’ birth on the 25th December – it would gradually replace the pagan festivals of Saturnalia and the winter solstice. Now in some ways it worked.
But in the process – certain pagan traditions – like Christmas trees, yule logs and kissing under the mistletoe remained in the Christmas holy day. Evergreen conifer trees, yule logs and kissing under the mistletoe were all linked to fertility traditions that came from the pagan winter solstice – but they were kind of blended into the Christian traditions…
Now about the same time (mid 300’s AD) A CHRISTIAN BISHOP – named Nicholaus was becoming famous for his generosity. Nicholaus was born to quite wealthy Greek parents. But when his parents died – Bishop Nicholaus proceeded to give away all his families wealth – especially to the poor. Now shortly after this – the Catholic church made Nicholaus A SAINT and his SAINTS DAY was the 19th December. So the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas AND the honouring of Saint Nicholaus profound generosity began to blur together. So giving gifts to the poor like Saint Nick – became part of the Christmas tradition. Then in time – Saint Nicholause became Santa Clause…
By the 1600’s the celebration of Jesus’ birth was so laden with pagan, cultural and mystical traditions – that Puritan Christians in England and America banned the celebration of Christmas altogether. Some believed it did more harm than good. A famous Anglican Bishop in England named HUGH LATIMER said; “Men dishonor Christ more in the 12 days of Christmas than in the entire rest of the year…” So Christmas was banned in England for about 16 years and banned in America for about 22 years because it was NOT considered Christian…
But it gradually came back – only to be further corrupted by commercialism and secularism. (Slide 2) In the C20th – Coca Cola (in a piece of marketing genius) took the stories of Saint Nicholaus; turned him into SANTA CLAUSE and dressed him in Coca Cola’s colours of red and white. They also introduced stories of the north pole, reindeer and Santa riding on a sleigh. AND WELCOME to the modern western commercial, slightly pagan, secular Christian Christmas.
Now underneath all this mess & confusion – we still have the birth of King Jesus – who true Christians still worship and adore. So let’s cut out all the white noise and consider the historical story of Jesus’ birth. It begins today with…
Point 1: Joseph being told to be a husband to Mary (and father to Jesus)
Show: Matt.1.18-19 (READ)
Explain: Now the word MESSIAH (or Christ) is very significant because God promised he would one day send a very special king (called the Messiah) to save the world. The prophesies about this Messiah begin as early as the Garden of Eden. But as the Bible was written (from about 1400BC onwards) – God revealed more and more about this Messiah. 1) Where he would be born. 2) When he would be born? 3) What he would be like. 4) How he would save the world. Now one of the things (God promised) was that this Messiah would not be like the Kings of the earth – who lord it over their people. The Messianic King would really use his power to love and serve his people. So given ALL these Jewish prophecies of the Old Testament – we kind of know the story of Jesus before it begins…
For starters – in about 700BC – the prophet Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would be born of A VIRGIN. It would be a miracle and the Messiah would be called IMMANUEL (which means God with us). So Matthew 1 is about the fulfillment of this prophesy in Isaiah. JOSEPH AND MARY are engaged to be married. But Joseph has just found out Mary is pregnant and he knows the baby is NOT his – because they haven’t had sex. God teaches that couples should wait until marriage before having sex. (Sex is meant to consummate marriage before God). So Joseph and Mary have honoured Gods commands and yet Mary is now pregnant. So Joseph is beginning to freak out. He knows how women normally fall pregnant AND he’s pretty sure Mary’s cheated on him. I mean what other conclusion could there be…
Now on Sunday we looked at LUKE’s gospel which really focuses on Mary’s extraordinary faith when Jesus is born. But the gospel of Matthew really focuses on Joseph’s extraordinary faith when Jesus is born. So look again at verse 19 (READ). This verse tells us a lot about Josephs character. He is a man 1) who tries to be faithful to Gods commandments, but 2) he is also a man who understands the importance of grace.
In accordance with Jewish law – JOSEPH could have had Mary publicly humiliated (and perhaps even executed) for cheating on him. Many a man would have done this. But rather than bringing the letter of the law against Mary – Joseph is inclined to show mercy and divorce her quietly. This demonstrates great maturity. It is only the most mature of Christians who really grasp the balance between the letter of the law and the application of grace. But Joseph kind of gets it. The natural conclusion is Mary has stuffed up and cheated on him – but he is inclined to show mercy and grace because he understands we are all sinners in need of Gods mercy and grace. This is a good Jewish man.
Now look at what happens (Slide 5-6; Matt.1:20-21). What the angel tells Joseph to do is marry Mary and adopt Jesus as his own. The angel assures Joseph – Mary has not cheated on him. The baby in her womb is a miracle from God. So trust her and marry her.
Now on Sunday I stressed the amazing faith of Mary when the angel spoke to her in Lukes gospel. But now I want to stress the amazing faith of Joseph in Matthews gospel. BOYS – if you were in Joseph’s shoes and God told you to marry Mary because “Don’t worry, it’s a miracle” – would you A) believe and obey OR B) run for the hills.
These days there are very few men in the world who are still willing to obey God and step up to the responsibility of marriage and fatherhood. Most men today are so fearful of responsibility – they just get girls pregnant in pre-marital sex and then send them to the abortion clinic if the contraception doesn’t work. Let me say – such men are truly pathetic AND one day such men will face GODS JUDGMENT. (If you are man like this or you’ve done this – you seriously need to ask for God’s forgiveness). But thankfully God is in the business of taking pathetic, gutless men and turning them into great, courageous men who show MERCY and have THE FAITH to step up to real responsibility as husbands AND fathers – even of children who are not their natural children.
Apply: Now I’m not saying Joseph was perfect. But Joseph trusts Gods Word that marriage and fatherhood are part of Gods good plan for him. Mary needs a husband and God tells Joseph to man up. Jesus also needs a dad and God tells Joseph to man up. Men let me tell you there are a lot of WOMEN and CHILDREN today who are looking for men to man up. Men like Joseph are worthy of honour in the church. In faith, hope and love Joseph trusts God and becomes a true man…
Point 2: Josephs leads his Family to Bethlehem (where Jesus is Born)
Show: Matt.2:1-2 (Slide 7)
Explain: Well to really understand why Joseph goes to BETHLEHEM – you need to read Luke’s gospel. Matthew’s gospel simply says “after Jesus was born in Bethlehem.” What the… How did we get to Bethlehem? Well, this is where we get all the wonderful Christmas carols about 1) the star, 2) the manger, 3) the lowing cattle and 4) the “wise men”. (Only the true story is a lot more messy and far less romantic). Let me explain…
Joseph and Mary lived in the north of Israel in a place called Nazareth of Galilee. NAZARETH was like Mt Druitt or Penrith. Seriously. NAZARETH was like a TV episode of Housos (Slide 8). Yes. Some of you guys would have felt quite at home in Nazareth. Respectable, Jerusalem Jews did not go near Nazareth in Galilee. Like Housos, the Galileans were the bottom of the social ladder. In John 1, the disciple Nathanel says “Can anything good come out of Nazareth.” (Jn.1:46). The idea is no! Again in John 7 – when Nicodemus tries to defend Jesus – the Pharisees say the people in Galilee are just a stupid mob who do not even know the Jewish law. They then say; “No prophet has ever come out of Galilee.” (Jn.7:52). Saints don’t come from the slums….
So Jesus truly had parents from the wrong side of the tracks. (Not that they were bad people). As we’ve seen Joseph and Mary both had extraordinary faith and they were given the honour by God to be the parents of Jesus. But my point is – Jesus really is a king born on the wrong side of the tracks.
That makes him a king who really understands what ordinary, struggling people need. He didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth like most kings. He grew up with the common folk and with huge empathy for the plights of the common folk.
Now just before Jesus was born a stupid King named Caesar Augustus (who grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth) decided to count all the people in the Roman Empire – for tax purposes. So without considering the inconvenience it would cause – CAESAR simply decided everyone had to go to their home town to be counted (or face the wrath of Rome). Now this was a problem because Joseph’s home-town was Bethlehem – which was three days walk from Nazareth. Stupid Caesar! Another King who only cares about money. So, Joseph and pregnant Mary have to walk 3 days to Bethlehem for the census – simply because another stupid king wants more tax. Sound familiar. They all pretend they have our best interests at heart. But really?!
Well almost immediately we meet another stupid king – named KING HEROD. King Herod was the king of the Jews, but he wasn’t even Jewish. He was an Idumean or Edomite AND became KING through corruption and bribery). So, he had no legitimate right to be King of the Jews and this made him as paranoid as a pot-dealer. Herod was always imagining people were out to get him and he became a paranoid psychopath. It is said of Herod (Slide 9)… NOW NOTICE that as the Magi come to Jerusalem looking for the Messianic King – Herod is going into one of his psychopathic meltdowns. If baby Jesus really is the promised Messiah – then Jesus is the biggest threat to Herod’s kingship. So Herod’s psychopathic order to kill all the babies in Bethlehem is entirely consistent with his character…
Apply: Now sadly, our world is full of Kings and politicians like Ceasar and Herod. They pretend to be for the people. But they just care about money, power and fame. Its against this backdrop that we are asked to consider the king who comes from the other side of the tracks…
Now amongst all this chaos – we also hear about THREE MAGI following a star to Jerusalem. The only prophecy in the Bible about a star comes from Numbers 24 (around 1400BC). In Numbers 24 a famous sorceror named Balaam announces that a star will rise over Israel when the Jewish Messiah is born. Now Balaam went on to become A REVERED FIGURE in Zoroastrianism and later on priests in Zoroastrianism became known as “Magus” or “Magi”. So what we now have is Zoroastrian priests and magicians seeing the star spoken of by Balaam AND coming to worship Jesus as the true king. What the…
Do you see – how crazy the Christmas story is? It is so crazy it has to be true. Who’d make this stuff up. The most influential man in the history of the world (and that’s undeniable) comes from first century housing commission in Galilee, through a virgin birth, as a psychopath king wages war on babies and Zoroastrian sorcerors worship him. (Yep, welcome to our world). What’s hard to grasp is much of this was prophesied hundreds and thousands of years before Jesus was born. The Jewish prophet Micah (who is quoted in verse 6) predicted in 700BC – all this would happen in Bethlehem AND it did
Now it’s little wonder – men don’t want the responsibility of MARRIAGE or FATHERHOOD in a world that is as messed up and crazy as this. The Bible calls men to lead, provide and protect their family through all this sort of chaos and most men don’t feel up to the task. We don’t feel capable to lead, provide and protect ourself, let alone women and children who are physically weaker than ourself… But through all this chaos – we see Joseph (even in his poverty) doing the best he can to guide, lead, love and protect his wife and new son…
Point 3: Joseph Leads & Protects his Family (with Gods Guidance & Help)
Show: Matt.2:13-15 (READ)
Explain: Well isn’t it amazing that as Joseph’s whole world is about to fall apart – God steps in and saves him, Mary and the baby Jesus. Just as Herod is about to go psycho in Bethlehem God supernaturally comes to the rescue and tells Joseph to pack the bags and go to Egypt – right now! It’s just what Joseph needs. 1) Joseph is low on resources. 2) He’s poor. 3) He’s life is dictated by narcissistic kings and 4) the the best he can supply in terms of health insurance for his wife – is a stable on the night of his son’s birth. Talk about feeling incompetent.
I think many people in Sydney today probably feel the same. If we take on marriage and parenthood – who can afford to put a proper roof over their family’s head, let alone good food on the table. RENT is ridiculous. MORTGAGES are now unattainable and the PRICE OF FOOD and HEALTH CARE just keeps going up. So, I’m sure there a lot of men feeling a bit like Joseph. I’m struggling to take care of myself – let alone a wife and children. That’s madness…
But what we see is that God is guiding Joseph and helping him – be the man he needs to be. 1) Marry Mary. 2) Raise Jesus. 3) Go to Egypt. Then trusting what God says and putting it into practice – Joseph steps up to responsibility and begins to navigate his family though all the perils of life. Now as it turns out – Herod dies within 6 months of Jesus’ birth. So the family is able to return to Nazareth in Galilee and Jesus has the wonderful privilege of growing up among the poor, the disadvantaged and needy – which makes him a great king.
Apply: Now what are we to make of this Christmas story? (PROBLEM) Well first, God had to send Jesus into our world because it is broken. Jesus’ name means God saves. Our world is full of sin, psychopathic kings (with wigs) and weird sorcerers. This is kind of scary and as a result many people are booking out of life – thinking they can’t do it.
Or they simply try to do life without ANY RESPONSIBILITY at all. But this simply denies yourself the gift of life. LIFE is responsibility. Responsibility – is the path of true life. But Christmas is saying you can do life – with Gods help. Remember Jesus’ other name is IMMANUEL which means God with us. Christmas is Gods assurance (that despite all our sin) He has not given up on us. God has come to help us in Jesus AND if we invite Him into our life – he will be with us. He helps us to be the men and women we are meant to be…
What’s more, unlike the KINGS OF THE EARTH who seem to only rule in order to feather their own nest – Jesus did something to prove that he really loves us more than himself. Jesus went and died on the cross for your sins. YOU DESERVE to be punished for your sin. (You know you’ve done things against conscience and in disobedience of God). But as our perfect King (from the wrong side of the tracks) Jesus accepts responsibility for our failures and he pays for it all as he dies upon the cross. Jesus died in your place for your sin. Now how many people do you know that love you that much they would die to save you?
So here’s the rub. God is now bringing everything under the rule of King Jesus. He’s been doing it for the last 2000 years. So the Bible says that if you believe King Jesus died for your sins, you say sorry for your sins and you truly submit to Jesus as King and start to obey him as best you can – God will forgive you, God will help you and He will take you to heaven. This is the real gift of Christmas. It is forgiveness. It is mercy. It is eternal life with God. But the Bible also says – that if you reject Jesus as your King – a day will come when you answer to King Jesus for why you rejected Him. I don’t say this to scare you. I say this because I love you. There is ONLY one way to be saved AND that is by accepting Jesus as your King. Would you like to do that today?
