ICEL A Just Man Matthew 1:18-25 ICEL 25 December 2010.
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Transcript of ICEL A Just Man Matthew 1:18-25 ICEL 25 December 2010.
ICEL
A Just Man
Matthew 1:18-25Matthew 1:18-25
ICELICEL
25 December 201025 December 2010
ICEL
Joseph
• Not much is said about Joseph.
• He appears in the birth narratives.
• His name appears rarely in the New Testament.
• He apparently died before the crucifixion.
• Joseph was a “just man.”
ICEL
Joseph Feared God
• Joseph was a God-fearing person.
• That is, he carefully obeyed the Law.
• He wanted to please the Lord.
• Joseph is an example for us today.
ICEL
Scripture text:
18 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.
19 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.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
Matthew 1:18-25 (1)Matthew 1:18-25 (1)
ICEL
Scripture text:
“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.
21 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.”
22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:18-25 (2)Matthew 1:18-25 (2)
ICEL
Scripture text:
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25 (3)Matthew 1:18-25 (3)
ICEL
The Betrothal
• Mary may have been a young teenager.
• Joseph could have been considerably older.
• Mary and Joseph were legally bound to each
other through their engagement.
• Their engagement could only be broken by
divorce.
ICEL
The Crisis
• Sexual relations and cohabitation were not
allowed until after the marriage ceremony.
• However, Mary was found to be pregnant.
• With whom had she been unfaithful?
• Joseph was a God-fearer. What should he
do?
ICEL
Scripture text:
23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married and he sleeps with her,
24 you shall take both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death—the girl because she was in town and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.
25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die.
Deuteronomy 22:23-27 (1)Deuteronomy 22:23-27 (1)
ICEL
Scripture text:
26 Do nothing to the girl; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders his neighbor,
27 for the man found the girl out in the country, and though the betrothed girl screamed, there was no one to rescue her.
Deuteronomy 22:23-27 (2)Deuteronomy 22:23-27 (2)
ICEL
Legal Recourse
• The Law provided for two different cases:
• Seduction (vv. 23-24)
• Violation (vv. 25-27)
• Mary’s pregnancy was the “proof” that she
had either been seduced or violated.
ICEL
Joseph’s Quandary
• According to Jewish customs, Joseph could
not keep Mary as his wife, unless it could be
established that she was not an adulteress.
• A less rigorous reading of the Law, however,
would allow Joseph to take her back only
after the suspicion of adultery had been lifted.
ICEL
The Husband’s Right
• Since Joseph and Mary hadn’t begun living
together, the process in Deuteronomy 22
would be followed.
• That would require a public trial.
ICEL
Satisfaction
• “It should be borne in mind that in the
initiation of such a defamatory process, the
husband’s intention was not so much to
resume or to begin cohabitation, as to accuse
the woman and to liberate himself from her
after having a public ‘satisfaction’...” Angelo Tosato, “Joseph, Being a Just Man (Matt. 1:19), pp. 550-551
ICEL
Joseph’s Decision (1)
• Joseph chose to proceed with the divorce on his
own initiative.
• This required him to pay the ketubba himself.
• The ketubba was a prenuptial agreement, which
protected the bride (taking the place of a bride-
price).
• This was an expensive proposition for Joseph.
ICEL
Joseph’s Decision (2)
• Joseph didn’t want to expose Mary to a
shameful trial as a suspected adulteress.
• By doing so, he took full responsibility for the
divorce upon himself.
• Joseph was a just (or righteous) man.
ICEL
An Unexpected Word
• Then in a dream the angel told Joseph
something that he could not know—that this
was no ordinary pregnancy.
ICEL
Scripture text:
20 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.
21 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.”
Matthew 1:20-21Matthew 1:20-21
ICEL
Joseph’s Response
• Joseph awakes and does everything the
angel had commanded him.
• Joseph took Mary home as his wife.
• They did not have sexual relations until after
the child was born.
ICEL
A Necessary Man
• God needed an earthly father who would
completely obey His will.
• Joseph was of the house of David.
• But God was Jesus’ father (by the Holy
Spirit).
• And Mary was Jesus’ mother.
ICEL
An Obedient Man
Joseph
• followed the angel’s directions.
• kept Mary a virgin until after the child’s birth.
• fled with Mary and the child to Egypt (Matt. 2:13-
14).
• brought Mary and the child back to Israel after
King Herod’s death (Matt. 2:19-23).
ICEL
Why a Virgin Birth?
• This was a unique child.
• Conceived of God / Born of a woman.
• The child—Jesus—would save his people
from their sins.
• His name would be called “Immanuel,” which
means “God with us.”
ICEL
A Cosmic Saviour (1)
• Our sins are not simply “local.”
• Our sin affects more than space and time.
• We sin against an eternal God.
• We have offended One who dwells beyond
time and space.
ICEL
A Cosmic Saviour (2)
• Jesus is born as the God-man.
• As man, Jesus can die on the cross as a
substitutionary sacrifice for people like you
and me.
• As God, Jesus’ death can assuage the
offense against an eternal God.
• Only Jesus could pay the eternal penalty.
ICEL
Scripture text:
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:18-25 (2)Matthew 1:18-25 (2)
ICEL
The Good News
• The good news of Christmas is this: “God is
with us!”
• Spatially: God has become man (one of us).
• Relationally: God has done so because He is
“with us.”
ICEL
Scripture text:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16John 3:16
ICEL
Our Response (1)
• How should we respond to this Christmas
gift?
• Accept the gift—receive Christ into your life.
• Turn from your sins and live for Christ.
ICEL
Our Response (2)
• If you’ve already received Christ,
• Consider Joseph’s heart, and imitate him.
• Love the other person, no matter what it may cost you.
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the
Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as
his wife.”