The Bible Binge: The King Nobody Wants: The Father (Matthew 1:18-25)

Chad Richard Bresson

The Table of Los Fresnos

Sermons • Sermon • Submitted 5 months ago • Presented 5 months ago

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National Adoption Day

A couple of weeks ago, there was an event in Washington D.C. that didn’t get a lot of notice, but among a certain group of Americans it’s a big day every year. November 23rd is National Adoption Day. And every year, families that have adopted children, and children that have been adopted make their way to Washington and other capital cities around the country to celebrate their forever families. There are around 100,000 children finding forever families every year. Texas is one of the better places to be if you’re a child looking for a forever family. Texas has one of the fastest growing rates of adoption… it has increased by more than 25% in the last decade. One 15-year-old kid who was adopted this year after spending 10 years in foster care told a newspaper:

“My parents could’ve picked anyone. And they picked me. “

If you’re looking for a forever family in the Bible, it’s right under our noses this holiday season. But it’s also part of our own story this Christmas season. We’re in our Bible Binge series and in the first biography of Jesus in the New Testament. In the book of Matthew. And remember, Matthew is answering the question, is Jesus really the guy? Is his really the Messiah that we were promised in the Old Testament?

How can Jesus be King?

We’ve spent some time looking at that family history of Jesus, because it is important to Matthew’s biography. How is this Jesus the legitimate heir to David’s throne? And here’s the problem that Matthew has seemingly created: How is Jesus a Son of David, as Matthew 1:1 says he is, if he has no earthly father? How can he have any claim to Israel’s kingdom and David’s throne if his only Father is God himself through the Virgin Birth?

Matthew is about to answer that question, and along the way we are introduced to a guy by the name of Joseph. Joseph is in the family tree:

Matthew 1:16 Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Jacob fathered Joseph. Joseph is in the direct line coming from David. And in this verse, there is at least some close proximity to Jesus established… Joseph is the husband of Mary who is the mother of Jesus, the Messiah. And the rest of this story in chapter 1 is told from the position of Joseph. Joseph is a main character here. But like Mary, Joseph isn’t in control of his own destiny.

Mary is discovered to be pregnant

Here’s that verse we looked at last week… and this time, we’re putting the camera angle on Joseph.

Matthew 1:18–19 After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

We know from Luke’s biography that Mary knows why she is with child. She hasn’t told Joseph why. And God allows Joseph to not know, long enough for him to craft a plan to divorce his fiancé. God doesn’t tell Joseph right away. If Mary is the source of the “being pregnant” part, Mary doesn’t convey the whole story. Mary doesn’t tell him… probably feels like she can’t tell him.

Matthew doesn’t tell us Joseph’s emotions, but the fact that he doesn’t want to public disgrace Mary suggests that if he feels anger, it’s on the back burner. I don’t want to get into any speculation, but Joseph’s motivation, as it is chronicled by Matthew has a lot of calmness to it that would not be true of a lot of guys in this position. We are not told if Mary told him and he didn’t believe it. We are not told whether Mary did not tell him. All we are told is that he did not desire to disgrace her.

Joseph decided to divorce Mary

However, Joseph also decides that he will not be father to the child that he knows is not his and that he will divorce Mary. And that’s the dilemma of the story. Joseph intends to divorce Mary. Everything that happens in this story happens because Joseph is getting ready to divorce Mary. I think we tend to run right over this thought. We’re too busy focusing on the virgin birth. We’re too busy focusing on the angel who, in the next few verses will clue Joseph in with what is really happening.

The impending divorce is the trigger, the reason there is an angel paying a visit to Joseph. It’s the center of the conflict. The big dilemma. Joseph is feeling the weight of having a bride who is pregnant from someone else. If Joseph is to the point of making plans for a divorce, just think about the families involved. Think about the small village of Nazareth, where Mary and Joseph are residents.

Joseph is looking for a private divorce to save Mary from as much disgrace as he can. Joseph isn’t looking to be part of the disgrace. But he loves Mary and is willing to get everything done in secret so that her disgrace is less than it would be. He’s going to keep Mary off the social media and the spotlight.

Joseph is in the dark, by God’s design. God delays telling Joseph. You don’t think Joseph doesn’t think about this later when he knows the entire story? God delays. This is his story. This is his timeline.

Timing and who knows what, when is a big deal to us. How many times in your life have you either said or have been told “so… when were you going to tell me?” We don’t know the why of the timing. All we know is what Matthew tells us. Mary was “found to be pregnant”.

Joseph’s dilemma

We find in our text this morning that Joseph is described as a "righteous man”, but someone who is struggling. Joseph has confusion. Joseph has fear. The woman or the girl to whom he is engaged is pregnant and he knows that he is not the father. He is also compassionate.

If this were a drama, this is what we would say is the dilemma of the story. This is Joseph’s dilemma. Much could be said about Joseph’s righteous motivations here and his compassion and love for Mary. Joseph did not have to resolve such a scandalous bit of news privately and in secret. This “secretly” and “not wanting to disgrace her” not only speaks to Joseph’s sense of compassion, but also his shock. This is so unlike Mary.

God gives grace to Joseph

The point here is that Joseph knows that the child is not his. But God does not leave him in his confusion. He does not leave him in his fear. God, in his grace, is going to provide Joseph with a promise. He's going to provide Joseph with a Bible lesson. And he's going to give Joseph a task. But all of this is God's doing, God doing the impossible, and God providing grace for Joseph in the middle of a very, very difficult position.

Matthew 1:20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Oh there’s that line again. “From the Holy Spirit”. That’s twice here. Joseph now knows the rest of the story. Joseph has been clued in. This is God’s grace.

This is God’s compassion, grace, and mercy for Joseph. God’s timing is everything. No explanation, no apology, just “don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” This angel brings the big picture to Joseph. Mary is still chaste. This child is by divine initiative.

Angel: Embrace the Disgrace

What’s fascinating about what happens here is that when the angel encourages Joseph to go ahead and marry Mary and make the child his own, which he does, the unstated implication of this is that the angel is telling Joseph to embrace the disgrace. And he does. And so does Mary. Mary, Joseph, and the baby, Jesus, will live with this disgrace the rest of their lives. Because who in their right mind is going to believe that Joseph or anyone else didn’t father Jesus a bit early… before the wedding day? This is unbelievable. And that’s the point. All of this is unbelievable. It’s why Matthew writes. It’s why Matthew is telling the story of Jesus. It’s all so unbelievable.

And don’t miss that line about Joseph, son of David. Remember, Matthew is going to try and resolve this big dilemma. How is Jesus even in line to be a king? The angel speaks to him as Joseph, son of David. Joseph is the only person in the entire New Testament who is called a son of David other than Jesus.

Marrying Mary isn’t the only thing that God is telling Joseph to do through the angel. There’s a second task on the task list. Here’s what the angel says:

Matthew 1:21 Mary will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus.

Jesus is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name “Yeshua” (and speaking of which, don’t let anyone ever tell you that his name really isn’t Jesus. That would be like me saying it’s totally wrong to call Charles “Carlos”. Or Jose, “Joseph”. It is a big to do about nothing with those making those claims, and we have them here in the valley).

“Jesus” was a common name for Jewish boys in Joseph’s day. And it’s not a secret that “Jesus” was the Greek form of the Jewish name Joshua. “Jehovah our Savior” is the literal meaning. But this isn’t simply any Joshua. This Joshua is unique. This Joshua is exponentially superlative. This Joshua is heralded by an angel. This Joshua is born of a virgin. This Joshua is of divine origin. There has never been a Joshua like this One, nor will there ever be a Joshua like this one.

The Adoption

But Joseph is to marry Mary and he is to give the son the name Jesus. Do you know what marriage to the mother and being the one to officially name the son does? Look at these two requirements:

Marry Mary

Name the son

Those are the two requirements in Jewish culture for a father to adopt a son. And that’s exactly what happens:

Matthew 1:24–25 Joseph married Mary...she gave birth to a son. And Joseph named him Jesus.

This is the “ta da” moment of the entire chapter… the reason for the family tree. You want to know how Jesus is a legitimate heir to David’s throne? He was legally adopted by a father who was in the line of David. That’s how. The baby Jesus has all the rights and privileges of being a son, Joseph’s son. He has a father, a mother, a home… a name. Jesus! Adoption. Adoption is the resolution of the problem. Taking the son as if he were your own. Is Jesus the guy? Can he legitimately claim David’s kingdom and throne? Yes, he can… he’s been adopted by one who is the rightful heir to the throne.

Jesus is adopted. We are adopted.

Adoption is part of the big grand storyline of our redemption. All of us have been adopted as God’s sons and daughters in his kingdom because of Jesus. Jesus is the first Adopted One who was adopted so that he could do his work of saving us. Paul the great missionary picks up on this:

Galatians 4:4–7 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons...So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

In our salvation and forgiveness, we are no longer slaves, but sons. And because we are sons, we are heirs. God has given us all the keys to his kingdom. He has given us all the inheritance we could ever want. We get it all.. we get salvation, we get eternal life, we get forgiveness, we get grace, we get Jesus! We get Jesus himself. That’s our inheritance. No matter what life looks like here, because of our adoption as sons and daughters, we’re always children of the king. That’s our adoption story.

And those of you who have experienced earthly adoption, you’ve got a front row seat for seeing just what adoption as a son of God looks like and feels like. Just like the son three weeks ago at an adoption party: God could’ve chosen anyone, but he chose me. He chose you.

Our Adoption is our salvation

That means, then, that our adoption is bound up with Jesus’ name. We didn’t quite say everything the angel said. Here’s what the angel said:

Matthew 1:21 You are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

You are to name him Jehovah our Savior, because he is going to save His people from their sins. This is also shocking and unexpected…at least for those who were expecting the next David to lead Israel in an overthrow of Rome. This Joshua comes to conquer a different kind of enemy and to establish a different kind of kingdom. This Joshua is not a military leader. This one named Jehovah our Savior comes bringing salvation of a different sort.

The mission of this son is the point of this passage. It colors everything in this passage. This is the son of Abraham who is coming to save his people from their sins. This is the heir to the Davidic throne who is coming to save his people from their sins. This is not a Davidic heir who comes in all the glory of the throne. This is not a Joshua coming in power and might to overthrow Rome. This is Joshua coming to save his people from their sins.

The King we need is an Adopted Son

By this point, Joseph has already begun to embrace the story. You know what calms Joseph’s fear? What gives Joseph peace? What moves his legs and his heart to complete the tasks that the angel gives him? Is it because Joseph is up to the challenge? Is it because God picks the best guy for the job? No. Joseph knows better.

This is an absolutely impossible task. A Baby born of a virgin… and even more stupendous and unbelievable and glorious is the Promise…. He will save His people from their sins. That’s what carries Joseph. As the story develops, Joseph becomes not simply Mary’s protector, but the child’s earthly protector. Joseph becomes an adoptive father for a child not his own, because this child will save his people from their sins. That’s what carries Joseph.

God uses the broken in his stories because God is a God who is all about doing the impossible that we cannot do for ourselves. But that’s not the king we want. The king we want wouldn’t be adopted. Wouldn’t have a family mess. Wouldn’t be born into disgrace. That’s not the way we want our lives and our kings to be. But that’s the king we need. We need a king to be adopted so that he can be both the King and the Perfect Spotless Savior of the World. We need Him to be both God and man. We need Him to be the adopted Son. FOR YOU. And FOR ME.

Let’s Pray

The Table

This table is for sons and daughters of the king. This table is filled with adopted sons and daughters eating of the bountiful salvation we have in Jesus. We don’t deserve this. We don’t deserve to be adopted as sons and daughters. We don’t deserve to be in God’s family. But he’s made us his family any way. This is the adoption table. We gather as sons and daughters, joint heirs with Jesus in all the good things of the kingdom, starting right here.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26

May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.

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