Road to Bethlehem—Joseph

A true story. The year - 1979. The place - Buffalo, NY.

And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Blue Cross and Blue Shield that all the world should have health insurance. And this decree was first made when Jimmy Carter was President of the United States.

And all went to have health insurance, every one into his own city. But Peter McKnight and his wife Carolyn had recently moved to the U.S. from Canada. But before they moved, she was found to be great with child, and since that was therefore a pre-exisiting condition, her pregnancy would not be covered in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

So Peter also went up from New York, out of the city of Buffalo, into Canada unto the town of Fort Erie to find an obstetrician who would deliver their baby under OHIP.

And so it was that, while they were in Buffalo, the days were accomplished that Carolyn should be delivered. As she went into labor, they jumped into their car, drove hastily across the Peace Bridge, and she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a Canadian hospital nursery because there was no room for them in the U.S. health insurance system.

(And if you think that is amusing, you should have seen the face on the Customs Agent at the U.S. border when he asked us if we had anything to declare and we said “Just this baby!”)

Childbirth, for a mother, is a difficult, painful experience. For a husband, it can be something even more complicated. An expectant father feels many things as the moment of birth approaches. He’s concerned for the pain and travail of his wife. He’s anxious for the well-being of the baby. He feels a mix of apprehension, excitement, and most of all, a sense of utter helplessness to affect the course of events. Childbirth is something that is entirely out of a man’s hands!

Two thousand years ago, there was another father who felt some of these things. And Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, was an even smaller bit-player in the drama of Christmas than are most of us fathers in the birth of our children.

He knew that this little baby was not the product of his seed, but had been given life by God. He was not consulted when it came to naming the child—a normal prerogative of a father in those days. The child’s name had already been decided upon in the councils of heaven. Even the place where the child was to be born had been thrust upon Joseph, requiring a dangerous and difficult last minute journey far from home.

How did Joseph handle all this? What was his reaction? What can we discover about him that we can learn from when our lives don’t go according to plan? I want to explore that with you today.

Joseph, the step-father of Jesus, is in many ways, a mystery man. Many legends have grown up around him because there is so little hard information about him in the Bible. He is only mentioned in detail in connection with the birth and childhood of Jesus, as described in Matthew 1 & 2 and Luke 2. He’s only mentioned once in passing in the Gospel of John, and he isn’t mentioned at all in the Gospel of Mark. It is probable that, by the time of Jesus’ public ministry, Joseph was dead and gone.

He was a carpenter by trade, and he taught that trade to Jesus. He lived in Nazareth, which is located in Galilee, but his ancestral home was the town of Bethlehem down in Judea. When the angel appeared to Joseph, he called him Joseph “son of David”, and we know that Bethlehem was the city of David.

Joseph’s ancestors may have moved north to Galilee along with many other devout Jews in an attempt to colonize and convert to Judaism a previously pagan region. This migration happened during the reign of Aristobulus, a Maccabean king who reigned about a hundred years before Christ was born.

We do know that Joseph was a devout man. He is described by Matthew as being a righteous man, and we know that he took care to observe the Jewish law. In fact, that is why he had such a struggle when he found out that Mary was pregnant. He was wrestling with the severe demands of the Law that applied to that difficult situation.

After Jesus was born, Joseph made sure that they went to present him at the Temple, even though they were poor and could not afford the usual and customary sacrifice for purification. Luke tells us that every year, Joseph and Mary made the pilgrimage all the way from Nazareth to Jerusalem to observe the Passover, a journey which would have involved substantial cost and inconvenience to themselves.

So here was a man who took his relationship with the Lord seriously, and sought to be faithful to God in the way that he lived. But the question I really want to get at this morning is: how did God treat Joseph?

Every time God intervened in Joseph’s life, it seems to have caused inconvenience and upset. Maybe you know of someone—a relative, perhaps—and every time they come around, they cause turmoil. It just seems like everything goes topsy-turvy whenever they’re around. They make demands, they cause trouble, they want their way—and it’s very difficult.

Well, God is almost like that in Joseph’s life. Joseph was living a quiet life in Nazareth, a humble, unassuming carpenter. But as soon as his life was invaded by God—as soon as he became a player in God’s program— everything went into turmoil.

God imposed on Joseph—there are four great impositions that God made in Joseph’s life. God asked Joseph to yield control in each of these four areas. Let’s see how Joseph did…

1. God asked Joseph to give up his personal plans

Here was Joseph, betrothed to a young woman named Mary. They were planning for their wedding, and ultimately, they were planning to have a family. That’s what good Jewish couples did.

But God’s plans didn’t coincide with Joseph’s plans. God’s plans called for Joseph’s fiancee Mary to become pregnant.

Matthew 1:18 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. 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.

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. 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.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

The plan of God called for a virgin to conceive, so that the Son of God who was born would not be tainted with the guilt of Adam’s sin, which is passed down from the father. But in order for this to happen—in order for a virgin to conceive—it would mean that Mary—the virgin in question—would always be suspected of being an adulteress. Because how many times in history has a woman ever conceived a child without the help of a man?

This is what God put on Joseph’s plate—an “either/or” choice. Either take by faith what the angel has told you, or come to the only other logical conclusion—the conclusion that everybody else is going to draw—that your fiancee has been unfaithful to you.

What did Joseph do? Joseph chose to believe God. And it took great faith for him to believe this! But believe he did, and his actions prove it. Look at verse 24

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.

That last phrase is important because it indicates that Joseph gave God’s plans an even higher priority than his own plans. He cared more about the sanctity of God’s program than he did about fulfilling his own needs, or exercising his own rights as a husband. He made sure that Mary remained a virgin until she gave birth.

I wonder how much I am willing to lay aside my own plans, my own expectations, my own dreams in favor of what God wants me to do?

2. Joseph allowed God to dictate his place.

He allowed God to move him—to change his location. He had a business in Nazareth. Now he has to go to Bethlehem? How would you like it if, in order to pay your taxes, Revenue Canada required you to show up in person in Ottawa?

Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

So God wanted Joseph in Bethlehem. And He used all of that census stuff to get him there.

But let me suggest something about the Christmas story that I’ll bet you’ve never thought about. Mary did not have to go to Bethlehem. Women were not subject to taxation in those days. Mary did not have to go. Only Joseph had to go, and that is what the Scripture confirms when it says “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.” No mention of Mary.

But Mary went also. Why? Because Joseph brought her, that’s why. He was the one who had to go to Bethlehem, but he wasn’t about to leave Mary behind in Nazareth to have this baby all by herself, because you know what would have happened. She would have been the object of scorn and ridicule and gossip as an unwed mother. Remember, they weren’t married yet. But Joseph loved her and he wanted to be with her in her hour of need. But the only way for that to happen was for her to go with him to Bethlehem.

A lesser man might have left her home in Nazareth. It would have been more convenient for him; easier for him to travel alone. He could have said “Honey, I’ll be back in a few weeks. I’ll see you then.” And if that had happened, Jesus wouldn’t have been born in Bethlehem in fulfilment of OT prophecy.

You see what I’m getting at? God hinges his whole program for the Incarnation on Joseph getting Mary to Bethlehem. The whole thing hinged on Joseph’s character! Caesar didn’t require Mary to be in Bethlehem, but God did. And Joseph was the man he used to get her there.

Never underestimate the consequences of doing the right thing! When you make the tough choice to love someone, or to be honest, or to go out of your way to be kind to someone—even if it’s terribly inconvenient to do so—you are lining yourself up on God’s team. He can take your simple act of devotion and bring enormous consequences from it. Just like he did with Joseph. He wanted to stick by his fiancee, and the only way for that to happen was for her to make the trip to Bethlehem with him.

3. God’s plan required Joseph to give up control in the area of personal protection for himself and his family.

This is a real hard one for a man, because we men regard ourselves to be providers and protectors. That’s the way we’re wired. And we don’t like it when life is uncertain and threatening. We like to have everything figured out. No surprises.

But that is NOT where Joseph found himself as he lived God’s plan. After Jesus was born and the wise men had come to visit, we read in Matthew 2:13…

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Notice how Joseph responded: He got up during the night and took his family to Egypt. One of the great qualities of this humble man is that he obeys God immediately.

Matt. 1:24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Matt. 2:14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt.

And then, after Herod had died, an angel told Joseph that it was safe to return to Israel.

Matt. 2:21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

Always, instant obedience! Even when it meant inconvenience and danger and uncertainty, Joseph obeyed God. He didn’t sit around and try to figure it all out. He obeyed immediately.

He was like Abraham, who when told by God to go to Mount Moriah and sacrifice Isaac, saddled up his donkey early the next morning and obeyed God without delay.

Are you like that? Do you obey God immediately when He tells you to do something? Even when he tells you to do something scary or risky?

There is a lovely legend about the Holy Family’s escape into Egypt. It is the legend of the spider.

Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were very weary at the end of the first day of their journey, and as evening came, they sought shelter in a cave. It was very cold, so cold that the ground was white with hoar frost. A little spider saw baby Jesus and wished that he could do something to keep him warm on that cold night. He decided to do the only thing he could and spun his web across the entrance of the cave to make a sort of curtain there to keep some of the cold wind out.

Later that night, along the pathway came a detachment of Herod’s soldiers, searching for children to kill in obedience to Herod’s bloodthirsty orders. When they came to the cave, they were going to burst in to search it, but the captain noticed the delicate spider’s web covered with hoar frost shining like silver in the moonlight. He said “Look at that spider’s web. It is unbroken. There cannot possibly be anyone in that cave, for anyone entering it would have broken the web.”

So the soldiers passed by and left the holy family in peace because the little spider had spun his web across the entrance to the cave. And that, according to the legend, is why we put tinsel on our Christmas trees, for the glittering tinsel streamers stand for the spider’s web, silver with hoar frost, that protected the entrance of the cave where baby Jesus lay on his way to Egypt.

4. God’s plan called for Joseph to give up his prerogatives as a father.

In those days, it was natural for a son, particularly a firstborn son, to take over his father’s business. Joseph had a carpentry business and Jesus worked with him in that business. But God’s plan was for Jesus to leave that business and be about his Heavenly Father’s business.

The last time we see Joseph is in connection with the only glimpse that the Bible gives us of Jesus’ childhood.

Luke 2:41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.

Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

There are two really tough things for a parent to experience. One is to lose your kid. If you have ever lost your child for any length of time, you know the feeling of panic it brings. It is not good! Joseph and Mary felt that here. They lost track of him for three days!

It’s tough to lose your child. It’s just as tough to let go of your child. To cut the apron strings; to sever the ties that bind, and let your child fly free out of the nest. Some parents and children never quite succeed in negotiating that transition.

But here was Jesus, at the age of twelve, quite conscious of the fact that he needed to be in his Heavenly Father’s house, not his earthly father’s house. Although what he says is not meant to be rude, implicit in his statement is a rejection of his earthly parents. He was not the son of Joseph; he was the Son of God.

Joseph and Mary had to come to terms with the fact that this child was not theirs to keep. And that’s something that we all have to come to terms with—none of our chidren are ours to keep. God loans them to us to raise and nurture. But ultimately, they belong to him. They are His property, and we need to recognize that.

We often project onto our children our dreams, our priorities, our unfulfilled ambitions. You only need to attend a peewee hockey game and watch the parents in the stands to understand that!

But what we need to be doing is helping our child to be aware of what Jesus was already aware of—that he belongs to God and that God’s dreams for him, God’s priorities for him, God’s ambitions for him are what really matter.

Joseph had to come to terms with this.

If ever a man had cause for complaint, surely Joseph was that man. Yet he didn’t complain. He quietly accepted his role in God’s program and carried it out with dignity and reverence. He was a servant. He regarded himself and his own rights and expectations to be completely subordinate to the will of God. He placed himself at God’s disposal. And in doing so, this humble wood-worker gained a place of high honor.

May we be like him.