Fourth Sunday in
Advent (A)
December 18, 2022
Text: Matt. 1:18-25
Joseph
was a just man (Matt. 1:19). That is not
to say that he was sinless. But it is to
say, humanly speaking, he was a good guy, a faithful and generally obedient
Jew, who loved God, hoped in God, believed the Scriptures, observed the Law,
attended Synagogue, and dutifully plied his trade. A hard-working carpenter, you know. Joseph is the kind of man you want your son
to grow up to be, and your daughter to marry.[1]
Which
is to say, Joseph teaches us what it means to be a Christian man. Our confessions say this is what we should do
with the saints. We shouldn’t worship
them or pray to them. But we should set
their memory before us, as the Augsburg Confession says, “that we may follow
their faith and good works, according to our calling.”[2] It is particularly important in our time that
we have biblical examples of Christian men, and for that matter, Christian
women, Christian marriages, and Christian families, whose faith and good works
we may emulate in our own lives, and from whose mistakes we may learn of the
grace of God. Because, if you haven’t
noticed, the very essence of these things, what it means to be a man, a
husband, a father… what it means to be a woman, a wife, a mother… whether an
infant’s life has any inherent worth… whether marriage has any meaning beyond
sexual desire and romantic attraction… the very essence of these things is
under attack. And you know why, don’t
you? Satan hates men because Jesus
Christ was born a man to undo the deadly damage perpetrated by the first
man. Satan hates women because the Seed
of a woman would crush His head (Gen. 3:15).
Satan hates fathers because he hates God, our heavenly Father. He hates mothers because he hates Mary, who
bore the Savior, and He hates our mother, the Church. He hates babies because our Lord Jesus was
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He hates marriage and perverts sexuality
because Christ is the chaste and faithful Bridegroom of His Church… because He
loved her, and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, cleansing
her by the washing of water and the word, that He might present her to Himself
in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish
(Eph. 5:25-27).
So,
here the Spirit holds St. Joseph before our eyes as a just, that is, righteous
man. What are the qualities
that make him a model for Christian men?
Look how he cares for his betrothed, Mary. When he thinks (for obvious reasons) that she
has stepped out on him, committed adultery, he is even still, heartbroken as he
is, concerned to protect her. Now,
according to the Law of Moses, he could have insisted she be stoned
(Lev. 20:10; John 8:4-5)! But he
doesn’t do that. He does
determine to divorce her. And you have
to understand that in Israel, betrothal was as legally and spiritually binding
as marriage. The marriage simply hadn’t
been consummated yet. So, divorce it is,
but quietly. He is protecting not
only her life, but as much as possible under the circumstances, her honor. He is covering over her sins (or at
least what he thinks are her sins).
But then, when the angel tells him not to be afraid to take Mary as his
wife, and that it is, in fact, true that the Child conceived in her womb
is from the Holy Spirit, he is obedient to the Word of the Lord. He will take her, now, into His protection,
under the umbrella of his providence, as his own Eve, his rib, flesh of
his flesh, and bone of his bone. And the
Child. The Child, too, will be under
Joseph’s protection and providence, as his own Son. Joseph is the model adoptive father. His relationship to Jesus may not be
biological. And he understands he must
yield to our Lord’s heavenly Father. But
there is no question that Joseph is Jesus’ dad.
And
yes, Jesus. Joseph shall name the
child “Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21;
ESV). And it’s all right there in the
Scriptures of the Prophets, Joseph: “‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and
bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)”
(v. 23; Is. 7:14). When Joseph takes
Mary and her Child as his own, he is accepting all the attendant sacrifices
that will require of him. As, indeed, the
Christian man must always accept when he becomes a husband and a father.
And
we should note this, too: Joseph is a model for us all of sexual purity. Even during their betrothal, he doesn’t
violate the sanctity of Mary’s body. No
premarital sex. He controls his
passions. That is a sacrifice every
Christian man and woman must make. We
should regard and treat the bodies of others as holy vessels of the Lord,
created in His own image, and redeemed by the sacrifice of His
body on the cross.
But
Joseph shows that this calling extends even into marriage. Now, most Christian husbands and wives are not
called upon to refrain from consummating their marriage on the wedding night
and thereafter. Joseph has a
special calling to “know her not” until she gives birth to her Son. But even in marriage, we are to treat the
bodies of our spouses as holy vessels.
To be blunt, sex is holy.
Christian husbands and wives should enjoy it, and they should give
themselves to one another, and not deprive one another, as St. Paul teaches us
in 1 Corinthians 7. But always in
holiness. Don’t let Satan convince
you that sex is dirty and bad. It is
only dirty and bad outside of holy marriage, and when it is used in ways that
demean, harm, or unnaturally violate the holiness of marital union. All Christians, but Christian men,
especially, are called upon to emulate St. Joseph, and guard the sexual purity
of themselves and others, even against their own fleshly passions.
Well,
what else do we know about St. Joseph from other texts? He cares for Mary and her unborn Child
on the long, arduous journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. He cares for them in the Bethlehem
stable, surrounded as they are by beasts and shepherds, when the time comes for
Mary to give birth. He attends
her and provides for her needs. As
the spiritual head of his house, he has the Child circumcised on the eighth
day, naming Him Jesus as the angel commanded, and he brings the Child
and His mother to the Temple for the rites of redemption and purification (Luke
2); that is, he leads his young family in the holy faith of Israel. He provides a home for them. He shelters them in a house, in which
they receive the wise men. And when he
is warned in a dream of Herod’s murderous rage, he protects his dear Baby
Boy by whisking his family off to Egypt (Matt. 2). We know that when the danger has passed,
Joseph gives his family a stable home in Nazareth, and we can be sure
that he trains up little Jesus in the way He should go, in the fear
and admonition of the Lord, and undoubtedly teaches the Boy his trade,
that of carpenter. We know that Joseph
is faithful in leading his family to Jerusalem for the great Old Testament
feasts, and when, on one such occasion, he thinks Jesus is lost, he turns the
city upside down looking for his dear Son.
Until, of course, he finds Jesus right where He belongs, in the Temple,
sitting among the teachers and asking them questions (Luke 2).
He’s
a good husband, a good dad, a just man.
But then Joseph disappears from the Gospel narrative. By the way, not a word from his mouth is
recorded in Scripture. Apparently, he
was the strong, silent type. But what
happened to him? Presumably, he
died. Mary is an apparent widow when
Jesus commends her into St. John’s care at the cross (John 19:26-27).
But
see, here, too, he teaches us. He
never makes it all about him. All
the things we’ve pointed out about him, are not actually about Joseph,
or even about Mary (who is, by the way, the model for Christian women, in her
faithful obedience to the Lord and treasuring His Word, as well as her
reception of Joseph’s husbandly care and headship). It’s all about Jesus. Joseph’s whole life, the protection and care
he provides for his family, his faithful sacrifices, his obedience to the Word,
it's all about providing God’s gift of Jesus to the world. Which is to say, to you.
Just
as his namesake, that dreamer of old, Joseph the Patriarch, protected
Israel and provided for them in Egypt, so that, from this people,
the Savior of the world would be born; so St. Joseph of Nazareth is the mask of
God in protecting and rearing the Child born of Mary, our Lord
Jesus Christ. And, now, think about this:
In his providence and protection and vocation as head of the Holy Family,
Joseph teaches us what Christ, our Bridegroom, does for us.
He
was a just man. Justified
by faith alone in the Messiah, who, as it happens, is his own adopted Son. But so also just, as in a faithful,
Bible believing, Christian husband and father, who provides for his family and
raises them in the faith. Dear Christian
men… be like him. Dear Christian women…
marry a man like him. Husbands, fathers…
do what he does. Wives, mothers… do as
Mary does and receive the Christian headship of your husband. And to those who are single now, or widowed,
or even if you never get married… there is virtually nothing here that you
can’t emulate in your own context as you seek to live faithfully as one
redeemed by Christ the crucified, the Son of Mary, Son of God, Joseph’s Boy.
But
above all, all of you, dear Christians… emulate Joseph in this. Christ. It’s all about Christ. Your whole life wrapped up in Christ. Redeemed by Christ. Live for Christ. Really, to be like Joseph simply means to
find your life in Christ alone. To trust
Christ. To receive Christ as He comes to
you in the flesh, even as Joseph received Him in the flesh.
Thank
God for Joseph. Through his faithfulness,
God brings our Savior into the world.
And from St. Joseph we learn what it means to be a man. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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