A Just Man Named Joseph

A Just Man Named Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25)

Introduction

The gift giving of God exceeds our imagination.

Matthew 1:18 – The lineage of Jesus, proving Him to be both a Jew and candidate for the crown, has been presented in the prior text. Matthew now segues into the marvelous manner in which the Son enters the world. A tax-collector-turned-Jesus follower wants his audience to know that the birth of Jesus Christ was nothing short of a messianic prophecy-fulfilling sign.

In the culture of the Hebrews Joseph and Mary are in the first part of wedding — the betrothal (erusin); this period where they are promised to one another and yet living apart is called the sanctification (kiddushin) because in this period the bride is sanctified unto the groom (Wikipedia, n.d.).

Matthew 1:19 – Unknown to a just man named Joseph is the fact that Mary’s pregnancy is not an early insight into immoral character but the handiwork of the Holy Spirit. What seemed to be a problem was really part of the prescription for what ails man most.

A virgin birth, though initially problematic for the carpenter, was an essential element in Heaven’s effort to save mankind.

But God does not tell Joseph about the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. He is left to look at the outworking and draw his own conclusion. He is abandoned by the Almighty to assess unaided the situation and formulate a response (2 Chronicles 32:31). God has withdrawn in order that in the hurt inflicted by Mary the heart of Joseph could be held up for all to see. What are we seeing? To understand what we are seeing we have to refrain from a rush to interpret Joseph’s actions. He is a Jew and has a Jewish culture and an Jewish understanding of who God is and what God wants.

• Key Characteristic of the Creator – (Psalm 89:11-14)
• Majors in the Marriage of the Almighty to His People – (Hosea 2:16-20)
• Expectations on the Nation – (Hosea 12:6)
• The Goal God Gives Each Person – (Micah 6:8)

This just man is the epitome and example of the man described by the prophet Micah:

⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

The New King James Version (Micah 6:8).

Who is the man that would have a hand in raising the Son of God? Who is the man that can be given charge of the greatest of all gifts and provide guidance to the Son of God for living godly. This is the man!

Foremost in my mind, as I examine this passage, is the difference between Joseph’s concept of forgiveness and my own. For me forgiveness is transactional and involves a trade. But if forgiveness is the idea that, after the transaction based on the proper trading, (1) if I can hurt you I won’t and (2) if I can help you I will, the prerequisites are conspicuously absent. He is like the sermon that tells me to love my enemies and the supplication from the cross to forgive the people jeering. Forgiveness here is not a doing that can be derived from a policy but is an emanation from a nature, an expression of my identity, and an outworking of my commitment to be godly.

Forgiveness, as it is seen in Joseph, is not (1) a function of the offenders offer of an acceptable apology and (2) is not based on the behavior of the person that has bruised me or beaten me or crucified me. It proactively protects and promotes when the other person persecutes me, it helps when the other person hurts me. Flowing out of a heart that has been forgiven by God is devotion to doing right by God in a forgiveness that engages the enemy with mercy.

Matthew 1:20-21 – The Comfort of God and Character of Joseph

• Joseph is Calm (Matthew 1:18-19; James 1:19-20) – Jesus grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). Before Jesus would come to clearly understand his identity and calling God would have real manhood demonstrated by a godly man.
• Joseph is Compassionate (Micah 6:8; Matthew 1:19; Leviticus 20:10) – The aim of Joseph is to do justly and to love mercy. He is, by his actions, an effective exhortation toward being both just and merciful.
• Joseph is Considerate (Matthew 1:20) — The carpenter considers his steps. In a sense he measures twice so that he will only have to cut once.
• Joseph is Commandment Keeping (Matthew 1:24-25) — Notice that Joseph is a man of obedience. We see it in three ways: (1) He took to him his wife (Matthew 1:24) and (2) He named the boy Jesus (Matthew 1:25).

Matthew 1:22-23 – The Bigger Picture of Pardon and New Life

Referring to the plural they of they shall call His name Immanuel, Nolland posits the following possible reason:

the plural may be to distinguish the literal naming of Jesus by Joseph from this metaphorical naming; it may be to allow the naming to function as a profession made by people saved from their sins (v. 21) (Nolland, 2005, p. 100)

Though the role attributed to the Spirit has already implied that Mary’s pregnancy is not the fruit of sexual activity, only by means of the quotation is she identified specifically as a virgin. The LXX wording lends itself admirably to Matthew’s interpretation. First it uses παρθένος, which normally implies virginity, where the underlying Hebrew ʿalmâ has no such implication (though a young woman who was a virgin would be quite naturally termed ʿalmâ). Then, it represents Hebrew hārâ with ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει which, while quite a standard LXX rendering, focuses on the state of pregnancy rather than the process of becoming pregnant. The combination of these two features (probably unanticipated by the translator) makes it quite natural to read the text as speaking of a virgin who will be pregnant as a virgin rather than as speaking of one who is a virgin at the time of speaking but who will become pregnant in the normal manner. (Nolland, 2005, p. 101)

1:24–25 Joseph is the first person in the Gospel called upon to commit himself to the significance of Jesus in the purposes of God. ἐγερθεὶς … παρέλαβεν (lit. ‘having risen … he took’) links this episode to 2:13–15, 19–21, where the language recurs (see at v. 20 for other language links). The detail offered here, with its emphasis on full obedience to the angel’s directive, is not repeated in the linked pericopes but is intended to be carried forward from here. (Nolland, 2005, p. 103)

• Tutoring of the Law – Galatians 3:24-25
• The Promise of a New Covenant – Jeremiah 31:31-34
• The Deliverance – Ezekiel 11:19-20
• Receiving the Gift – John 3:16

References

Nolland, J. (2005). The Gospel of Matthew: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 100). W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

Probasco, Jim. (9 December 2022). Average Cost of American Holiday Spending. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/1112/average-cost-of-an-american-christmas.aspx