Mat 1:18-25; O Righteous Man, Where Are You?

Class Outline:

Wednesday November 1, 2023

 

Theme: Joseph was declared a righteous man and proved it by his actions in the face of great adversity.

 

MAT 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

 

Why is this paragraph in Matthew?

He is revealing the qualification of Jesus as the Christ and King.

He was not born “in Adam”

He was born of the Holy Spirit.

He is God with us (Immanuel - Isaiah).

 

Matthew states that Mary, while betrothed to Joseph, but before they had married, was pregnant.

 

The Evangelist desires the reader to grasp immediately the supernatural character of Jesus Christ. “His birth was as follows …”

 

In Israel, such a betrothal, or what we would call an engagement, was legally binding. And while engaged they had no conjugal rights.

 

And if this were not true, the child could easily have been attributed to Joseph.

 

Matthew, being a righteous man, would hardly have engaged himself to a girl of loose morals.

 

Matthew’s Jewish readers are going to know that under the law, Mary is not only worthy of divorce, but of death.

 

LEV 20:3

the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

 

Joseph easily could have made a open show of her infidelity, which before the intervention of the angel to him, could be his only conclusion.

 

I think that we can safely assume that Joseph knows Mary to be a righteous woman. He would have been perplexed by her pregnancy. He must have thought that something was not quite right.

 

In this way, Joseph is what Job’s friends should have been.

 

Mary is like Job. They are both upright, righteous individuals, and they are known for it. Something amazing and unique happened to them both.

 

The friends of Job were not necessarily wrong in what they said, they were just wrong about Job.

 

The friends of Job knew in rote memorization only that bad things happen to bad people.

 

JOB 4:7 [Eliphaz]

“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?

Or where were the upright destroyed?”

 

This is true, but what kind of man is Job? They know him to be an extremely righteous man. And yes, everyone sins, even Job, but what would he have done to warrant that kind of discipline upon himself.

 

Job himself does not understand what is going on, and we find out in the gospels that Mary hasn’t got it all figured out either.

 

When God finally weighs in with His own poetry in Job, we see God portray this very principle - none of us have understanding of the happenings, their reasons and their purposes, of a great many things.

 

God reveals His animal kingdom as fair and unfair.

JOB 38:41

“Who prepares for the raven its nourishment

When its young cry to God

And wander about without food?”

 

What do they eat? They are birds of prey.

 

JOB 39:30 [eagle]

"His young ones also suck up blood;

And where the slain are, there is he."

 

What this shows us is that Job’s friends’ memorized doctrine of bad things always happen to bad people, is not true. It also shows us that Job’s doctrine (developed by him after his pain and loss) that people who suffer like him should never be allowed to be born, is also not true.

 

Joseph will discover the reason for Mary’s pregnancy after he makes that righteous decision and he will do what the angel tells him to do.

 

Joseph did know how difficult it would be for them, for their whole family, Jesus included.

 

But as for the lesson that you and I can learn from Joseph is that a righteous man does what is right, even when it involves personal pain and sacrifice.

 

Joseph is righteous, but he is not at all related to Jesus by blood.

 

Jesus is righteous.

1JO 2:1

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous

 

MAT 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 

What makes Joseph righteous is his faith and willingness to keep God’s commandments.

 

And Matthew’s readers, so many of them Jews who are going to feel uncomfortable reading about this who situation. Should Joseph have divorced Mary, under the rule of the law of Moses, when the identity of the child is Immanuel of Isaiah? Should he disregard the child, or not love and care for Him because He was not his?

 

We come to know the miraculous work of God in history and in our own lives through the word of God. Living obediently to that word will mean persecution from an unknowing world. It will mean ridicule. It will mean pressure from the unknowing to conform to their way. 

 

The righteous man has courage.

He follows the way of the Lord no matter what.

 

No matter how uncomfortable, painful, whatever loss, whatever others say or think, the righteous man has the courage to do the will of God because it is honorable and good. He fears the Lord, not people or their opinions.

 

Are you righteous in this way - upright?

 

PSA 7:10

My shield is with God,

Who saves the upright in heart.

 

PRO 2:7-8

He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

He is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

Guarding the paths of justice,

And He preserves the way of His godly ones.