Joseph: The Man Who Raised Jesus

I preached this sermon on June 15, 2025

Do you know how many of Joseph’s words were recorded in Scripture?    None; we have no words from Joseph; J. Vernon McGee writes, “there is not recorded one word that Joseph spoke.  I’m confident he said something!  But there is no record of one word that he had to say.” McGee believes that it is because Joseph’s actions speak so loudly that he doesn’t need to say anything.

Matthew begins his gospel with Joseph’s lineage. Joseph was from the line of David, like Mary. However, he was not a descendant of Solomon, like Mary. His line came from David’s son Nathan.

Both Matthew and Mark tell us that Joseph was a carpenter. That’s one of the reasons the people didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah. The people were amazed and wanted to know where he got the power and wisdom to perform miracles since he was “just the carpenter’s son.” (13:55)

We know that Joseph was with Mary when they lost Jesus in Jerusalem; however, after that, we don’t hear anything more about him. It is assumed that Joseph died before Jesus began his ministry.

We know that he was the perfect man to raise Jesus because God chose him, and God knows everything about our past, present, and future. He knew Joseph would do the right thing when he found out Mary was pregnant and that he would protect Mary and Jesus with his life if necessary.

It’s possible that Joseph and Mary knew each other, but they likely deferred to their parents to arrange the betrothal and marriage. The parents would have signed contracts, along with paying a dowry, making the betrothal and future wedding plans binding. They were considered legally married, although they had minimal social interaction with each other during this period.

During the betrothal period, the groom prepares a house for himself and his bride. The house was usually either an extension of the groom’s family’s home or a separate house that was built on his father’s land. And then the groom would come and collect his bride, taking her to the home he had prepared for her.

Betrothals usually lasted about a year. During that time, if there was infidelity, the law allowed the involved parties to be stoned to death. This situation does not require the couple to be stoned to death, though that was an option.

Being a carpenter, Joseph was likely a large, rugged individual, though we don’t know since the Bible does not offer a physical description of Joseph. In verse 19 of our passage today, Joseph is described as a “righteous man.” Just as God valued the inner character of David in the Old Testament, we know that God values the inner character of Joseph and our own, as well.

We are not told how Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, only that he found out; and at that point, “Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly.”(1:19) I believe Joseph must have loved Mary very much and couldn’t bear the thought of her dying, even though he thought she had been unfaithful. The decision made, Joseph retired for the night, planning to talk to Mary the next day.

Matthew writes, “As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.” (1:20)

Again, Joseph absorbed the news silently; there isn’t any evidence that he “felt anger, resentment, or bitterness.” (MacArthur, 17-18) He did not question the angel at all. Was it a normal experience for people in Jesus’ time to hear from God in dreams? Is that why Joseph was so willing to believe what he heard in the dream?

There are numerous passages in the Old and New Testaments where God spoke to people in dreams. I can think of Jacob’s son Joseph, and some of the prophets mentioned that God talked to them in dreams. Having memorized the Torah as a boy, he would have been familiar with those stories, but I think he believed the angel because of his deep faith and trust in God.

But obeying God by taking Mary as his wife required more than faith in Him. While obeying God would have placed him in right standing with the Lord, marrying Mary would lead others to believe he was the father of her child. There would have been considerable gossip in town that would have cast Joseph in a poor light, in the Jewish faith.

When the angel told Joseph he was to name the baby Jesus, he gained a spiritual insight that many of us have overlooked over the years. We don’t pay much attention to the meaning of names, but in Joseph’s time, they did.

Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation.”  I think Joseph understood that this child would be the Savior they had been waiting for, for a very long time. I wonder if he shared this information with friends or kept it to himself.

The angel quoted the prophet, saying that “he will be called Immanuel (meaning God with us).” I agree with McGee when he observes, “You can search the record, as I have done, and you will never find that at any time was Jesus called Immanuel – yet the prophet said that He shall be called Immanuel…In substance, the Angel Gabriel said, ‘Joseph, you are going to call him Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. But, Joseph, He can’t save His people from their sins unless He is Immanuel, God with us.”

John MacArthur, in his commentary, writes, “Jesus is the form of the Hebrew Joshua, Jeshua, or Jehoshua, the basic meaning of which is 'Jehovah (Yahweh) will save.’ All other men who had those names testified by their names to the Lord’s salvation. But this One who would be born to Mary not only would testify of God’s salvation, but would Himself be that salvation. By His own work, He would save His people from their sins.” Page 18

Neither Mary nor Joseph knew a lot about Jesus. They had both had experiences with angels who told them to give him the name of Jesus, so they knew that he would be the salvation of his people.

Yet, they didn’t completely understand Jesus’ role in our salvation. They didn’t understand all that Jesus did. It had taken them three days to find Jesus in the temple when he was 12. This surprised Jesus, who said, “But why did you need to search? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49

Luke tells us in verse 50, “But they didn’t know what he meant.” Understandably, they were unsure of their role and Jesus’ role in the salvation of God’s chosen people. They were walking a path no one else had walked.

The gospels are silent about most of Jesus’ childhood and young adult years. We do not know if Mary and Joseph faced challenges in raising Jesus to fulfill his role as Savior. (Other than when they lost him in Jerusalem.)

We know both trusted God implicitly. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t times when they were unsure about their role as parents and needed to turn to God for help. I’m sure there were times when they wondered if they were capable of the task God had given them, just like the rest of us. Yet, they remained faithful as they watched Jesus grow “in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all people.” Luke 2:52

Mary and Joseph didn’t let their lack of knowledge stop them from following God. Sometimes, that is my greatest challenge. I hesitate to obey God because I don’t know how it will work out. I want confirmation, proof as it were, that it will all work out.

Recently, at Alpha, the topic was about how God guides us. God guided Joseph through dreams. He told him to marry Mary, go to Egypt to protect Mary and Jesus, to return from Egypt when the time was right, and to settle in Nazareth.

He still speaks to us. In the 18th century, he guided John Wesley in establishing a movement that became the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. In the 21st century, he spoke again, and the Global Methodist movement was created.

Now I believe he is calling us to spread the good news through this new movement. The safe thing to do is to stay in our churches and take care of ourselves. However, as our Conference Superintendent, Scott Pattison, said, we are not called to “serve us”, but to “service”.

If Joseph had taken the safe route, the one most men would have chosen, he would have had Mary stoned to death for what he believed was her betrayal. Instead, he risked his reputation and his family’s good name so that we would have a Savior who would take away our sins.

I’ve known the Christmas story since I was a little girl, but until recently, I didn’t consider that Joseph had a choice in how he would respond to each of his dreams. He could have chosen not to marry Mary. God does not force us to do anything.

Joseph took a significant risk with his life and his reputation. Would you do the same? Will you go where God calls you to go?