The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:18
That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer.
Hebrews 10:5 NLT
So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
Matthew 1:19
But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20
Why do we fear obedience?
Why does obedience invoke fear?
1. Obedience might jeopardize our reputation
2. Obedience might make for harder circumstance
And the one sown on rocky ground — this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.
Matthew 13:20-21
…don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Matthew 1:20-21
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 1:14 NIV
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel , which is translated “God is with us.”
Matthew 1:22-23
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.
Matthew 1:24-25
When you come to Christ, you must drop your conditions. You have to give up the right to say, ‘I will obey you if.. As soon as you say, ‘I will obey you if,’ that is not obedience at all. You are saying: ‘You are my adviser, not my Lord. I will be happy to take your recommendations. And I might even do some of them.’ No. If you want Jesus with you, you have to give up the right to self-determination. Self-denial is an act of rebellion against our late-modern culture of self-assertion. But that is what we are called to. Nothing less.
Timothy Keller
How was Joseph rewarded for faith?
1. Blessed with significance
2. Blessed with eternal salvation
Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind. He makes human flesh his strength, and his heart turns from the LORD. He will be like a juniper in the Arabah; he cannot see when good comes but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land where no one lives. The person who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence indeed is the LORD, is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.
Jeremiah 17:5-8
