Joseph – Man of Integrity
Matthew 1:18-25
Kasey Schmidt always dreamed of being married in a little old
white country church. Growing up on a farm around Waterville,
Washington she didn’t have to look hard to find one. As a child
playing on a rope swing she would look across the field and see
the picture perfect postcard of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. It’s
stately steeple stretched to the sky and its twelve arched stained
glass windows reflected the light and the 85-year-old church was
beautiful white.
When Kasey and Korey got engaged she contacted the owner of
the church, who was storing household goods in it, to see if she
would be able to get married in it. He agreed and moved the goods
out. Kasey, her mother and friends spent several days cleaning the
historic church for the ceremony. Kasey’s dream came true as she
and Korey were the first couple to be married in the church in the
last 32 years.
When people get married they are usually fulfilling their dream.
As they plan their wedding they put their hopes and dreams into
reality so their wedding is something they can look back on with
fond and special memories. Weddings are supposed to be a time
of happiness and joy not confusion and uncertainty because it is
one of the greatest times in a person’s life.
When Joseph was about to marry Mary he discovered she was
pregnant he was faced with a difficult decision. Should he marry
her even though he was not the father or should he break off their
relationship because she was pregnant?
There are times when we don’t understand why things happen to
us and life doesn’t make sense to us, but we have to trust God.
Ps. 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Puritan John Trapp said, “It is the nature of faith to believe God
upon his bare word . . . It will not be sense; it cannot be reason.”
Jewish Wedding
In a Jewish wedding there were usually three steps which occurred
before the couple were officially married:
1. There was the engagement usually made by the parents when
the boy and girl were just children.
2. Years later there was the betrothal (KJB espoused) or formal
agreement that the couple entered into which was legally
binding. This lasted for a period of one year and during that
time the couple was known as husband and wife even though
they did not live together yet.
3. After the year of betrothal there was the marriage ceremony
which was followed by a week of celebration. In John 2
Jesus turned water into wine when a wedding party ran out
of wine during the week of celebration after the ceremony.
PERSONAL DILEMMA
:18-19
Crisis
:18
Joseph and Mary were betrothed to each other and so they were
considered to be married in the eyes of the law and their families.
When Joseph found out Mary was pregnant he was faced with a
serious dilemma about what he should do with their relationship.
Mary had been told by the angel Gabriel that the child she would
have would be by the Holy Spirit (Luke 2:30-35), but Joseph had
not been told before hand. The fact that Mary was pregnant must
have seemed like a crushing blow to his hopes and dreams for
them to be married. All of his joy was gone and he had to struggle
with what he should do next.
Just (NIV righteous) – Gk. good, honest, law abiding or upright.
A just person was someone who lived according to the law of God.
Matthew 5:45 God sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
The word described someone whose inward thoughts and their
outward actions honored God in how they lived their everyday life.
They did what was right according to the law, but they did it with
mercy and compassion like God that is why they were righteous.
It was used of doing what is fair and right for another person.
Matthew 20:4 The owner of the vineyard said to the workmen,
You go into the vineyard and whatever is right I will pay you.
He would pay the workers correctly for the labor they had done.
At the end of the day he paid the workers for the whole day.
His love for Mary causes him to suffer privately while at the same
time making sure that Mary is not humiliated publicly. Joseph
demonstrated James 2:13 Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Alford Barns wrote, “Justice demands the sinner should be
condemned; mercy pleads he may be saved— and mercy prevails.”
Compassion
:19
Joseph’s attitude toward Mary was completely different than
Judah’s toward his daughter-in-law Tamar when he found out she
was pregnant and he wanted her burned to death (Gen. 28:24).
Application
We face a dilemma when we are tempted:
1. To lie so we don’t get into trouble with our parents or our boss.
2. To cheat to get a better grade because everyone else is doing it.
3. To get what we want by manipulating the circumstances.
A just person will want to do what is right in the eyes of God
instead of making their own judgment upon the individual.
They will leave judgment to God who always does what is right.
Our problem is that we are either too harsh in our judgment of
them or we are too easy in making excuses for them.
Resolved (KJB minded) – Gk. to determine, purpose or will.
Here it means to choose between two options.
R.G. Tasker wrote, “Joseph was torn between his desire to do what
was legally correct and a natural anxiety to protect his betrothed.”
He wanted to do what was best for Mary as well as himself.
The word dilemma comes from the Greek word meaning double
assumption. A dilemma is to assume that two things are both true.
It is being caught between two difficulties or a rock and a hard spot
so that there is no easy way out or answer to the problem you face.
Webster defines a dilemma as: facing obstacles on every side so
that it is difficult to determine what course of action to pursue.
Joseph let his character overcome his feelings to do what was right.
In spite of his own deep personal hurt he wanted to do the right
thing according to the law. Divorcing Mary privately before two
witnesses according to Numbers 5 would accomplish two things:
1. He would be obeying the law given by God.
2. He would also show compassion on her.
Often when we face a dilemma we only think about how we can
get out of it, but not, what is the right thing to do that honors God.
We look for the best way out for our self, not caring about what
happens to anyone else who is involved.
If we are determined to do the right thing we will look for God to
give us his clear direction through His Word for your situation.
Ps. 119:24 Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.
Even when we are confused and struggling we can be confident
God will guide us to make the right choices which honor him.
Matthew Henry wrote, “It is better to take time to consider
before (making a decision) than to find time to repent after.”
SPIRITUAL EXPLANATION
:20-21
Dream :20
God speaks to Joseph telling him that Mary is innocent because
the baby was conceived from the Holy Spirit not some other man.
Luke 1:35 The angel told Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon
you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born will be called – the Son of God.”
The reason the Holy Spirit caused Mary to become pregnant was
that Adam’s sin nature would not be passed on to Jesus so he
would be without any sin to die as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Romans 5:12 Sin came into the world through one man and death
through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned.
God was telling Joseph to believe what seemed impossible and to
take Mary as his wife just as he had been planned to do before it
was revealed that she was pregnant. Faith is believing the Word
of God even though it doesn’t make sense to us.
Illustrations
 God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

He told the priests to step out into the raging waters of the
Jordon River to cross over into the Promised Land.

He told the Israelites to march around the city of Jericho
for seven days instead of attacking it.

He told Naaman to dip himself seven times in the Jordon
River to be cured of his leprosy.
Application
Trusting God sometimes requires that we believe the impossible.
God does things in ways which we cannot fully understand.
Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things not seen.
1. We don’t understand why a godly believer gets cancer,
but a wicked unbeliever lives a long full life.
2. We don’t understand why we do not get to live out our dream
or goal even though we faithfully walk with God.
Savior
:21
The child to be born would be a son who would be their Savior.
Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua which literally
means Jehovah saves or salvation is of Jehovah.
John Calvin wrote, “The name Jesus presents to us the Son of God
as the Author of salvation because he is the eternal God.”
Jehovah had saved them from slavery in Egypt and now his son
Jesus would save his people spiritually from the penalty of sin.
Application
1. When we decide to do the right thing God will always give us
assurance. Sometimes it might be through a dream or a verse in
the Bible or a counselor, friend or parent.
2. We have to be open, ready and willing to hear what God says
instead of doing what we choose to do.
3. God might tell us to do the very thing we really don’t want
to do, but he will always reward us for our obedience to him.
FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE
:24-25
Marriage
:24
Joseph was quick to respond and does exactly as the angle told him
to do. He didn’t argue or complain about the circumstances he just
trusted that God was in control and did what God asked him to do
even though other people would question what he had done.
Name :25
His obedience is seen even in the little details as he names the boy
born to Mary Jesus just as the angel had told him to do.
Hudson Taylor, missionary to China (1800’s), once said, “If we are
obeying the Lord, the responsibility rests with Him, not with us.”
When we do what God wants us to do he will work out his will.
Submitting to the plan of God changed his life as he became the
earthly father of Jesus. He was forced to flee to Egypt to protect
Jesus when king Herod tried to kill him soon after he was born
and stayed there for a couple of years (Matt. 2:13-15).
Application
1. Obeying God will change our lives because we will have to do
things we didn’t plan and give up some of the things we did plan.
2. God always rewards our obedience with his blessings.
Joseph received the great privilege of raising Jesus as his son.
CONCLUSION
Lee Iacocca was born to Italian immigrants in Allentown, PA in
1924. At the age of 22 he began to work at Ford Motor Company
as a student engineer. The training course taught him how an
automobile was made. They spent a week in each department
so by the time they were finished with the course he was familiar
with every stage of manufacturing a car.
As a general manager in 1960 he decided that Ford needed to
produce a car that would appeal to young people. In order to
do that it would have to have three main features they wanted:
1. Great styling. 2. Strong performance. 3. A low price.
Developing a new model with all three characteristics would not be
easy, but if it could be done it would be a major success. The final
result was the Ford Mustang which rolled of the assembly line in
March 1964 with a price tag of only $2,368 for a base model. It
became a great success as over 400,000 were bought the first year.
Lee Iacocca rose through the ranks of Ford Motor Company to
become President, but eight years later he was fired in a power
struggle over the company by the grandson of Henry Ford.
He didn’t get mad; he got even by becoming the Chief Executive
Officer of the Chrysler Corporation. In the 1980’s he developed
the Dodge Minivan and brought the company back from the brink
of bankruptcy.
Lee Iacocca know that timing was important and he said, “Even
the right decision is the wrong decision if it is made too late.”
Joseph made the right decision at the right time to marry Mary.
He didn’t understand all that was involved, but he obeyed God.
God wants our obedience even when we don’t understand his will.
God rewards our faithful obedience to his will for our lives.