CHRISTMAS IN THE EYES OF JOSEPH AND MARY

Matthew 1:18-25

In January 12, 2007, the Washington Post did a social experiment on perception, taste, and priorities of people by asking a world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell to play incognito in one of the entrances of Washington's Metro subway stations during morning rush hours. For 45 minutes, Joshua played 6 intricate music pieces composed by Bach from His 1713 Stradivarius violin worth 3.5 million while probably a thousand people walked by on their way to work hardly noticing the beautiful music being played. It was estimated that only about 20 people stopped a little bit and listened, then continued walking away. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one really noticed it, no one applauded.

One of the important conclusions drawn from this experiment was that in a common place and in an inconvenient time, people can hardly appreciate beauty. For those people that day, if they only paid attention, they would have recognized how privileged they were to be listening to a top artist who is being paid millions to play his instrument.

The reality is: this should be our utmost concern this Christmas. With the pace of life, and the repetition of well-known truths, even us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ can miss out on the beauty and preciousness of the Savior we have. My fear is that many of us are not paying enough attention to recognize the inspiring beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the reason why we are taking the time to study Christmas Perspectives. In this series, we are highlighting the essential perspectives about Jesus Christ that we should not miss specifically from the nativity story. Last Sunday, we covered the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. With their story, we have learned that Jesus Christ is God's communication to us today, and that He has the ability to accomplish the impossible task of saving us from everyone who wants to destroy us.

For this morning, we shift to the story of Joseph and Mary. They are the young engaged couple from the small town of Nazareth whom God will give the amazing privilege of being legal parents to the Messiah. Let's discover together three precious perspectives they would both learn from God:

I     GOD'S INSTRUMENT: (vs. 18-22)

The Scripture do not give us a lot of background for Joseph and Mary, except for the fact that Joseph was a carpenter, while Mary was a young peasant girl probably around fourteen years old. Both of them came from a very small village called Nazareth where no one really boasted about.

Yet, when the time came for God to finally bring the Messiah to the world, He has decided to use these two ordinary individuals. The question that is often asked is: Why choose them?

No one can be absolute sure why God uses individuals to be instruments in carrying out His plans. But if we examine the lives of Joseph and Mary, probably we can come up with three answers:

A. Their Righteousness:

Verse 19 of our text refers to Joseph as a righteous man, meaning he was doing his best to do the things which are right before the eyes of God. This can also suggest doing his best in living a pure life before the eyes of men and God. Paul had emphasized this truth when he was teaching Timothy, his young disciple:

So, to be an instrument useful for the Master, one should do his best to be pure.

B. Their Faith:

First of all, for Mary to believe that though she was a virgin she would get pregnant, and then for Joseph to believe that Mary's pregnancy was a special work of the Holy Spirit, both must have great faith. Young as they were, they both understood that Jehovah God can do that which is impossible (Luke 1:37). Their unbelief could have brought them a lot of complications, or even miss out on their privilege. We are told in Hebrews 11:6 that faith definitely pleases God:

C. Their Obedience:

It is not hard to imagine the personal struggles Joseph and Mary had to go through because of this pregnancy. Mary could have feared negative reactions from Joseph and the people in the community, and Joseph could have feared the possibility of infidelity on the part of Mary. But both after being enlightened obeyed the will of God for their lives. I believe Mary's response captures their kind of heart:

These words of Mary are what I really would like to emphasized as far as their perspective of Christ is concern. Yes, it is a great privilege to be chosen, but to be chosen required from them a willingness to make sacrifices in order for the plan of God to be accomplished.

Is Jesus Christ worthy of their sacrifices? Is His work worthy of commitment to the point where they have to suffer? The Scriptures are clear that following the Lord do not always translate to positive experiences, sometimes they involve hardships and sufferings, trials and tribulations. Listen carefully:

The first part is positive experiences (vs. 33-35a); then words begin to change in the middle of 35 until 39, things turned negative. Yet, everyone faced everything with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope and pray that just like Joseph and Mary, all of us would be willing to make sacrifices for our Lord and Savior.

II    GOD'S INTENTION: (v. 21)

God had plainly explained to Joseph and Mary why the Messiah was coming into the world - She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

The name Jesus is the Greek counterpart of the Hebrew name Yeshua or Joshua. This name literally means, Jehovah is salvation. Going back to the text, it is clear that this salvation is not merely political, wherein they will be delivered from the hands of the Roman government who were presently oppressing them. This salvation is spiritual where they will be delivered from their sins.

Sin is man's greatest problem, and because of sin we won't go to heaven. God wants us to go to heaven. That's why He has given us His Son Jesus Christ. This is the very purpose of His coming to earth to pay the price of sin. The apostle Paul boldly declared to the Ephesian Christians:

Don't miss the phrase in accordance with the riches of God's grace. The reason why there is no limit to God's forgiveness is because there is no limit to His grace. Jesus came so we can be freely, and fully forgiven of our sins.

It has been said of Jerome the Church Father who translated the Greek manuscripts into Latin and put the Bible in the language of the people. One night while living in Bethlehem, he had a dream that Jesus visited him. The dream was so real to him that he collected all his money and offered it to Jesus as a gift. The Lord said, "I don't want your money." So Jerome rounded up all of his possessions and tried to give them to Jesus. Again the Lord said, "I don't want your possessions." Jerome then recalled the moment in his dream when he turned to Christ and asked, "What can I give you? What do you want?" Jesus replied. "Give Me your sin, that's what I came for, I came to take away your sin.

Have you already given Him your sins? Once you have, you can rely on the promise that you have received a complete forgiveness. God said:

It is complete forgiveness - as white as snow. No stain of sin is left.

III   GOD'S INCARNATION: (v.22)

Lastly, listening to the words of verse 22, Joseph and Mary will know that the coming of Jesus was also God's way of dwelling with us. Why do you think this is necessary?

A. In order for us to know God:

In God's desire to have an intimate relationship with us, we need a clearer revelation of who He is. Without Jesus, it would be so easy to misunderstand God. Remember what Jesus told Philip, one of the 12 disciples, regarding knowing the Father.

If anyone wants to know the Father, the easiest route is to know who Jesus Christ is.

B. In order to identify with us:

Jesus took our form and lived with us so He can understand our needs. The author of Hebrews referred to this truth:

For thirty three years, Jesus had to live on earth just like anyone of us. He did it so He can have a deeper understanding about our distresses, our struggles and cares. Why was this necessary? So He can faithfully pray for us. Today, He is at the right hand of the Father still ministering to us according to our needs. The author of Hebrews encourages us to go Him boldly in times of our needs because He understands what we are going through.

Joseph and Mary learned that Jesus is the master who deserves their sacrifices. He is the forgiver of all sins, and lastly that He dwelt with us so He can tell us about God and effectively minister to us today. During this Christmas, may we all learn to stop and pay attention to all these truths about our savior.