Tag: Joseph

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The Quiet Strength of a Courageous Man

Living quietly as a craftsman in Nazareth did not require much of Joseph in the way of courage. No defiant acts of political intrigue. No insurrection against the Roman occupation. Joseph is not described in heroic terms.

Yet when he faced the greatest crisis of his life, he displayed unusual courage. I think he behaved as a hero.

Joseph was required by Roman edict to travel to his hometown of Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7). It was not a good time for him and his wife to make such a journey. Mary was well along in her pregnancy. This must have been disruptive and inconvenient. The journey must have been slow and unpleasant.

When they arrived, Bethlehem was filled with visitors who were there to comply with the Roman registration. The homes were crowded with relatives. The inns were overrun. There was no place for them to stay other than a stable for animals.

“While they were there the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger” (Luke 2:7).

We may assume this happened not long after their arrival in Bethlehem. There is no mention of a midwife, and no description of Jesus’ actual birth. Did Joseph deliver the baby?

They stayed in Bethlehem several months after Jesus was born, perhaps as long as two years (Matthew 2:16). Then a second dream came to Joseph as a message from heaven (Matthew 2:13-15). Hurry up! Escape while you can! Flee to Egypt! Herod the king is going to try to kill the child.

Joseph acted courageously and left Bethlehem during the night with his little family. This was the second of three journeys in the Christmas story. It must have been slow going with a baby, travelling through the wilderness the hundred miles to Egypt.

Historians tell us there were over a million Jews living in Alexandria at the time. Joseph and Mary may have lived as refugees among this expatriate community. In Egypt they found temporary protection from the evil despot who was motivated by Satan to destroy the baby Jesus. The fate of humanity and God’s plan of salvation hung on Joseph’s heroic obedience to God.

We do not know how long the holy family stayed in Egypt. We are told that it was until the death of King Herod (Matthew 2:19-20). The stay in Egypt had been prophesied in the Old Testament (Matthew 2:15), “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

This is an allusion to Hosea 11:1, which refers originally to the exodus of the Hebrew nation from their slavery in Egypt. Matthew applied this prophesy to Jesus, who was the typological fulfillment of all that the nation Israel had failed to be in the divine plan. Hosea wrote more than he knew. His words had a deeper significance, pointing beyond the nation Israel, to the Lord Jesus Christ. The exodus of the children of Israel in their infancy was a pointer to  Joseph’s heroic rescue of Jesus in his infancy.

After the death of king Herod, Joseph received another message in a dream. He was instructed to return with the child and his mother to the land of Israel. An additional dream guided him specifically to Galilee. Once again, Joseph obeyed. Once again, they travelled. Once again, prophesy was fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene” (Matthew 2:22-23).

Nazareth was a small, obscure place. All his life our Lord was referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth.” It was there that Joseph taught his adopted son the trade of carpentry (Mark 6:3). It was there that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). This was due in large measure to the courage and heroism of Joseph.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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The Quiet Strength of a Thinking Man

During this season of Advent I am thinking of Joseph. He was the man God called to be the foster father on earth of Jesus. His call came unexpectedly from two sources, from news that Mary gave him, and from a dream God sent him.

We might imagine the scene: Mary, his betrothed wife-to-be, approaching him, eyes to the ground. “Joseph, I have something to tell you.” She was pregnant. He knew this was not his doing. This seeming betrayal was the greatest disappointment of his life. The shock was beyond words. His sadness inconsolable.

As a faithful Jew, he knew enough of the Torah to know that he could either publicly expose Mary’s apparent infidelity, shaming her, and possibly risking her life, or divorce her privately. The gospel of Matthew gives us the story (Matthew 1:18-20).

Joseph was a thinking man. “He considered this,” the text says. His mind ranged back and forth. On the one hand, guided by his heart, he loved Mary and felt a need to try to protect her from public scandal. On the other hand, guided by his head, he had a reputation as a righteous man, and he must have felt a duty to safeguard his own good name. The law of Moses permitted divorce in cases like this. That is what he was inclined to do. Until . . . he received a message from heaven.

We call it divine intervention. An instance when God shows up and speaks with unmistakable clarity. The Bible is full of instances like this. When life is at its worst, when people are pulled in opposite directions and they don’t know what to do, or when they are overwhelmed with sorrow, the Lord reveals his will. God sent a messenger to Joseph with gentle guidance.

“After he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 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'” (Matthew 1:20-21).

“A son,” not “your son.” Matthew adds the interpretation from the prophet Isaiah, “They will call him Immanuel — which means God with us” (Matthew 1:23). He will be conceived by the Holy Spirit, a miraculous conception and birth. He will be “God with us,” divine and sinless. He will be a male child, fully human.

In Bible times, dreams were reliable media for transmitting divine guidance. This was the first of four dreams Joseph would receive from the Lord. In this respect he is like the Old Testament Joseph for whom he was named. He responded to the message with faith and obedience.

He knew what to do. “He did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus” (Matthew 1:24-25).

As a thinking man, Joseph was open to divine guidance.. He accepted by faith the message from heaven. The holy angel confirmed what Mary had already told him, that she was a virgin (Luke 1:34). He did as he was directed and gave the baby the name Jesus, which means “savior,” or “deliverer.”

As you and I contemplate this, let’s be like Joseph, obedient to God’s revealed will. Let’s be like Joseph, thinking things through and responding with faith in God’s word.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

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Finding Meaning in Suffering

As a participant in my church’s intercessory prayer ministry I am reminded regularly of the sufferings of fellow Christians. The church has a prayer room with cards that record the needs of the congregation. Members of the prayer team come to the room during the week to pray for the sick, for the church and its leaders, and for our community and nation.

There seem to be many people who battle cancer and its effects. Words like chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and remission show up quite often on those prayer cards. For some, it seems to be a life and death struggle. They depend on the church for emotional support and for prayers for their physical healing.

Several years ago I was counseling a woman who was angry at God because her husband had died of cancer. She refused to let go of her bitterness. She would not trust in any God who would allow suffering to continue.

Like some who argue for atheism, the problem of human suffering was, for her, an obstacle to belief in a God who is kind and good. This was an intensely personal issue. The suffering and death of her husband seemed pointless and without justification.

I’m not sure how my words may have influenced her thinking. It takes faith to believe that human suffering may accomplish a God-given purpose. Romans 8:28 is not a panacea, but a promise that for those who love the Lord, even bad things, like cancer, can, in God’s providence “work together for good.”

Earlier this year I read a book entitled God Meant it for Good, by R.T. Kendall. It is a retelling and interpretation of the story of Joseph the son of Jacob (Genesis 37-50). In his youth he was hated by his brothers. They sold him into slavery and he was transported to Egypt where he was subject to years of unjust treatment and imprisonment. Kendall makes the point again and again that God had a purpose for the trials Joseph had to endure.

Joseph’s character was refined and developed by his sufferings. The Lord was with him in his in his difficulties. In God’s time he was released from prison. In God’s plan he found himself in the presence of the Pharaoh who promoted him to second in command in Egypt! In that position he was able to save many lives, including those of his own family. He forgave his brothers saying, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

This is not to imply that suffering is good. Of course not. But it is a recognition that God is able to turn suffering inside out and use it to accomplish a good purpose. As a pastor I have heard people say things like, “I would never have wished this upon myself, but I wouldn’t trade anything for the spiritual growth I have experienced through these circumstances.”

In his book The Reason for God, Tim Keller wrote, “If you have a God great and transcendent enough to be mad at because he hasn’t stopped evil and suffering in the world, then you have (at the same moment) a God great and transcendent enough to have good reasons for allowing it to continue that you can’t know. Indeed, you can’t have it both ways.”

The God of the Bible entered our world of suffering in the person of Jesus Christ. He experienced the worst depths of cruelty and pain. He identifies with us in our sufferings. He promised, “Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). He knows how we feel.

Keller added, “Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection in pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power exceed ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and god-forsaken. Why did he do it? The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us.”

Is it enough to know that God has an unseen purpose in our sufferings? Is it enough to know that he understands our present sorrows and pain? Perhaps not as we see things now. Christianity does not provide an easy explanation for our sufferings. But faith in Jesus promises resurrection unto eternal life. It promises a new creation and the restoration of all things. Then there will be no more death when he makes all things new. Surely that will be enough.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

 

 

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The Bones of Joseph

“By faith Joseph , when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones” (Hebrews 11:22).

Joseph was not writing a script for a horror movie. Nor was he giving a lecture on physiology. Joseph was giving instructions about his final arrangements, his burial. This is not as gruesome as it seems.

It is a remarkable statement of faith. He was saying he did not want to be interred in Egypt. When the Israelite nation would be liberated to go to their new homeland, he wanted his remains to go with them. He wanted to be permanently buried among his own people in the Promised Land.

“By faith,” Joseph believed that God would fulfill his promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the desert sky. He believed that they would be a blessing to all nations of the world.

He believed the word promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the land of Canaan would be given to them and to their descendants after them (Genesis 15:13-16). This promise included Joseph and his sons. Joseph believed that Abraham’s descendants would return to that place and claim it as their own.

Joseph believed that there would be an exodus from Egypt someday. He knew he would not be alive to see it. He believed it because the Lord had said so. He believed that God had purposes for the chosen people of Israel. Joseph was expressing his confidence in God’s word and his solidarity with God’s people.

So we read in Exodus 13:19, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He had said, ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.'”

I believe a practical lesson for us is that when the time comes to talk to our loved ones about our final arrangements, we should express our faith, as Joseph did. When we let them know about our desires and wishes for our funeral and burial, we should talk openly about our faith in Christ, and our assurance of eternal life with him.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

 

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Advent: Do Not Be Afraid

“Do not fear” (Isaiah 41:10) has been the most searched, read and bookmarked verse on the You Version Bible app in 2020, according to Christianity Today. The topic of fear was the term searched most often in the early months. It spiked in frequency as the year unfolded with every anxiety-producing news report.

There is a reason “do not fear” is the command repeated most often in the Bible. We humans are prone to anxiety. This is especially obvious during the holidays when busyness, economic worries, and shorter daylight hours contribute to higher levels of stress. Domestic violence and alcohol abuse usually increase during this season. ‘Tis the season to be anxious!

Joseph was afraid. His world had been turned upside-down. He was reeling emotionally, off-center, unsteady. He had received word that his beloved Mary, to whom he was betrothed, was expecting a baby. He knew for certain that he was not the child’s father!

Perhaps he was afraid of the unknown. Who was responsible? He was afraid for Mary’s future. Should he divorce her? (Betrothal, according to Jewish custom at the time, was as binding as marriage. They were bound legally but not yet living together as husband and wife.) He must have been afraid of scandal and public disgrace. We may read about this in Matthew 1:18-25.

The impression I have of Joseph is of a strong man, skilled in his work as a craftsman, reliable, trustworthy, with a reputation for integrity. He was a man of few words, preferring to let his actions speak for him. He was devoted to God, a righteous Jew who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year for Passover (Luke 2:41). Now suddenly he was faced with the most fearful situation of his life.

As he contemplated this predicament, “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,” and told him what to do. He was to take Mary as his wife, recognizing that the child she was carrying was “from the Holy Spirit.” He was to name the baby “Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” The angel began by saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid.”

God gave Joseph several reasons not to be afraid. He was speaking: through the dream, through the angel, and also through the scripture. What was happening in Mary was a direct fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew’s gospel is telling us that’s who Jesus is: God with us.

God was near, on the scene, close by, another reason not to be afraid. Paul would say, “He is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:27), and “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:5). If we only remembered that, we would surely have less anxiety. Joseph was being told not to fear because God has shown up! He has come to us in Jesus Christ to share our humanity. He has come to us as Savior to die on the cross to save his people from their sins.

Joseph responded with instant obedience and long-term strategic action. As the story unfolds, we see how he recognized how God was guiding him as he cared for the mother of our Lord and the holy child himself. He took Mary as his wife, and in doing so, exposed himself to slander and misunderstanding (see John 8:47).

By order of the Roman government, the couple travelled to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-4), where the child was born in accordance with another Old Testament prophecy (Micah 5:2). Who helped Mary with the delivery? Was it Joseph? Joseph obeyed the command of God to name the child Jesus which means “Yahweh is salvation” or “the Lord saves.” This is another of the prophecies about God which is fulfilled in Jesus, and another evidence of his deity (Psalm 130:8).

Later, according to Matthew’s gospel, Joseph received more guidance from heaven. He was instructed in another dream to take the family to Egypt for the protection of the child (Matthew 2:13). Then in yet another dream he was told when it was safe to return to Israel (Matthew 2:19-20). A fourth dream gave specific instructions to return home to Galilee (Matthew 2:22-23).

I imagine Joseph’s fears dissipated and his confidence grew with every step of obedience. All his life was preparation for this — his purpose. The guidance of God confirmed the truth of the original revelation. Mary had not been unfaithful to him! This baby boy was the Son of God and the Savior. Joseph’s calling in life was now clear: he was to provide for and protect the child and his mother.

What about our fears and uncertainties? Perhaps during this Advent season we can take time to pause and recognize that God still speaks to his people. He is near to those who call upon him in truth (Psalm 145:18). He still guides his people who are willing to follow him, as Joseph did.

A friend of mine sent me a note that put a smile on my face. In her own hand she wrote: “Good morning! This is God. I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help, so have a great day.”

Pastor Randy Faulkner