18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
— Matthew 1:18-25, ESV

In the holy family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Jesus reigns supreme, as He should.  Mary gets a lot of press, though, especially from Roman Catholic pundits.  Joseph, poor Joseph, gets the short end of the stick.

Joseph is one of the most enigmatic yet important persons in Christian history.  Unlike Jesus and Mary, there are no outstanding Old Testament prophecies about him.  Unlike Jesus and Mary, he has no speaking parts in the New Testament.  Unlike Jesus and Mary, no one worships him, prays in his name, or puts him on stained-glass windows in church cathedrals.

But without Joseph, humanly speaking, Jesus may not have been born.  Mary could have been scorned and possibly stoned to death, with the holy child in her womb.  Unthinkable, isn’t it?  This makes Joseph is an integral part not only to the Christmas story, but the entire gospel story.

Now, while the other three Gospels virtually ignore him, the Gospel according to Matthew tells the brief, brave, and beautiful story of the gospel according to Joseph.

Amazing Grace

There is a difference between astounding luck and amazing grace.  Astounding luck is how a resident of Californian recently won the Powerball Lottery prize of two billion dollars.  He or she (the winner chose to remain anonymous, can you blame them?) had one chance out of three hundred million to win.

Luck is great, if you have it.  It can single you out and make you a big winner of a short-term prize.  I say short-term because luck, like money and material things it brings, eventually runs out.  Even if the lottery winner cannot spend all that money in one lifetime, they won’t take a penny with them when they go to meet their Maker.

Grace is much better.  If you’d rather be lucky than good, you’d really rather have grace than all the luck and good works in the world.  Grace means gift from God.  Grace means God has chosen you, among the billions of people who have ever inhabited planet Earth, for an important purpose that will gain you a great prize of eternal value.

Joseph of Nazareth got his part in the original Christmas play, not by luck, not by his own works, but by the grace of God.  Joseph made a free and willing choice to worship God, obey his parents, and ultimately to marry Mary, to be sure.  But such individual choices are always influenced by the choices of those over us.  Joseph’s and Mary’s nuptials were pre-arranged by their parents, and predetermined by the Heavenly Father.

Ultimately, it by God’s sovereign grace that Joseph, “Having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (ref. Ephesians 1:11), was chosen by God to be a descendant of King David, to be born and raised by faithful Jewish parents, to become a believer in his own right, to meet a beautiful little Jewish girl named Mary, and to become the earthly father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Grace makes Joseph, and anyone for that matter, a part of the Christmas story, the gospel story.  Such grace is an eternal blessing that comes with great earthly responsibility.  By grace, God saved Joseph and put into his care the very Savior of the world.  How would Joseph respond to this amazing grace?  With abiding faith, of course.

Abiding Faith

We do not know a lot about Joseph, but one thing we do know, he was “a just man.”  “Just”(ESV) is a big word in the Bible.  It literally means “right” or “righteous,” or a more specifically, to be right with Almighty God and righteous in His sight.

So, how did Joseph become “a just man” before God?  It wasn’t luck.  It wasn’t Joseph’s good works.  It was faith.

One of the greatest doctrines of the Christian faith is justification by faith.  It is poured out in the Old Testament and mixed into the cement of the New Testament.  “The righteous shall live by his faith (ref. Habakkuk 2:4).”  “For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (ref. Romans 1:17).

Notice that just people, saved people, people right with God, do not just have faith, they “live by faith.”  Faith is not a mere human decision about God, it is a gift from God that produces a lifestyle of faithfulness to God.  When faith is real it guides the mind, tempers the heart, and frees the will to do God’s will.

Consider Joseph’s faith.  At first he could not wrap his mind around Mary’s story.  Frankly, it broke his heart.  What would he do, how would he know and do God’s will?

Faith and reason are compatible, and believe me, Joseph had a reason to be upset.  But also compatible with faith is patience, kindness, prayer, and belief in a God with Whom all things are possible.  Joseph could have cut and run, cut Mary off without support, or try to cut a deal with God.  But, Joseph waited, trusted, listened, and obeyed the Lord.

Joseph gathered God’s word from “an angel of the Lord” in a midnight dream, although today God normally communicates His word to us in the completed Bibles we hold in our hands.  Mary’s story was actually confirmed by both, the dream and the word of God (ref. Isaiah 9:6; this is the first of twelve “fulfillment” passages in Matthew).  Joseph did not bale and file for divorce.  Joseph did not pressure Mary to get an abortion.  Joseph trusted God and married Mary, then became an excellent earthly father for the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

So it was by grace that Joseph was brought into this picture in the first place.  Then, by faith, Joseph demonstrates how grace empowers faithful, often difficult, obedience.  Amazing grace and abiding faith are chief characteristics of the gospel according to Joseph.  But the chief character in the gospel story is always the Lord Jesus Christ.

All About Christ

We know Joseph as Mary’s husband, as Jesus’ earthly father, and as a carpenter.  Do you know Joseph the preacher?

Jewish culture called for fathers to name the children.  It was a very important pronouncement.  The Heavenly Father revealed His choice of name to the earthly father.  Joseph, recipient of grace, man of faith, proclaimed the name.

“And he called His name Jesus.”  “Jesus” means “God saves.”  From what?  “He will save His people from their sins.”

There must have been a moment during that night in the manger in Bethlehem when Joseph and Jesus were all alone.  Joseph must have rejoiced, wondered, marveled, trembled, at the thought of it all.  The simple man from Nazareth had found grace.  He believed in God and the gospel.  He made Jesus Christ the center of his life, and his purpose was to protect and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

All we know about Joseph is that he had a real, important, eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus was real to Him, the most important thing in his life, and his life is now eternal in the Heavens with the Great Shepherd, whom he shepherded through the early years of His life.  The main thing anyone should know about any Christians is their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the gospel according to Joseph.  God has come to us, in “Jesus,” in Christ, and this is grace.  We can come to God, become “his people,” through “Jesus,” through Christ, and this is faith.  And “Jesus,” because of who His is and what He has done in His life, death, and resurrection, “will save His people from their sins.” This is salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in “Jesus” Christ alone.

Joseph apparently lived a rather short life on earth.  He appears in the birth scenes, an incident in Luke’s Gospel when Jesus was twelve years of age, but is absent from the public ministry of the Lord, while Mary and Jesus’ siblings are featured.  But Joseph still speaks, the gospel.

Short or long, what will your life reveal?  Have you found grace in God’s sight?  Is real faith in Christ the guiding principle of your life?  Is your purpose in life to put the Lord Jesus Christ preeminent above all other things?  Yes, if you receive and believe the gospel, according to Joseph!