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Mosaic Teaching Guide
13 December 09

Teaching Series: Portraits of Christmas

Teaching One: “Joseph”

Scripture: Matthew 1.18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Question for Everyone: Artificial or Organic?

Introduction
I have always been amazed by how the exact same news can be received so differently because of the context.

An Awkward Moment in the Story
The good news of Jesus doesn’t start out as good news. 

 

What Does the Bible Say?

If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. (Lev. 20.10).

“The Year of Living Like Jesus” by Ed Dobson. 
 “For several years my oldest son studied in Israel, and one day one of the rabbis who taught at the school said to him, “If you’re a Christian and aren’t reading through the Gospels every week, then you’re not a very good Christian.  How can you claim to take Jesus’ teachings seriously when you spend so little time actually reading them?” 

The Genesis of Jesus
It is interesting that Matthew tells us about the birth of Jesus from Joseph’s point of view. 

Now to the modern person the idea of a virgin conception is admittedly ridiculous. 

You Will Name Him Jesus
But what Matthew doesn’t tell us because we weren’t his intended audience is that in the naming of the child, Joseph takes on the full responsibility of fatherhood. 

Matthew’s Concern
So simply stated Matthew is concerned with the conception of Jesus; his origin, his genesis.  He explains how it is that Mary and Joseph’s relationship survived.  He explains how it is that Jesus can be both from the Holy Spirit and Joseph’s son, thus explaining how it is that Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man, Messiah, healer of the world.