IS THAT YOUR DAD?

 

 

TEXT – MATTHEW 1:18-25

 

INTRODUCTION:

I.                    Happy Father’s Day.  Have you ever noticed the difference between Father’s Day and Mother’s Day?  It is a little bit like Mother’s Day is a major holiday and Father’s Day is a minor or junior holiday.

II.                  Even with the birth of Jesus and his upbringing as a young man the emphasis is definitely on the mother of Jesus and not on the man who married her and helped to teach and train him as a young man.

III.               Imagine what it says about Joseph that he was chosen by God to be the parent in residence for Jesus, the unique Son of God.  God certainly was aware of the man who was engaged to Mary when he chose her to be the mother of His Son.

IV.               When Joseph had questions about Mary’s faithfulness to him since she was pregnant and Joseph knew that they hadn’t had sex between them, God stepped in and sent His angel to tell Joseph not to worry about Mary and to take her as his wife since the child in her was from God.

V.                  I want us today to look at some of the things about Joseph as a dad that would have impressed God to the degree he chose him to bring up the Messiah.

DISCUSSION:

I.                    HE WAS A FAITHFUL MAN OF GOD.  VS. 19

a.       Engagement at this time was very different from today.  When we think of being engaged it is a promise to each other.  But it doesn’t mean any serious flaw in a person that they decide to break the engagement.

b.      But that wasn’t the case then.  If two people were engaged they were pledged to each other and for them to break the engagement required a divorce just as it would have if they had already been married.

c.       When Joseph thought Mary had been unfaithful to him, he did not want to expose her to public disgrace he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

d.      Often today when a couple is having problems and they decide they can’t continue in the marriage together, it turns into a fight fest.  Each goes after the other person with a vengeance to take away every hope of any kind of reconciliation.

                                                               i.      As a rule the one who gets hurt the worst in such a situation is the child in the marriage.

                                                             ii.      Last week someone told Linda and me about an event that had happened in their relationship with their children.  The wife had been married before as well as the husband.  She had one son by the first husband and one by the second.

                                                           iii.      The first husband and the dad for her oldest son is dying with cancer and the second husband and wife went from here to Louisiana to visit with her first husband and dad of her son and encourage her son.  She said after they went to see her former husband her son said, “You know I’ve always respected pop but never as much as I do for him being willing to come visit dad before he dies.

                                                           iv.      Couples certainly need to work on saving the marriage if it is possible at all.  But if the marriage is dead it is still the case that you share children and hopefully both love them dearly.  For the sake of the children a good father will do everything possible to keep on good terms with the mother of his children for the benefit of the children.

                                                             v.      In the marriage dad’s need to build up the wife and mother of their children just as she needs to build him up before them.  Healthy children love and respect both parents.  Husband to put down their wives before their children aren’t showing love or leadership for their children.

II.                  JOSEPH FOLLOWED THE LORD’S INSTRUCTIONS.

a.       “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary as his wife.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son.  And they gave him the name Jesus.”  Vs. 24

b.      Think of the faith required for Joseph to do what he did.  He could easily have denied the vision from the angel and declared he was just dreaming.  How would you feel if you were engaged to a girl and knew you hadn’t had sex with her and she became pregnant?

c.       Joseph was a man of great faith.  He took God’s word even when it didn’t seem to make sense.

d.      He was willing to wait to have sex with his new wife until after she gave birth to her first child that was from the Holy Spirit.

e.       In a day when we see so many who try to figure away to get around things that the Bible says, it is a great example for Joseph to hear the message of the Lord and obey it even when it would lead to people making jokes about his marriage and being willing to withhold himself from the pleasure of a sexual relations with his new wife.

f.        If we are to be good fathers to our children we must be men who are willing to follow God’s word whether it is easy or not, whether it seems logical or not.

III.               IS THAT YOUR DAD?  Luke 2:41-52

a.       When Jesus was twelve years old Joseph and Mary took him with them to Jerusalem to the Feast of Passover.  When the festival was over they headed home supposing that Jesus was with some family or friends in the group.  When they realized he wasn’t with them they headed back to Jerusalem to find him.

b.      After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

c.       All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 

d.      “When his parents saw him, they were astonished.  His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

                                                               i.      Notice Luke by inspiration said “His parents”.

                                                             ii.      Joseph wasn’t the physical father of Jesus.  But he was bringing him up as his own son, training him about life and service to God and other people.

e.       Jesus responded, “Why were you searching for me?  Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  But they didn’t understand.

                                                               i.      Jesus was right in what he said, just as a son or daughter are right when they say to a stepdad or stepmom, “You aren’t my dad” or “You are my mom” are telling the truth.

                                                             ii.      But they may never know what a knife they have driven into the heart of the dad or mom who have sacrificed to bring them up in the right way.

                                                           iii.      Fatherhood as demonstrated by Joseph isn’t the same thing as being the one who sexually fathered the child.  Fatherhood has to do with being there, training, correcting, loving and showing the child how to live.

                                                           iv.      When Jesus was 30 years old and had started his ministry he returned to his hometown of Nazareth.  They asked, “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?  Aren’t his mother, brothers and sisters still here?”  Mark’s account says, “Isn’t this the carpenter?”

                                                             v.      Jesus was identified as one who had worked as a carpenter along with his dad and likely continued as a carpenter until 30.

IV.               CONCLUSION:

a.       Dad’s in a day when so many in the world want to take away the value or importance of a dad in bringing up a child, it is important that we remember God’s plan was for every child to grow up in a home with a mother and dad.  Sometimes it can’t happen for a multiplicity of reasons and praise God for those devoted women who work to be both mother and dad to their children.

b.      Our mission as a father is to bring our children up in the training and discipline of the Lord.  It is to love and train them how to live and how to make a living.

c.       The greatest thing I can do as a dad is help my children come to know their father in heaven and devote their lives to Him.