You know Mary, the mother of Jesus? What was her husband’s name again?...

You know Mary, the mother of Jesus? What was her husband’s name again?...

Reading Matthew 1 & 2 it's interesting to note how often God reached out to Joseph to help him lead and protect his family. There isn't much written about this man. The church, especially the Catholic Church seems to revere Mary the mother of Jesus so much that we almost forget about Joseph. Yes little is written about him, but there’s still enough written that we can learn from. Whatever Joseph was, he was obedient, without question, to God's messages to him.

"Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But 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". (Matthew 1:19, 20)

Now compare Zechariah’s response:

"But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.  Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”" (Luke 1:13, 18)

Which of these messages is more difficult to accept? That your wife is pregnant by God or that your elderly wife will conceive a son?

I believe the primary difference between these men was based in pride, which in turn directly affected their individual ability to be obedient. Like Mary, Joseph was humble enough to accept the word from God. Without humility and fear of God it is very difficult to hear God's voice, and even if you do it may be warped or nearly impossible to be obedient.

So I’d like to focus on obedience and pride:

I believe the church is far far too feminized. Most men are dazed, confused and allow themselves to be taken out in our churches. I've been in the church my entire life. I've attended many different churches, denominations and even visited a few of the seminaries church leaders are being discipled and mentored in. I'm witness to the pride which derails or at least distracts men from the faith. Instead of being prepared and mentored in the right ways of Jesus these men and women are given only book knowledge and allowed to swell with so much pride they believe knowledge alone will carry them. Then when faced with a real crisis, especially a personal one, they are easily shipwrecked. They are either consumed by the beauty or lust of the eyes, a love of money or so crave the honor of men they make themselves useless, at the very least, or help derail the faith of others at worst.

What can be done? How do we get men engaged in the church? Do we follow the example of leaders like Mark Driscoll who have little to no compassion towards men and are filled with so much pride they are unable to see the pride in their own hearts? Unfortunately, most of the people in leadership in our churches fit into this category, especially if they come out of seminary; from the skinny jeans, metro men leading worship seeking affirmation, to the boastful and confident in the flesh men and women teaching in our churches seeking power and glory. It's all about them displaying their talents. Who gets the glory if a convicted man turns from his sin after Driscoll yells at or scolds his entire congregation? Who gets the glory when the skinny jean metro worship leader shows of his/her vocal range instead of focusing on leading people to worship Jesus? Where is the humility? Where is the mercy? Where is the turning of hearts to Jesus? Is there any hope? Trust and obey! "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)

 So do we become the doormat/milk toast men, the "yes dears" who are unable to deal with their own issues or lead their families and so are incapable and powerless to speak into anyone's life? Many men in our congregations fall into this category. They never engage in life, with Jesus or in their families and so they become utterly useless. These are men living continually in fear, apathy and anxiety. What can these men do? Are their lives over? No! Find your confidence in Christ alone. Find your identity in Christ alone. Engage and start actually leading your wives in loving boldness and confidence. Engage life and pursue relationships. Don’t wait for your wife, kids, family, friends or even God to reach out to you. Step out in faith and start living life. God is the only one who will reach out to you, but how can He reach out to you if you feel hopeless, have closed off your heart and won’t engage life? There’s not much for Him to grab hold of?

Or do we become angry manipulators abusing and using every relationship in our lives? These types of men comprise most of the remainder of men in our churches. These men struggle with inferiority, insecurity, selfishness and pride so much that they self-destruct every relationship in their life. What is their hope? Jesus! More prayer and more time in the word. More time asking God to change them and asking for His guidance in relationships. I’m probably closer to this type of man and so I promise you if you ask God to help grow you into a better man and be more of a servant leader in your relationships, and really mean it, He will answer. I’m not suggesting you will like His answer, but He will provide it.

Mary is lifted up for her humble obedience, but let us not neglect what is said of her humble and obedient husband. Every man could learn a huge lesson in obedience from this man and he didn't have access to the Holy Spirit. I’d encourage you to read Matt. 1&2 for a few examples of Joseph’s obedience to God.

Come Out of Egypt!

"and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,  “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”" (Matthew 2:15)

This verse references: “When Israel  was  a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt  I called My  son. As they called them, So they went from them; They sacrificed to the Baals, And burned incense to carved images." (Hosea 11:1, 2)

It's interesting that in Matthew, Jesus is referenced, but in Hosea disobedient Israel is clearly referenced. So was Matthew intentionally taking scripture out of context just to prove Jesus is the messiah? 

This assumption has to be false for two reasons: 
1. This letter was originally written in Greek, to Greek speaking Jews, who were very familiar with OT prophesies and genealogies. Most likely these Jews would have direct or indirect access to the Torah and writings of the prophets. 

2. Matthew was one of the 12. "And beginning at  Moses and  all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." (Luke 24:27) it's unlikely these two disciples kept this teaching to themselves and further Jesus made later appearances to His disciples. So, Matthew was quite aware of the teachings of the OT and how they directly related to Jesus. 

So what is the implication of this if both the OT and NT references are correct? Simple, we must combine both. These verses teach that Jesus is the son of God who took on the identity and sins of His chosen people because He is the only perfect high priest and sacrifice. Here's the huge theology shattering (for some) implication: While John 3:16 states God loves the world, the above verses make it clear salvation is only for His chosen people who are set apart. 

One other thing before I conclude this post... I was looking up additional information about this verse on the internet... I came across an intelligent sounding blog post about this verse which was complete rubbish. The author was so uneducated on this passage that he confidently stated that the Herod who slaughtered the babies was the same Herod who beheaded John the Baptist. This is completely wrong!!! These were two different Herod's. I'm sure they were related, perhaps even father/son, but they weren't the same individual. Chapter 2 clearly states that Jesus was still a child when Herod died. In reading Luke chapter 1 (I believe) you can read about the birth of John the Baptist and you'll easily figure out that Jesus and John were very close in age. Anyway, just saying...