…an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:20–21 NKJV)
The silent years
For the best part of 400 years there was no scriptural revelation. We have no scriptural record of the events between the prophecy of Malachi and the opening words of the New Testament. That is not to imply that God was absent. The Babylonian empire was succeeded by that of Greece under Alexander, and then by the Roman Empire. The scriptural revelation begins again with the record of the Incarnation, in what bible students call ‘The Intertestamental Period’. World changing events were taking place. The conquests of Alexander the Great spread the Greek language and culture as far as India and beyond. In the Mediterranean arena the Romans subdued the nations, banished the pirates and built roads that joined all their conquests. The Greek and Roman empires created an ancient version of a communications highway. The known world was ready for the gospel.
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law… (Gal 4:4 NKJV)
Perhaps this is a good moment to remind ourselves of the nature of the scriptures. Some years ago the New Testament scholar, FF Bruce, wrote:
If someone who was previously quite unacquainted with the Bible were suddenly introduced to an ordinary copy of the English Bible and looked rapidly through it in an attempt to size up its character and contents, he would soon discover that it falls into two unequal parts, called respectively ‘The Old Testament’ and ‘The New Testament’. But he might be at a loss to discover just why these two parts are called ‘Testaments’. The natural sense in which we use the word ‘testament’ in English is when we refer to someone’s ‘last will and testament’; but there is not much about the two parts of the Bible that bears any relation to ‘testament’ in this sense. It is, in fact, unfortunate that the word ‘testament’ was ever applied to the two parts into which the Bible is divided, especially as there is a much more suitable English word which might be used, and a perfectly familiar word at that – the word ‘covenant’.
In the pages following the closing verses of Malachi the 1901 American Standard Version has a page which declares:
The New Covenant commonly called The New Testament
It is reminder that the Bible is a compilation of the source documents of the Old Covenant and its people, and of the New Covenant and its people. Our gospels are the record of a New Covenant man living in an Old Covenant age. We read now of the expectations of those who were there right at the ‘new’ beginning. We’ll begin with Joseph.
The forgotten hero of the Incarnation
Joseph is almost the forgotten hero of the Incarnation. This is the ‘righteous’ man who defied the law and the culture and took as his bride a woman who was pregnant with a child who was not his. We must presume he acted the part of midwife to Mary. He provided the security of a faithful guardian for a teenage mother-to-be and then embraced the child and became his ‘father’. The singer Michael Card provides a haunting insight into a hidden story.
The Genealogies
Joseph came from a famous family. The Matthew genealogy gives the family tree of Jesus Christ:
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: (Matt 1:1 NKJV)
That introduction shows us Matthew’s purpose in writing this record. His gospel account emphasises the promised Christ/Messiah as the fulfilment of all those ancient prophecies. This is the timeline of the Seed promised to Eve and Abraham and Judah and David, but it poses a question. The timeline ends with the record for Joseph.
And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. (Matt 1:16 NKJV)
That word ‘whom’ is the feminine pronoun. This is a reference to Mary. Jesus was not the child of Joseph. So what is the point of this genealogy? In my view this is the legal genealogy that traces the Davidic dynasty. By legal right, as the adopted son of Joseph, Jesus was in the line of the ancient kings of Judah.
But Luke’s record gives us another genealogy. It mirrors Matthews legal family tree but follows a different branch of the family when it gets to David’s descendants. Luke introduces his genealogy with a clear statement that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus.
Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli… (Luke 3:23 NKJV)
Luke’s genealogy is intriguing. G Campbell Morgan translated the word ‘supposed’ as meaning ‘legally acknowledged’. It has the sense of something ‘held by custom’. It is not ‘supposed’ in our modern sense implying a degree of speculation. It follows the same route as that of Matthew until it arrives at the immediate link with David. It then follows not the line of Solomon but that of Nathan. It takes its own route until it rejoins the main line at the name of Shealtiel whom it describes as the son of Neri. Matthew describes Shealtiel as being the son of Jeconiah, but it must have been ‘son’ by adoption as Jeconiah was condemned to childlessness for his refusal to follow the directions of God. This holds the fascinating possibility that the genetic genealogy of Jesus omits the whole Davidic dynasty from the time of Solomon. So while all the ups and downs of the Davidic dynasty were taking place in the public glare, the Seed was hidden from the public gaze in the family line of Nathan. The two lines then rejoin with Shealtiel, and Luke’s genealogy arrives at ‘Joseph’ who was ‘customarily regarded’ the father of Jesus. In my view, what we have in Luke is the genealogy of Mary. This is the blood line.
Angelic visitations and the promise of a Saviour
But, back to Joseph and our story. The Jewish teachers at one point remarked that
They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” (Matt 19:7 NKJV)
Jesus corrected them.
He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. (Matt 19:8 NKJV)
Joseph decided not to take advantage of Moses’ ‘permission’ but stayed true to his betrothal pledge. He was minded to divorce Mary quietly but an angelic visitation changed his mind. Leaving aside the public ridicule and a lifetime of scurrilous comments he obeyed the angel. It was to Joseph that the responsibility of naming the child was given. The name that Joseph gave him was ‘Jesus’. And the revelation of the nature of this child becomes even more clear.
But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:20–21 NKJV)
Now listen to Michael Card’s song again. Joseph, the forgotten hero of the Nativity.
Joseph, the forgotten hero of the Nativity.
Originally posted 2020-12-21 07:30:44.
