I want us to take a look today at the story of Joseph. Now when I was a kid, the story of Joseph was about a guy who had a coat that was a bunch of different colors and I will get to that story at some point but today I want to talk about Joseph, Jesus' dad.
We all know that Joseph was Jesus dad but not really. He was Jesus' step dad. So why is he important? Why is he even mentioned? We only hear about him a couple of times so for years I didn't think he was very important but I was wrong. This story is a little short but important anyway.
See Mary was the mother of Jesus. While it is a very miraculous story, I will leave it for another time. Basically, the Lord came to Mary and he started her pregnancy without them having sex. Mary was a virgin at the time she gave birth to Jesus. See Luke Chapter 1.
But what about Joseph. Did you know that the Lord chose Joseph out of millions of people on the earth. Why did the Lord choose Joseph? We know that God doesn't just do things without thinking about them and He certainly wouldn't choose someone to be the step father to His son without thinking about it. So why? The answer was because Joseph was a man of integrity who knew the Lord's voice when he heard it and knew how to obey God when God told him to do something. Let's look a little closer at this story.
So here's what happens. Joseph and Mary are engaged to be married. Before they actually get to the marriage part and the honeymoon, Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant. Now put yourself in Joseph's place for a minute. You are engaged to this girl and she comes up to you and says, "Joe, I know we are engaged but I want you to know that I am pregnant." My first thought would be that she cheated on me and I would be really mad. On top of that, how would you handle it if she said, "Joe, there's one more thing. I didn't have sex. The Lord just made me pregnant." Now I don't mind people who lie to me when they tell me a story but don't insult my intelligence. At least make the story a believable one. That would make me even madder and I would definitely dump that chick.
This is exactly what Joseph had in mind. He was going to dump her. But here is where we get our first good look at Joseph's character. The bible says he was a real good guy. Now back then, Joseph could have gotten Mary in a lot of trouble for what he thought she did. And after all, no one had ever heard of such a completely made up story like the Lord made her pregnant. But because he was a good guy, Joseph had mercy on her and decided that he would just dump her very quietly not wanting to make a big deal out of this whole thing. I would say that man knew something about giving mercy. I don't know if I could have done it.
So as he was sitting around thinking about this stuff he fell asleep. Now I can just see this. He is sitting in his favorite chair thinking this whole thing over. Have you ever been through a situation where someone made you really mad. Maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend dumped you. Were you able to go to sleep? I can tell you I would have been up all night thinking about this stuff over and over again. But not Joseph, he fell asleep. That is another thing God needed in Jesus' step dad. He needed someone who could stay at peace even in a really tough situation. Because later, Joseph would face some much tougher ones. People would want to kill his step son Jesus.
Well while he is sleeping, the Lord appears to him in a dream. Basically God appears and says don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife because that crazy story she told you about the Holy Spirit making her pregnant is true. She didn't cheat on you. Oh by the way, you are going to call this boy Jesus and he will be save his people from their sins.
OK, so what would you have done if you were Joseph's friend and he told you this story? First of all, I would tell him that dream was just wishful thinking. That there was no way this girl got pregnant without cheating on him and that he needed to wake up. I would have told him that I knew he was a great guy because he didn't make a public example of her. I would have said that she didn't deserve such a great guy like him and that I though his dream was just what he wanted to believe, that he didn't hear from God. That was crazy. The bible doesn't say this but I bet some of his friends told him that very thing.
But Joseph knew he had heard the voice of God. Joseph must have had some practice to know when it was really God and he was convinced enough that this was God to do what he was told. How many times have we heard the Lord tell us to do something? Maybe the Lord told us to do something nice for a friend or say something nice to a family member and we didn't. Now here the Lord tells Joseph to take this woman as his wife but not to have sex. He tells him what to name the kid and Joseph just trusts the Lord and does exactly what the Lord tells him to do.
25.
That's another Bible story by the Minion.
We all know that Joseph was Jesus dad but not really. He was Jesus' step dad. So why is he important? Why is he even mentioned? We only hear about him a couple of times so for years I didn't think he was very important but I was wrong. This story is a little short but important anyway.
See Mary was the mother of Jesus. While it is a very miraculous story, I will leave it for another time. Basically, the Lord came to Mary and he started her pregnancy without them having sex. Mary was a virgin at the time she gave birth to Jesus. See Luke Chapter 1.
But what about Joseph. Did you know that the Lord chose Joseph out of millions of people on the earth. Why did the Lord choose Joseph? We know that God doesn't just do things without thinking about them and He certainly wouldn't choose someone to be the step father to His son without thinking about it. So why? The answer was because Joseph was a man of integrity who knew the Lord's voice when he heard it and knew how to obey God when God told him to do something. Let's look a little closer at this story.
So here's what happens. Joseph and Mary are engaged to be married. Before they actually get to the marriage part and the honeymoon, Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant. Now put yourself in Joseph's place for a minute. You are engaged to this girl and she comes up to you and says, "Joe, I know we are engaged but I want you to know that I am pregnant." My first thought would be that she cheated on me and I would be really mad. On top of that, how would you handle it if she said, "Joe, there's one more thing. I didn't have sex. The Lord just made me pregnant." Now I don't mind people who lie to me when they tell me a story but don't insult my intelligence. At least make the story a believable one. That would make me even madder and I would definitely dump that chick.
This is exactly what Joseph had in mind. He was going to dump her. But here is where we get our first good look at Joseph's character. The bible says he was a real good guy. Now back then, Joseph could have gotten Mary in a lot of trouble for what he thought she did. And after all, no one had ever heard of such a completely made up story like the Lord made her pregnant. But because he was a good guy, Joseph had mercy on her and decided that he would just dump her very quietly not wanting to make a big deal out of this whole thing. I would say that man knew something about giving mercy. I don't know if I could have done it.
So as he was sitting around thinking about this stuff he fell asleep. Now I can just see this. He is sitting in his favorite chair thinking this whole thing over. Have you ever been through a situation where someone made you really mad. Maybe a boyfriend or girlfriend dumped you. Were you able to go to sleep? I can tell you I would have been up all night thinking about this stuff over and over again. But not Joseph, he fell asleep. That is another thing God needed in Jesus' step dad. He needed someone who could stay at peace even in a really tough situation. Because later, Joseph would face some much tougher ones. People would want to kill his step son Jesus.
Well while he is sleeping, the Lord appears to him in a dream. Basically God appears and says don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife because that crazy story she told you about the Holy Spirit making her pregnant is true. She didn't cheat on you. Oh by the way, you are going to call this boy Jesus and he will be save his people from their sins.
OK, so what would you have done if you were Joseph's friend and he told you this story? First of all, I would tell him that dream was just wishful thinking. That there was no way this girl got pregnant without cheating on him and that he needed to wake up. I would have told him that I knew he was a great guy because he didn't make a public example of her. I would have said that she didn't deserve such a great guy like him and that I though his dream was just what he wanted to believe, that he didn't hear from God. That was crazy. The bible doesn't say this but I bet some of his friends told him that very thing.
But Joseph knew he had heard the voice of God. Joseph must have had some practice to know when it was really God and he was convinced enough that this was God to do what he was told. How many times have we heard the Lord tell us to do something? Maybe the Lord told us to do something nice for a friend or say something nice to a family member and we didn't. Now here the Lord tells Joseph to take this woman as his wife but not to have sex. He tells him what to name the kid and Joseph just trusts the Lord and does exactly what the Lord tells him to do.
25.
That's another Bible story by the Minion.
I really like this one...
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