Sermon Outline, Second Advent

Sermon Outline, Second Advent November 28, 2005

INTRODUCTION
Mary’s role in redemption has been highlighted, and sometimes distorted far beyond biblical warrant. By comparison, Joseph is the neglected member of the “holy family.” Yet, Matthew focuses more attention on Joseph than on Mary, and Joseph is presented as an antitype of the Joseph of Genesis and a model disciple.

THE TEXT
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly . . . .” (Matthew 1:18-2:23).


ISRAEL UPSIDE DOWN
Jesus is born into an Israel that is upside down and backwards. Herod, an Edomite, rules as king (2:1). Gentile magi come to worship the king of the Jews (2:2), but the Jewish king and his capital are troubled by the news (2:3). The king of Israel acts like a Pharaoh, slaughtering infants (2:16-18; cf. Exodus 1), while Joseph finds refuge for his family in Egypt.

GOD’S INTERVENTION
God intervenes in the reign of this bloodthirsty and paranoid king. Last week, we saw that in the incarnation, God took on not only individual human flesh, but a genealogy and a history. As Matthew goes on, however, he shows that Jesus’ birth is also a radical breach in the succession of generations. He signals this break already in 1:16: Instead of writing, as we expect, that “Joseph begot Jesus,” Matthew identifies Joseph as the “husband of Mary” and says that Jesus was born by Mary. The angel who appears to Joseph explains further that Jesus is “conceived . . . of the Holy Spirit” (v. 20). Matthew 1:18-25 tells about Joseph’s adoption of Jesus into his own family, the family of David (v. 20). The virgin conception of Jesus underscores the fact that God takes the initiative in salvation. Salvation is a divine recreation; it doesn’t come through human procreation.

RIGHTEOUS JOSEPH
Matthew emphasizes the role of Joseph in Jesus’ birth and early life. Joseph, like his namesake from the book of Genesis, receives revelation through dreams (1:20; 2:13, 19, 22). Also like the Old Testament Joseph, he takes his family into Egypt to find safety (2:13). Joseph and Mary similar to the parents of Moses, who preserved him from a murderous king (Exodus 2:1-5), and like Moses himself in bringing his family back to the land where infants are slaughtered (cmp. Matthew 2:19-23; Exodus 4:20). All this is part of Matthew’s typological demonstration that Jesus is the greater Moses, the true Israel.

In addition to these parallels with Old Testament figures, Joseph is a model disciple of Jesus. He discovers his betrothed wife is pregnant, and under the Law he has every right to charge her with adultery and press for her execution (Deuteronomy 22:23-27). Joseph is a “righteous man” (Matthew 1:19), but his righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees (cf. Matthew 5:20), for he knows that mercy is at the center of the law’s concerns (Matthew 23:23). He is a model disciple, and his form of righteousness shows the continuity between the first Moses and the Last.


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