Sermon Index
December 16, 2018, Advent III
Today let’s look at Joseph who was also at the manger. Joseph was the fiancé and then the husband of Mary who was the mother of Jesus. The Angel Gabriel came directly to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus, but an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Not just once, but four times.
First, when Joseph was considering breaking off his engagement to Mary because she was with child which was not his. We read in Mt. 1:20, “20 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. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’” This was a very powerful dream, because Joseph knew that it was a message from God. It gave him courage to do the right thing. He was told that this child would be the Messiah, because the child was to be given a special name, “Jesus” which means “The Lord Saves,” or as the Angel explains, “he will save his people from their sins.”
The second time he a dream was after the Wisemen visited and King Herod threatened to kill the child. “MT 2:13When they [the Wisemen] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’”
The third and fourth times are after Herod died. “MT 2:19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead.’ 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’”
In this way the Lord God communicated with Joseph in order to care for and to protect the Christ Child.
There is another man, in the Old Testament of the Bible, whose name is Joseph. He also was given dreams and the ability to interpret dreams. As a young man he got the anger and jealousy of his ten older brothers when he saw dreams of both stars and sheaves of grain bowing down to him, meaning that his family would someday bow down to him. Then later while in prison in Egypt he interpreted dreams of Pharaoh’s servants, and then the dream of Pharaoh that meant seven good harvest years followed by seven years of famine. In this way Joseph became the means by which God saved his family, the family of Jacob during the famine.
Has an angel of the Lord ever spoke to you in a dream? Have you ever felt that God was trying to tell you something? Many people have experienced this. It may be called an inspiration or a prophecy or maybe just an idea. It may be from God, or just our subconscious, or our imagination, or perhaps even the devil. How can you tell if it is from God? Well, judge it according to the Bible, especially the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. God speaks to us through those things, which are more sure than dreams and our imaginations. But our dreams and subconscious might tell us what our bad conscious is telling us. We might feel our sin and shame. It might reveal our fear or rebellion to do God’s will. It might reveal our unbelief and mistrust. It could be a nightmare.
The story of Joseph gives us courage to do the right thing when we know what God wants us to do. If there is not some specific project, then we know God’s will as revealed in the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Great Commission. We are told to be at the manger, to be where Jesus is. If we are not there, then we are lost.
The Bible is the book of God’s communication with mankind. Sometimes a dream is just a hope or a wish. Jesus did not come and tell of his dreams, he proclaimed clearly the Word of God. He said “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” He became king when he was crowned with thorns on the cross. This was the fulfillment of the words of the Angel to Joseph. “Mt.1:21 She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus did not stay in the manger, nor on the cross, nor in the grave. But he promised to stay with us always, even until the end of the world. “22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet [Isaiah]: 23 ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us.’ ”
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church