Sermon Central
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Watching Wisdom Works Wonders
Contributed by Mack Armstrong on Jun 14, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: If we could have one perfect Dad on Father’s Day and the rest of the year, whom would we choose? While the answers may be varied and many, I would choose Joseph of the New Testatment, to be the all time winner of the "Father of all Times."
WATCHING WISDOM WORKS WONDERS
I. REVERENCE: *
A. Reflection.
B. Rectitude.
C. Regularity.
II. REALITY: **
A. Resignation.
B. Responsibility.
C. Relationships.
III. RELIABILITY: ***
A. Resilience.
B. Resourceful.
C. Resolve.
Although Joseph was the earthly father of our Lord, it would be utter nonsense to think that he had no influence upon Jesus. There was a reason that God entrusted His Son to the care of Mary and Joseph. There were things that only Joseph could have taught our Lord that no one else could have ever done. Even though Jesus was omniscience, there were things that He observed watching this wise man, Joseph, live his life the best he could. Jesus watched His earthly father do things and endure things that no ordinary human being could have done, unless God was with him. As such, Jesus saw first hand how a mere mortal could be a faithful follower of Jehovah and make it in this world with all that Joseph had to endure.
By watching His earthly father, Jesus was able to see wisdom in practice and these things had to stay with our Lord all of His earthly life. Jesus also knew that many of Joseph’s adversities in this life came because of Him and He watched His earthly father take these trials and still raise Him with no bitterness nor hatred. Much praise is given to Mary and she certainly deserves some special attention, but Joseph deserves more honor than what he receives. It was due to his influence upon Jesus that helped Christ to see that one’s complete and unbroken allegiance to God was possible and it could be done by a mere mortal. Years later, when He was assaulted and reviled and some claimed that His sayings were hard and impossible by which to live, He might have thought of His earthly father and declared, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light-I saw it in practice from my earthly father. And if he could live for God in this life with all that he had to endure-you could live a holy life for sure.”
I see three things by which the earthly father of our Lord, Joseph, taught Jesus as the Christ Child. He was busy Watching Wisdom Work Wonders in His mind. The first thing I see is the REVERENCE that Joseph taught Jesus-for God, for Mary and for life in general, including his business as a carpenter. Next, I see that Joseph had to be teaching Jesus REALITY of life and what it meant to be a real man serving God in all areas of one’s life. Then, I see where Joseph taught his heavenly Boy about the need to be reliable in all areas of living. Jesus was certainly able to grasp the earthly importance of just how important RELIABILTY was and is in all areas of living. Joseph was a wise man and his wisdom worked wonders with Jesus.
* REVERENCE: Joseph is a star of the Bible in my book. I think he is one of the most undervalued men whose names are recorded in Holy Writ. Where would Christianity be if it were not for Joseph? Certainly, our hero could have walked away from marrying his espoused wife but it would have cast a pall upon Christianity that would never have lifted. Regardless of the age of Joseph, what he did to save Mary’s reputation and to give Christianity a legitimate name, deserves our eternal thanks. Not only was he a hero at the start of the whole affair of Mary and her pregnancy, but as long as he lived, he continued to uphold the cause of Jehovah with enthusiasm and complete submission to God. If, at any place along the way, he would have bowed out of the picture or said “No” to God, all of Christianity would have evaporated. He was and will always be my hero.
Matthew 1:20 says that, “while Joseph thought on these things….” What a statement. When, in the midst of his euphoria of his upcoming marriage, he was told the shocking news about Mary; he had every right to walk away and renounce everything, yet, “he thought on these things.” If this passage says nothing else, it says that Joseph was a reflective person and not given to take hasty actions. With this type of temperament, it is easy to see that Joseph was a reverent and worshipful man. He was given to Reflection in his worship of Jehovah and all that it entailed as being a servant of the most High God. We need people today who will take time and simply reflect on God’s wishes for their lives instead of being so busy that they miss His direction. This was one part of Joseph’s REVERENT life style that Jesus noticed and it was a part of the way Joseph conducted his worship of God-he took time and thought on the words of God. Jesus watched this wisdom of His earthly father and learned some valuable earthly lessons.
