A Just Man

The Coming Kingdom: Matthew 1.18-25 (1)

Pray Psalm 119.57-60.
You are my portion, O LORD;
I have said that I would keep Your words.
I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.
I thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.

Sing Psalm 119.57-60.
(Leoni: The God of Abraham Praise)
I vow to keep Your Word; You are my portion, LORD.
Let favor fill my heart; have mercy by Your Word!
When I think on my way, I turn my feet to You,
to Your path I shall not delay, Your Word to do.

Read Matthew 1.18-20a; meditate on verse 19.
How have you been just during past week?

Preparation
1. How does Matthew describe Joseph?

2. How did Joseph approach his “dilemma”?

Meditation
Matthew describes the “genesis” (Greek: γένεσις, genesis) of Jesus Christ through the rest of chapter 1. Do you see how he seeks to stay anchored in the Old Testament? All our understanding of Jesus, His Person, and His work, begins to be known in the Old Testament.

Mary and Joseph were betrothed, that is, engaged to be married, and thus committed to one another. When Mary was found to be with child (by the Holy Spirit, but Joseph must not have known this), Joseph moved to divorce her (vv. 18, 19). In this he was only doing what the Law of God provides, though wanting to spare her the public disgrace and punishment indicated in the Law (cf. Deut. 22.23, 24). Matthew describes Joseph as “a just man”, that is, one who lived by the Law of God. In our day, “justice” is a social construct, for people reject the idea of God and especially of a God Who issues Laws which are to be obeyed. We are not a just society because our view of justice is not that which Joseph observed.

But notice the wisdom of Joseph, a most careful, just, and circumspect man. He did not immediately act on his thinking, but waited, undoubtedly hoping for some confirmation from the Lord that divorce was the right course (v. 20). We notice further that, as God gave Adam a wife while he slept (Gen. 2.21-23), so, in an analogous way, He gave Joseph a wife while he slept. 

We don’t hear much about Joseph after the birth and childhood of Jesus. But what we’ve heard already speaks volumes about him. He was a just man. He feared God and loved His Law. He sought always to do what is right. Imagine a society populated with more men like Joseph. Imagine such a church.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
It is no wonder that of all the women in the entire world, God chose Mary to be the mother of His Son.
She was a woman who lived her life in direct communication with her heavenly Father.

When Mary was told by the angel Gabriel, she would bear God’s Son she said, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Lk. 1.38). She did not hasten to Joseph her betrothed and tell him about it, as he was clearly uninformed about her condition.

She was a woman who thought things through—she with her God.
She might even have recalled God’s curse to womanhood upon Eve’s sin:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; 
in pain you shall bring forth children; 
your desire shall be for your husband, and 
he shall rule over you” (Gen. 3.16).

This was clearly not going to be that kind of situation.
And so Mary was going to deal with this in a different fashion.

Most things, it seems, she just thought about:
When the shepherds arrived to worship Jesus upon His birth, 
“Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk. 2.19).

After twelve-year-old Jesus stayed back in Jerusalem to sit amidst the temple teachers “listening to them and asking them questions” (Lk. 2.46); and after His parents found Him three days later; and after He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Lk. 2.49); and after “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them” (Lk. 2.51); then Mary’s response was this: “she kept all these things in her heart” (Lk. 2.51). 

This Mary knew what Lazarus’ sister Mary knew: to sit at the feet of the Lord and learn from Him is the best place to be. As Jesus Himself said, “One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10.42).

Men and women have a lot to learn from Mary the mother of Jesus.
Life is best lived with one focus: The Kingdom of God and its Ruler King Jesus.

“Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail;
but God is the strength of my heart 
and my portion forever” (Ps. 73.25, 26).

And yes, in the goodness of God, 
He blessed Mary with a “just man” (Matt. 1.19)
to help her raise His beloved Son (Jn. 3.16).

Reflect.
1. Mary and Joseph seemed just right for each other. Do you agree? Explain.

2. What is justice? How can a person become “just”?

3. What can Mary teach you today? How about Joseph?

Joseph, therefore, moved by an ardent love of justice, condemned the crime of which he supposed his wife to have been guilty; while the gentleness of his disposition prevented him from going to the utmost rigor of law. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Matthew 1.18

Pray Psalm 119.61-64.
Pray that God will continue to grow in you the desire to serve Him according to His Law. Wait on Him to show you specific applications of that prayer for the day ahead.

Sing Psalm 119.61-64.
(Leoni: The God of Abraham Praise)
Though wicked ways constrain and bind my hands in sin,
yet I recall Your Word and turn to You again.
By night I thank You, LORD; my voice to You I raise;
for all Your righteous, holy Word I give You praise.

All those who fear You, LORD, go with me on my way,
all those who keep Your holy Word from day to day.
Around us all the earth declares Your mercy, LORD.
That I might know Your glorious worth, teach me Your Word.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast pushes on through our readings from Joy to Your World!. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues its brief series on the early 6^th-century Irish saint, Coemgen. The ReVision column finishes the study of Kingdom values and turns to consider how to grow the divine economy. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.