The example of St. Joseph is a beautiful confession of faith. And it is a good example, because the Lord our God is faithful in His mercy and compassion, in all His Words and promises; and because He has saved us from sin and death by His Son, the Child born of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Truth be told, and all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, it is the Lord your God who has you and your situation and all things in His hands, in His care and keeping. Although you do have responsibilities to carry out, you are not in control of your life and your future. Not really. But neither are your enemies, no matter how big and strong and powerful they may ever seem to be.
No, the Lord your God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, He is the Author and Giver of Life, and He is the One who governs all of creation for the sake of His Church. He rules the universe for the benefit of His people. And He accomplishes His purposes in love, for the salvation of sinners, by His grace and mercy and forgiveness. Not only “in spite of” those who oppose His will, but even through them, contrary to their own designs — He fulfills His Word and promises.
So, too, He guides and guards His faithful people — including St. Joseph and you — by and with His Word: As written by His Prophets and Apostles in His Holy Scriptures, and by the preaching of His Law and His Gospel through His messengers, whom He sends to speak to you in His Name.
All that He has spoken, He has fulfilled in the Person of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, conceived and born of St. Mary. As He is the Word of God made Flesh, He is the accomplishment of God’s good and gracious will for you and for all people. And all that He is and does — as true God and true Man — is in accordance with the Word of the Lord. So do the Season of Advent and the Christmas story demonstrate and rehearse, year after year, that you should hear and believe in all that God has spoken through the Prophets and in the Person of His Son.
Again this morning, St. Matthew clearly indicates that the events in this story of the Holy Gospel are in fulfillment of the Old Testament Holy Scriptures. And that turns out to be the case even in ways that we would never have been able to guess or figure out for ourselves. In this case, for example, you’ll never be able to find any specific Old Testament Prophecy that says the Savior would be called a Nazarene. In the Hebrew language, though, the root word for both “Nazareth” and “Nazarene” is the word for “root.” And it was clearly foretold in many and various ways that the Christ would be the “Root” of Jesse — from the house and lineage of Jesse’s son, King David.
Sure enough, our dear Lord Jesus Christ is indeed great David’s greater Son, the Root or Nazar of Jesse, anointed by the Spirit of His God and Father to be the King of the Jews, to rule and shepherd His people Israel, the sheep of His pasture. And not for Israel and Judah only, but for all those who are the children of Abraham by faith in the Gospel. And yet, it is truly meet, right, and salutary that you will find this Lord and King, not in Jerusalem, but in the little burg of Nazareth.
He Himself, the Son of God and of St. Mary, is the Epitome of faith and trust in God His Father. To be sure, from all eternity He is of one substance with His Father, of one mind and one will, in and with the Holy Spirit. He is the one true God, now and forever. But in His own human flesh and blood, as the true Man from His conception, even in His Mother’s womb, He is fully devoted to God with His whole heart and mind, His body, soul, and spirit. His human will conforms entirely to the divine will, even to the point of His great anguish, suffering, and death upon the Cross.
In this, He has been consecrated and devoted to the Lord, much as the Nazarites were dedicated to the Lord by their vows and in their obedience. In His case, it is not only for a set period of time, but with His entire body and life, and with His very flesh and blood, even unto death.
It is finally on the Cross that He is called the Nazarene. For by His voluntary sacrifice, He fulfills the Scriptures of the Prophets, and He accomplishes the will of God for the salvation of the world.
His death and burial are on the horizon and anticipated from the beginning, as for example in Herod’s persecution, and in the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. But God the Father calls Him out of Egypt, just as He will draw Him out of the Red Sea waters of His Baptism. So does He finally call Him out of death and the grave. This, too, is “according to the Scriptures,” just as we confess in the Nicene Creed. And in this Resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead, God the Father calls you also out of death into Life, to be His beloved and well-pleasing son by adoption and by grace.
He calls you by the preaching of His Word to repentance and faith in His forgiveness of sins, and to newness of life in Christ Jesus. He calls you, as He called St. Joseph, to live according to His Word within your vocation as a Christian, and within your own proper office and stations in life.
Although it is true that neither you, nor your life, nor your future are in your own hands — for they are in His hands — it is also the case that He accomplishes His purposes in you and through you, and He cares for others, including His Church on earth, by means of your faithful service.
Here, too, consider the example of St. Joseph, who quietly and quickly obeys the Word of the Lord in caring for his Bride, St. Mary, and for her Son, the Christ Child. Such a tremendous task it is, of such great importance! But God provides for the Child and His Mother, and He preserves their lives by the hand of His servant, St. Joseph. He does the same for your neighbor by your hand, as you work and serve according to His Word in the place where God has called you to be.
In a corresponding way, you know where and how the Lord is with you by giving attention to His Word and the ways and means that He has thereby designated. St. Matthew has made this clear and plain in his record of the Infancy Narratives, in the way that he refers to the Christ-Child always with “His Mother.” Over and over again, it is “the young Child and His Mother.” Not only in this Holy Gospel, but already in the Visit of the Magi that precedes it, as we shall hear on the Feast of the Epiphany tomorrow. Such is St. Matthew’s way of indicating and stressing, as Dr. Luther also stressed, that one should not look for God — nor will you ever be able to find the one true God — anywhere else than here in the flesh and blood of Jesus, the incarnate Son of God born of St. Mary.
Which is also to say that you should not look for God — nor will you ever be able to find Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God — except in His external Means of Grace, that is, in the preaching of His Holy Gospel, in His spoken Word of Holy Absolution, in the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism, and in the Holy Communion of His Body and Blood, given and poured out for you to eat and drink with your body in repentant faith and with thanksgiving. For these bodily Means of Grace are where and how the Lord Jesus Christ is present and available for you and for the many. These are the lap of His Holy Mother, wherein and whereby His flesh is given to you.
So, you find and receive the Lord Jesus in and with His Church, and as a servant of God you are called to love and support His Church on earth and His beloved children, His sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters in Christ: Much as St. Joseph was given to care for the Holy Family.
And as for St. Joseph, so also for you, the Word of the Lord directs you in the darkness of night, in the midst of great danger, and on paths of real difficulty. The world hates you, as it hates the One whose Name you bear. And the devil himself seeks your life more viciously than any King Herod. In the face of all that, you have only the Word and promises of God to go by, and there are times when, like St. Joseph, you are afraid of the foes who reign so fiercely in the world. The task set before you is too daunting, and yet, it is too important to fail.
Even so, get up and go! Hear and heed the Word that God the Father speaks to you by His own dear Son. Remember that you and your journey, the outcome of your duties, and your destination are all in the hands of Him who loves you. God has guarded the Child with His Mother, and so does He guard and keep you as a member of His Bride. He has been at work through St. Joseph, and now He is at work in you to will and to do His good pleasure for you and for your neighbors.
The guarantee is in the Body of Christ Jesus, who has been crucified for your transgressions and, yes, who has been raised for your justification. Out of Egypt God has called His Son, in order to bring about this great Salvation for you and for all. And by and with His Word in the waters of your Holy Baptism, He has called even you His beloved and well-pleasing son in Christ Jesus, and He has promised you eternal Life and Salvation in both your body and your soul.
With those precious Words and Promises of God ringing in your ears and going with you from this place, be encouraged by and emulate the good example of St. Joseph in heeding the Word that God the Lord has spoken to you by His Son. Not only in obeying His Commandments, as you are surely called to live the new life in Christ throughout this New Year of His grace. But, above all, in receiving and believing His precious Word of the Gospel, whereby He forgives you all your sins.
So does your God and Father call you out of Egypt and save you by His mighty deliverance, by the humility and meekness of the Cross and Resurrection of His Son. And so does He reveal and give to you that same Son, Jesus Christ, that you should live and abide with Him forever. This promise is for you and for your children, and for your children’s children and their children yet unborn.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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