He learned that Mary was with child. Yet his regard for her caused him to want to quietly divorce her so as not to expose her to public disgrace.
Mary, quite literally, then became the woman of Josephs' dreams as he was told by an angel of the Lord, in a dream, to not be afraid
"...to take Mary home as your wife".
How his heart's emotions must have roiled. It was such lot to take in. Being an upright man and knowing for sure he was NOT the father of the one in Mary's womb but everyone, once finding out Mary was expecting, would assume he was...then being told he needed to take her as his wife anyway must have really gone against the whole grain of his character and reputation. Nevertheless, here was the message from God asking him to take action directly contradicting God's laws.
The angel of the Lord's next words must have been the compelling persuading factors which propelled him to action, which in turn, was in opposition to his devoutly righteous life. The angel continues,
"...because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."
The angel didn't stop at that, he further proclaimed God's commands to Joseph...
"...you are to give him..."
(oh wow, without ultrasound equipment Joseph and Mary learn the babe is a 'he')
"...the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
Review the list Joseph may well have mulled over:
- "...conceived of the Holy Spirit..."
- "...give him..." (oh, it's a 'he')
- "...the name Jesus..."
- "...He will save His people from their sins..."
Mind-blowing news!
All protest must have drained out of him like air out of a slow-leaking balloon. Staggering thoughts but he would take Mary as his wife come what may.
When Joseph woke up, his obedience to God was evident. This man promptly...
"...took Mary home as his wife" (vs 24).
There is a very important sentence of monumental magnitude that comes next, in verse 25,
"But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus" (NIV).
Read the verse again.
Joseph did not consummate his and Mary's marriage until after Jesus was born and possibly named! He was obedient to the 't'. There is therefore unequivocal, undebatable consequence that there is unquestionably no confusion as to who Jesus' biological father was/is. Absolutely, God, through the Holy Spirit, is Jesus' Father and thus establishes the fact that Jesus is indisputably, fully God and fully man. We believe this because we trust wholeheartedly in God's Word.
Notwithstanding, you likely can imagine the tongue-wagging gossips of the day who thought they knew all the juicy news, spreading that "news", rapid-fire, to all and sundry to the far-reaching corners of the town and beyond. The stigma Joseph and Mary must have had to live with daily for the rest of their lives was their cross to bear. That would have been worst than the death penalty.
Old Testament law demanded both of those who had been caught in adultery or had committed fornication, to be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 17:5 and 22:23, 24). Yet God's mercy upon them kept them alive. He knew they were guilty of no such thing. What's more God gave them to each other. Most importantly, their obedience to God's will, gave not only the Jewish people of their time, but the whole wide world of human beings ever after, One who would,
"...save the people from their sins"!In their heart of hearts Joseph, and especially Mary, pondered all with humble, obedient, servant hearts, doing God's bidding to place a giant jigsaw puzzle section in God's eternal plan.
Talk about far-reaching!
Softly and joyfully sing Silent Night and Away in a Manger as you meditate upon the circumstances of this Advent of Jesus' birth. We can worship and praise God for His love Gift to the world by being obedient to our Lord's will and ways as was Joseph.
~ERC December 2019~
No comments:
Post a Comment