18 The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. His
mother Mary had been promised to Joseph in marriage. But before they were
married, Mary realized that she was pregnant by the Holy
Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph was an honorable man and did not want
to disgrace her publicly. So he decided to break the marriage agreement with
her secretly. 20 Joseph had this in mind when an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream. The angel said to him, "Joseph, descendant of
David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She is pregnant by the Holy
Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus
[He Saves], because he will save his people from their
sins." 22 All this happened so that what the Lord had spoken
through the prophet came true: 23 "The virgin will become
pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel," which
means "God is with us." 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what
the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do. He took Mary to be his
wife. 25 He did not have marital relations with her before she gave
birth to a son. Joseph named the child Jesus. ~ Matthew 1:18-25 (God’s Word
Translation)
What an entrance! Imagine yourself a witness to these events. You
are there when Joseph ask to marry Mary; you attend as Joseph and Mary give
their formal consent to marry one another. You are joyful as Mary and Joseph
exchange their vows and become legally betrothed. Now the customary second
stage of betrothal begins and the year long process. We now enter into the
story in Matthew 1:1, Mary is still living with her parents, still a virgin,
waiting upon the day that Joseph and his friends would come and take her to
live with him.
However before they are able to consummate their marriage the
Spirit takes action, Mary found with child. The Spirit took action while Mary
was still living with her parents so that there would be no doubt that this
child miraculously conceived apart from the means of a human father. Matthew
simply puts it, “before they were married, Mary realized that she was pregnant
by the Holy Spirit.” (Verse 18) When we read Luke 1:30-35 we see that an angel
of the Lord visited Mary and told her of this child. Joseph however had no
pre-warning. Being an honorable man and not wanting to disgrace Mary and her
family in public, he was going to quietly call of the wedding. We read that an
angle of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and told him that Mary was pregnant
by the power of the Holy Spirit and that the son she would have would save the
people from their sins. Can you imagine this, a son conceived by the Holy
Spirit, the power of God, a son that would save the people from sin?
This was going to happen to fulfill prophecy, “The virgin will
become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,”
which means “God is with us.” What courage! What faith! Joseph did what the
angle of the Lord commanded him to do. He took Mary to be his wile. He did not
have marital relations with her until after she gave birth and they named the
child Jesus. Fulfilling the prophesy and given life to the Savior who would
save people from their sin.
Look a little more deeply into this story, specifically at Joseph.
This is Joseph’s first marriage, a beautiful young maiden has caught his eye. A
virgin from a respectable family, a woman that could be his wife, bear him
children and continue his bloodline, a noble bloodline from the line of King
David. Then to discover that she is pregnant before they have the opportunity
to consummate their marriage. An angle of the Lord comes to him in a dream and
tells him this is all okay, that this is supposed to happen, that she became
pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. That sure does seem to be a lot
to take in. The question I have often asked is do I have the faith to be
obedient in a situation like this. Would I have the faith to believe an angle
of the Lord that came to me in a dream? Would I have the faith to take a back
seat to my life and allow God’s plan to take control?
We can see that Joseph is not a main character in this story. In
fact Joseph is not mentioned much in scripture at all. He is there at the
beginning, when they are married; he is there at the birth in Bethlehem. We see
him present when an angle of the Lord appeared to him to warn him of the danger
they were facing in Matthew 2:13-15, once again fulfilling prophesy. Then in
Matthew 2:19-23 once again fulfilling prophesy. The next time we see Joseph,
Jesus is 12, they are in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. The feast is
over and it is time to go home the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem unaware
to his parents that He was not with them for a full day of travel. After
realizing that Jesus was not with them the returned as fast as they could back
to Jerusalem and found him in the temple courts, sitting with the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed
at his understanding and his answers. When Joseph and Mary saw him, they too were
astonished. Mary said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your
father and I have been worried and searching for you.' 'Why were you searching
for me?' Jesus asked. 'Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?' Not understanding
what he was saying to them, they took Jesus went down to Nazareth where he was
obedient to them.
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