In A Dream..

Yesterday we looked at Mary’s reaction to the news. The amazing faith she displayed to accept and understand what God was calling her to do, gave me pause to think over my reactions to God’s leading. Today we a take a look at Joseph’s reaction to the news. Now, if this was a modern movie we would expect a lot of turmoil - yelling, fighting, bashing the other on social media. However, Joseph’s response isn’t any of those things. Take a look.

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This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1: 18 - 25

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Joseph doesn’t get much page time in the New Testament. However, we do get a little glimpse of the type of person he is in verse 19. We learn he is a faithful jewish man, one who doesn’t merely listen to the law but follows it. We also can infer that he deeply loved Mary. The law would call for Mary to be stoned, but Joseph didn’t want that for her. He was going to go about a quiet divorce, one that would hopefully spare Mary her life.

I cannot imagine the range of emotions Joseph must have felt upon finding out Mary was pregnant. I know at times we find the story of the virgin birth hard to believe, but imagine being Joseph. Imagine trying to understand Mary when she was explaining everything. I don’t think it’s hard to believe that Joseph struggled with this foreign idea. The hurt, the angry, the disappoint of watching all you thought your life was going to be disappear before your eyes.

Scripture doesn’t tell us how long after finding out Mary was pregnant that he decided to divorce her, but we do know once he had decided that he got a visit from an angel in his dreams. That angel spoke to all of Joseph’s concerns, his doubts. And just like Mary, Joseph was obedient to God’s plan.

I’m not sure what my thoughts were about Mary and Joseph before this reread. I think I may have simply thought of them as characters in a story. Characters that I forgot showed so much faith.

Their faith, their trust, their obedience - I can and yet cannot wrap my mind around it. I’m going to have to sit with this for bit. I’ll get back to you when I have a fully formed thought. Until then, I’ll just be amazed…

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann