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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
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”).
Matthew 1:20-23
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
Joseph had made up his mind after pondering what he should
do in light of Mary’s sudden pregnancy, a conception that had not involved him.
He had weighed the options available to him and found there were really only
two.
Why only two?
Because the scriptures tell us that he was a man who was
faithful to the law. This meant he had a reputation for doing what was right in
the eyes of the Lord and conscientiously ensured his behavior showed it. And so
as he reviewed the law as it applied to marriage violations, he knew he would
either have to have Mary stoned to death by the men of the town at the door of
her father’s house (Deuteronomy 22:20-21) or he could just simply give her a
certificate of divorce and send her away, sparing her public shame,
humiliation, and death (Deuteronomy 24:1).
So which of the two did Joseph choose?
We can go back to the scriptures for the answer for Joseph
did not wish to expose Mary to public disgrace. Such was his compassion and
caring for her. And so he chose to divorce her quietly which would allow him to
remain loyal to the law of the Lord while still remaining kind and empathetic
to Mary.
This is how he chose to escape his quandary but as we see in
today’s scripture, God had other plans. You see, there was really a third
option that Joseph didn’t consider and that was the option God would present
Himself. Look again at these words:
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”). Matthew
1:20-23
The angels were busy during the sequence that began with
Zechariah in the Holy of Holies within God’s temple then proceeded to first
Mary, and then Joseph. Here, the angel comes to Joseph to bring Him the plan
God wished to put in place. It was a divine proposition for Joseph to consider
and we know it came to him in a dream, a common vehicle used by God to
communicate with His people.
Note that God’s plan involved Joseph not taking any action
at all. Rather, he was to act as if nothing was wrong because it really wasn’t.
The angel told Joseph that Mary’s conception had not come by any natural means
but supernaturally through the power of the Holy Spirit. The pregnancy would
end with the birth of a son who Joseph and Mary were to name Jesus. And the
angel even added one of the greatest reasons why this special child of God had to
be born: to save His people from their sins.
In other words, Jesus would be the Savior of the world.
And so the proposition to lead Joseph from a period of
quandary to a point of resolution was made. He was to allow God’s plan that was
already in progress to run its course and usher mankind’s Savior into the
world. It was more than just a spur of the moment event. In fact, it had been
predicted many, many years before in the days of the prophet Isaiah who wrote:
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and
they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Isaiah 7:14
Left to his own devices, Joseph was about to mess up the
plans of the Lord. That’s why God had to intervene to ensure that everything
would happen as He willed it to and had predicted it would through the prophet
of old.
As we go through life and face different matters, trying to
devise what we should do, let us learn from this scripture lesson today and
never forget that the only right option we should go for is the option that is
sanctioned by the Lord Himself. For He knows the plans for all of us, plans for
us to prosper (Jeremiah 29:11). Let’s all commit ourselves to not messing up
those plans by relying on our own wisdom and understanding, as if we know more about
how things should happen than God Himself.
Joseph remained obedient to God and the end result was a
game changer, not just for him and Mary but for the world as a whole.
Tomorrow, we see the final resolution of the matter for
Joseph before we turn our attention to Mary.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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