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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
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.
Matthew 1:24-25a
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
We have watched Joseph transition through
two phases as he tried to manage the difficult situation that had presented
itself.
To recap, Mary, the woman he was engaged to
(which in Jewish culture was akin to already being married), was pregnant and
Joseph knew he had nothing to do with it. He was a man who the scriptures say
was faithful and obedient to the law and with that, Joseph saw that he only had
two options available to resolve the quandary he faced. He could either have
Mary publicly scorned, embarrassed, and stoned to death or he could simply
choose to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away. Given that he
wished Mary no harm but desired to stay true to the law, he decided to take the
latter approach but before he had a chance to do so, the Lord sent an angel named
Gabriel with a third option, a proposition for Joseph to consider, a proposal
to ensure that God’s plan would happen just as He wanted it to.
What was the proposition?
Joseph was to go on with business as usual
and take Mary to be his wife because she had not conceived by any man, thus
preserving the virginity which was so sacred, the virginity the law required,
the virginity that fulfilled the prophecies of old (especially Isaiah’s…7:14)
to be validated. The angel informed Joseph that Mary had been impregnated
supernaturally through the Holy Spirit and when their son was born, they were
to give Him the name Jesus because He was coming to save the people from their
sins.
So Joseph was given the proposition. How
would he reach resolution of the quandary he faced?
The answer is simple and a no brainer.
All Joseph had to do was to carry out what
God told him to do.
In our own lives today, sometimes we can be
our own worst enemies when we are facing trials. Like Joseph, we think we can
weigh every option available and analytically work our way through to the
proper solutions, relying on our own wisdom and reasoning. But the truth of the
matter is that in our humanity, we are greatly limited in the way we can
process matters and find our ways to the right outcomes. This is why we should
just consult the Lord and allow Him to lead us to what He wants us to do,
because when we do that (and only when we do that) our results will be perfect
because His plans are always perfect. We will always reach the desired outcome
because it will be the outcome the Lord desires.
Well, we know that Joseph did listen to God
and carried out His proposition. We know because the scriptures tell us that he
woke up and did what the angel told him to do, taking Mary as his wife but not
consummating their marriage until Mary gave birth to Jesus. This was to ensure
that Mary would remain a virgin when she gave birth, again, to fulfill the
prophecies.
Soon God’s plan would soon come to full
fruition and Jesus would come into the world as its Savior as well as its
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace
(Isaiah 9:6). And it happened because Joseph chose to accept God’s proposition,
staying faithful and loyal to His Lord while trusting His guidance and
direction.
Tomorrow, we’ll start to look at Mary’s
side and the quandary she faced.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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