JOSEPH: THE PROPOSITION

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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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