December 18, 2020

Today’s Hope
Written by Guest Writer, Joy Mathis Chadwick

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 KJV

Sometimes when a baby is born, poor ol’ dad gets no recognition whatsoever. Life now seems to revolve around the new baby and mom. We might initially think that the step-father of Jesus was one of those poor guys who was never given a second thought; after all, he’s only mentioned just a very few times in the Bible.

But . . .

Don’t think for a minute that just because Joseph wasn’t mentioned but just a few underwhelming times in the scriptures that he didn’t have a place of importance in the birth of Jesus Christ. I suspect that the disciple Matthew felt led to prove that, since he started out his book of the Bible with the genealogy of Mary AND Joseph. Once again, God knew before the beginning of time that a man called Joseph would play such an important part in the earthly life of His Son, Jesus Christ.

I wonder how the conversation took place when Mary told Joseph that she was pregnant. There’s so many things that the scriptures just don’t give us enough information about! Did he doubt her? Really, how could he not doubt, initially at least. He may have even thought she was crazy. (This is all speculation on my part, of course, but at some point before the angel came to Joseph in a dream, Mary had told Joseph about the baby. Bless her heart; how hard that must have been. Bless HIS heart; I’m sure this unconfirmed news was hard for him to wrap his arms around.)

Joseph and Mary were engaged, a legally binding contract at that time. According to the Law of Moses, breaking a pledge of marriage by adultery, rape, fornication, or incest called for death by stoning. This was the first evidence of the integrity of Joseph; because he was faithful to the law but didn’t want to expose her to public disgrace, or death, he had decided to quietly break off the engagement (Matthew 1:19). But wait! THEN the angel of the Lord came to him in a dream and told him not to worry about making Mary his wife; God had a plan! Then the angel confirmed that yes indeed, Mary was pregnant, but the baby was conceived from the Holy Spirit.
The angel went on to tell Joseph that HE would be the one to name the baby! What an honor!

I love wondering about all the aspects of Jesus as a little boy; there’s so many questions that I’d like to just sit down and talk with Mary and Joseph about. I can just imagine this little boy with his pretend hammer and saw, following his carpenter dad around the shop as he learned from him. I wonder if Joseph took him fishing. I wonder if Joseph taught him how to plant a garden. I wonder if Joseph fully comprehended the future that awaited this precious boy.

I love all the details that we just don’t know. I truly believe that if God had wanted us to know that He would have included everything in His Word. But some of that is where trust is born. We have to trust that God did have a plan for Joseph even before he was born. Yes, God certainly could have accomplished what He needed, even had Joseph decided that he just couldn’t marry his bride-to-be who was already pregnant. But all of the details about Joseph that we don’t know still tell us that he was a man of integrity, he was a man with a great love for his bride-to-be; he stepped up and became a loving father for Mary’s child.

While we focus on Mary and the baby born in the manger, let’s not forget that God also had chosen Joseph for this life-changing event. And just like Joseph, God has a perfect plan for our lives too. Are we willing to follow that calling, even when we don’t have all the details we think we need to know? Following the Lord can sometimes cost a lot; not following Him always costs more.

19 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. 20 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. 21 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.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Matthew 1:19-24 NIV