Joseph’s story

Matthew 1:18-25  

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ 22 All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall name him Emmanuel’,

which means, ‘God is with us.’ 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Joseph is often a forgotten figure in the Christmas story, but Matthew will not let us forget Joseph. Joseph had a problem, Mary was pregnant, people in town were gossiping about it. He knew he was not the father of the baby. What was he to do? Ending the relationship with Mary quietly seemed the least painful response in a deeply painful situation. But the angel in the dream put an end to those plans.

Notice the language in vs. 21 – Mary will give birth to a son (from vs. 20 conceived by the action of the Holy Spirit), but Joseph is to name the child Jesus. Jesus means “God is salvation” or “the LORD saves”. In naming the child, Joseph was accepting responsibility for providing the child’s support and care while the child was growing up.

The angel went on to say that this child was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words about the virgin birth of a child, one who will be called “Emmanuel”. Emmanuel means “God with us”.  The angel wraps all of this together by declaring that Jesus was coming to save the people from their sins, save people from the consequences of their sins.

Vs. 24 should catch us. Joseph did everything the angel said he was to do, without debate, without argument, without hesitation even. Joseph did what he was called to do, obediently following the instructions given. He did this even though his reputation was at risk. Marrying Mary would have been seen by the village gossips as an admission that he was the father of the child Mary was carrying. He did this even though he had a financial burden from the very start of the marriage he was not expecting – supporting the child and Mary. He took action; he did what he was called to do.

PRAYER:

Lord God, we thank you for Joseph: for his willingness to live beyond gossip and innuendo, for his willing obedience, for his quiet courage. Shape us to live following Joseph’s example. In Jesus’ name. Amen.