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Matthew 1:19-25
Joseph and Mary were not yet married but promised to each other in marriage. When Joseph became aware that Mary was pregnant, he decided to end the promised marriage arrangement “quietly” (Matthew 1:19, NKJV). For a human mind in reason, just as was that of Joseph, the only possibility of Mary’s pregnancy is that she had been unfaithful to her marriage arrangement to him. For him to entertain the idea of this is perfectly normal. And for him to make the decision to “put her away quietly” (Matthew 1:19) shows the genuine demeanor of Joseph being a respectable man.
But God provides for us to become aware of His will for us. He sent an “angel of the Lord” (Matthew 1:20) to inform Joseph of the great plan that He had for the child that Mary was pregnant with, and of the purity that was involved in this pregnancy (which in itself is a 180⸰ turn from the impurity that is associated with being unfaithful in marriage). Joseph is instructed by the angel of the Lord that the name which he shall call the child is JESUS, indicating as stated in Matthew 1:21, “…for He will save His people from their sins.”
In Matthew 1:24-25 we have a lesson in and of itself as the Bible teaches us, “Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS. This information, being from the infallible word of God, confirms the virgin birth as Joseph keep himself from any sexual relations with Mary until after the Child was born.
This is the fulfillment of the promise of the prophesied Messiah in the birth of our Savior JESUS.
As we have been reviewing the genealogy of Jesus, and of how impure they all were, we are all convicted in our hearts and minds today. Consider Joseph and Mary. Consider putting yourself in their shoes and explaining to your best friend that an angel of the Lord has told you that your wife, being pregnant – but not by you, has become pregnant by the Lord God working through His Holy Spirit. Of how you will continue to wed her as planned and of your faith in her carrying the Savior of the world as her baby. Or put yourself in the shoes of the best friend hearing these words from Joseph. I will go as far as to say that none of us would believe a word of it, and we would do our best to convince Joseph of his ridiculous story. Yes, we are all now convicted by God’s Holy Spirit within us due to the truth that we know concerning our reaction to this if we were in the shoes of those in which we, knowing the truth some two thousand years later, would have reacted much differently than we do today.
And consider Joseph and Mary; even though we now know that they were acting in truth, they were sure to have been looked down on by the general public and even their friends. Even the perception of sin is placed on Mary being with child by an unknown father. This story, we must admit, would have been at the least, very hard to believe.
The Apostle John teaches us in John 1:10-13 (HCSB), “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Dear LORD,
Hopefully today You have convicted our hearts, even now, that we would see how easy it is for us to run away from the truth of Jesus. LORD, we ask that You would forgive us for our sinful ways that are quick to convict others and yet leave ourselves out of the equation as if we are exempt from the sin of this world. Please help us to believe LORD that You sent Your One and only Son into this world as a baby, to grow as we do, and to experience life in this sinful world as we do, so that He would grow to take all the sins of this world to the cross and die for us so that we may live through Him. Thank You Jesus! In Jesus name I pray, amen.