The Wrong Thing for the Right Reason



Matthew 1:18-25
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

One of the fun parts of being pregnant is thinking of the name for the child. My children were both born before the days of routine ultrasound testing so we chose names for both a boy and a girl. Mary and Joseph didn’t have to ponder names for their child. It has already been chosen for them and told to both of them separately. They are told to name the child ‘Jesus’ which means The Lord Saves. I wonder who revealed the name first? Mary or Joseph? I would have loved to have heard that conversation when it came time to discuss the name of the baby. The sharing of those events in both of their lives when they had a personal intervention from God must have been quite a moment.

The earthly (albeit not biological) father of Jesus is at the center of our story for today. We’ve all read and heard the Christmas story over and over again. For Luke the story centers on Mary but for Matthew we hear the story from Joseph’s perspective. This is a blessing to us for his reactions and subsequent actions are informative and instructive.

In these few brief verses we learn much of Joseph’s character and faith. He is a kind and compassionate man who tries to act within the laws and requirement of the faith to which he belongs. We are not told how he felt about the betrayal by his fiancée, as it appears she has given her virginity to another man. The proof is in the pregnancy, right? But we can surmise by his actions that he is willing to choose mercy rather than vengeance. It was within his rights to have Mary stoned for her adultery. But instead he chooses to deal with her quietly so as to not bring shame and death down upon her. He is doing the wrong thing for the right reason. It is the wrong thing because that was not God’s will for any of them. Here, God intervenes speaking to Joseph in a dream. God’s divine revelation brings out the truth. Immediately Joseph responds with the right thing for the right reason. He makes the marriage official, thus sparing Mary any embarrassment or shame and most certainly sparing her life along with that of the unborn Savior. I am struck by the fact that he didn’t have to take time to think it through or ponder his decision. It says that “when Joseph woke up”. Just as Abraham immediately responds to the voice of God when told to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1ff), so does Joseph. It is probably safe to assume that Mary and Joseph were married within a very short amount of time after the dream. (Possibly that same day?) Because of the faithfulness of Joseph, Mary is able to carry the Savior to birth. And the rest, as they say, is HIStory. (I know –cliché. Couldn’t help myself.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more