Unwrapping Christmas - Viewing the Nativity Through Luke's EyesSample

Day 17

Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.  Matthew 1:19

As we are about to move onto Luke, Chapter 2, we must introduce Joseph, the Christmas narrative’s unsung hero. Luke doesn’t say much about this wonderful human being, but Matthew records his character. In plain words, Joseph was an ordinary man through whom God did the extraordinary. We can own his story for ourselves.

Like Zacharias and Elizabeth, Joseph lived according to God’s law the best he could by simply doing the next right thing. That is precisely what Joseph does after hearing the shocking, disappointing, and incredulous announcement from Mary that she is pregnant with the long-awaited Messiah. Honestly, he must have initially thought she was a hot mess basket case who was trying to cover her sin with an unbelievable story. I’ve known people like that. Still, Joseph does the next right thing. 

In Hebrew culture, an engagement or betrothal was the same covenant relationship as a marriage, except the couple lived separately and without physical intimacy. Here we read that Joseph wanted a divorce, but he would put the process in motion quietly so that Mary would not be publicly disgraced. At that point in history, Mary could have been stoned to death for conceiving a child out of wedlock, but Joseph, being a just man, did the best he could for the woman who had seemed to betray him.

But God. But God intervened. In a dream, an angel appears to Joseph, telling him not to be afraid, who the Child was, and what to do next. Joseph immediately receives Mary as his wife, removing her shame, but taking great care not to have sexual relations with her until after Jesus’ birth.  What love. What patience. What bravery. What selflessness Joseph exhibits in the power of the Holy Spirit. Quiet and true, this hero exemplifies how an ordinary life can cause eternal outcomes. We can, too.