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Wednesday (Day 18)

VERSES: Matthew 1:18-25

For good reason, Mary gets a lot of attention in the Christmas story. After all, Luke’s Gospel seems to give us Mary’s experiences while Jesus was in the womb and at His birth. Further, it seems as though Joseph died by the time Jesus’ public ministry took off, while Mary lived on. Therefore, there are more biblical records of Mary’s experience than Joseph’s. All that said, it is important for us to think through Joseph’s experience in the story of Jesus’ birth – as it is a remarkable story of faith and faithfulness.

Today’s passage tells the story of Joseph’s experience during the time Jesus was inside Mary’s womb. Joseph and Mary were engaged/betrothed, but not yet married. In this reading plan, we have already looked at Mary’s experience from Luke 1 as God announced (through an angel) that Mary would be pregnant (even though she was a virgin) and have a Son who would be the Messiah. This was HUGE news, and certainly would have been hard to believe for anyone who was not talking to angels! And at first, Joseph was NOT talking to angels. God first brought the news to Mary before He brought the news to Joseph. So, with Mary pregnant, and Joseph looking only to natural explanations for this situation, Joseph decides to divorce Mary quietly – probably so that she could then marry whoever was the father of the child.

But it was not God’s will that Joseph would leave Mary. So, an angel intervened and visited Joseph to tell him that Mary’s child was indeed supernatural, and that Mary was telling the truth that the Baby was the Messiah. Can you imagine being a fly on the wall of Joseph’s room as he prays aloud, processing the news of Mary’s pregnancy and the angel’s visit? Ultimately, Joseph chooses to trust the Lord (and not his emotion, reason, or logic) and stay with Mary. As a result, generations of people all over the world have named their kids “Joe” and put statues of him out each Christmas season. What a great choice Joseph made!

Take a moment and ponder the things about God that don’t make sense to you. Things you might wish to “dismiss quietly” instead of receiving them as true. Allow Joseph’s account to help us remember that many times God’s ways are simply higher (and better) than ours!