Joseph accepts Jesus as his son

 Matt. 1:18-25

18.    This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

19.    Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20.    But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21.    She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins.”

22.    All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:

23.    “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24.    When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

25.    But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

 

In this passage, Apostle Matthew relates to the state of mind of Joseph after Mary had told him that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. The Jews did not have any understanding of the Holy Spirit. For them, YAHWEH is God. The only message that he registered is that her fiancée was now pregnant.

 

The disclosure of Mary devastated Joseph. In those days, a Jewish betrothal was as legally binding as a marriage. Therefore, a divorce would be required to terminate the betrothal. Joseph also knew the Jewish Law on the virginity in a young woman. Deuteronomy tells us that adultery before marriage was punished by death: “But if evidence of virginity is not found for the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones; because she has done a disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father’s house.  So, you shall put away the evil from among you.” (Deut. 22:20-22)

 

Let us first look at Mary’s perspective. She also knew the law of the Old Testament. She knew that she would be lapidated if seen impure in the eyes of the world once the baby bump would start showing and became public knowledge. What was going on in this young woman’s mind? She also knew what Joseph was thinking about because they both knew the law of God. But Mary was certain that she was carrying the promise of the Messiah in her virgin womb. She heard clearly what the angel told her: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most  High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)

 

Mary was noticeably confident that that little baby growing in her virgin womb was definitely a miracle because she had not had any sexual relations with Joseph yet. And if God can do such miracle, she was confident that God will resolve the marriage that is on the verge of breaking up. Mary had faith in God. She did not allow fear to take over her faith. God has shown her His love with the blessing of being the mother of the Saviour of the world. Let us look at the response of Mary, in the Gospel of Luke, after the angel’s visit: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38).

 

Now let us look at Joseph’s perspective. The words “betrayal” and “disgrace” were singing in Joseph’s mind since Mary last spoke to her. According to the laws of the land, it would be justifiable for Joseph to divorce Mary, and it is recorded by Apostle Matthew: “Joseph resolved to divorce her quietly” (Matt. 1:19). While Joseph was nursing his betrayal and pains, God sent an angel to speak to him and the Scripture says that the angel called out: “Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid” and explained why his bride was pregnant (Matt 1:21). That was a wake-up call and straight away redirected the thoughts of Joseph. Joseph needed to be onboard for the Messiah’s arrival, because Joseph needed to marry a woman who got pregnant out of wedlock. That was not an easy ask in those days but it was the sacrifice that both Joseph and Mary as the bondservants of God took in order to fulfil the calling of God in both of their lives. Even when they both became the pariah of their society and friends. They suffered for the glory of God. But they saw beyond the sufferings, they saw the blessing of God over their lives.

 

Has God not shown us His love and faithfulness? What happen when things do not go our way? Do we turn in frustration or fear and accuse God of failing us? Has God not shown to us that He loves us? Of course, He has. So, the real issue is: Are we willing to accept His will for our life even when we do not understand or like it? Can we not trust Him to be working on our behalf?

 

We know that God does not solve every problem in our life or give us everything we want. The Bible does not tell us that He will. But the Bible does tell us that the Lord works all circumstances in the lives of believers to arrive at eternally good things for us and for His glory. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

 

Understand one thing my friend, if God wants you to seek Him more earnestly and to depend upon Him more, He may bring you to the end of yourself because the outcome is worth it. God wants you to depend on him more. Remember, that whatever circumstances God chooses to bring in your life, you cannot question His goodness or His ability or His faithfulness.

 

Let us look at Mary again. God gave her the blessing of the birth of the Messiah, how could she even think that God was not good enough to save her even when Joseph was not supporting her? God had already proven to Mary that He was powerful and good, and she had complete faith in Her God. That is the approach of faith; God has already given believers the blessing of His only son dying on the cross to pay for our sins: that is sufficient evidence to know that God is good all the time. God raised His son from the dead, to prove to us that He can resurrect us too into new eternal body on day. Live with eyes for eternity. That is the perspective Mary had, she knew that nothing was impossible to God. God only does what is BEST. Not your best but HIS BEST always.

 

Do you believe Jesus was born a virgin birth?  Isaiah 7:14 says: “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel”. The angel also told Joseph that the boy will be called Immanuel. But we all know that the name of Mary’s son is Jesus. In Genesis 3:15, God said to Satan, the deceiver, that he will put enmity between him, and the woman and her child will bruise the head of Satan. Jesus could not be birthed from the corruptible see of a man who is a descendant of Adam. He had to be birthed from the miraculous birth, directly from God. That is why Jesus is called Immanuel which means God is with us. Jesus is the Second Adam to provide a new human race.

 

Joseph had to live out his faith and trust God and he took Mary as his wife so that Jesus is not born out of wedlock. For you and me, the Lord has asked something much easier. God is asking us to confess with our mouth that Jesus is our Saviour, that God sent Jesus to die for our sins, and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. If we do these things, we will be saved.

 

So, I call upon you today, if you have not placed your faith in Jesus Christ, I ask you to confess your sins and ask Jesus to be your saviour and obey the call of the Gospel, because today is your appointed day of salvation.