Friday, Day 13 - Joseph, the Man God Chose to be Jesus' Father

Mary was going to have a baby, and she was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph.  

Joseph came from a family that if you could go back to his Grandparents Grandparents, and then go even further back, you would get to King David – who was the Jewish people’s greatest King.

Mary told Joseph that she was pregnant and even told him how it happened – that the angel had come to her and told her she was going to have God’s son, Jesus.

Joseph was confused about how Mary could be pregnant with a child, since they were not yet married. 

This is how scripture describes this:

Matthew 1:18-19
¹⁸  The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to their marriage, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn't know that.)
¹⁹  Joseph, sad but a good man, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

He loved Mary, but he thought Mary had been unfaithful to him.  So, he made up his mind to NOT marry her. 

He was sad and didn’t like what he had to do, so he decided to do it all quietly so no one else would know, and Mary wouldn’t be shamed.

When he went to bed that night, he had a dream, and you know what happened?  An angel – maybe it was Gabriel again – came to him in his dream and told him what was going on.  

God’s word tells it like this:

Matthew 1:20-21
²⁰  While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God's angel spoke in the dream: "Joseph, son of David, don't hesitate to get married. Mary's pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God's Holy Spirit has made her pregnant.
²¹  She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—'God saves'—because he will save his people from their sins."

Just think about it – Joseph had a dream and God sent his angel to him while he was dreaming.

Here’s a video that shows how it might have happened:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXN_nf54wm8

God came to help Joseph understand.  Joseph was confused, but God showed him that Mary was telling him the truth.

The baby to be born to Mary – Jesus – was truly the Son of God.

Here’s how God described what happened after Joseph woke up:

Matthew 1:24
²⁴  Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God's angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary.

You see what is happening?

We all have a choice when it comes to what we do in life. 

       ·         God gives us a choice on whether to obey or disobey. 

       ·         God gives us a choice to love or be angry and hate.

       ·         God wants us to obey and love and trust and live being happy. 

It all comes down to whether we will be like Joseph and do what God says for us to do. 

Here’s a coloring page to remember Joseph.

For Parents and Other Not Kids:

I am now 65 years of age, and I cannot live apart from the notion that God is the center of all of life.

I wished I could say I've known that and operated that way "all" of my life; but in actuality, this is a "growing" thing inside of me, and I expect it will continue to grow however many years of life I live. 

Joseph is a man of God’s "favor".   I use the word deliberately.  It isn't written without thought.

I wouldn't say I could recognize "God's favor" in everyday life - usually.

BUT, I know I'm surrounded by it, day in and day out.

God has shown us favor, shown me favor, in the sending of his Son, our Savior, Jesus, to redeem us from our sins.

God has shown us favor in giving us His Holy Spirit, to shape our communities of faith, to live and breath his life and light into our darkness.

God has given us favor in everyday life with the nature we are surrounded with, with friends and family, with food and shelter.

It's a good word, but it's not always easy to put a handle in concrete ways in which it appears to us.

Joseph is a man of God's favor; but having said that, read this passage slowly to realize what that favor meant: 

Matthew 1:18-25
¹⁸  This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
¹⁹  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and 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 fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
²³  "The virgin will be with child and will 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 had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Joseph is an amazing man…the kind of man I want to be. 

God is saying to him:
Joseph, I want you to choose the unbelievable.
Joseph, I want you to embrace the impossible.
Joseph, I want you to be prepared to face the gossip and finger-pointing, and judgments of those who will never really know - because I don't want you to defend me!
Joseph, I want you to love that which comes from me, and not what came from own work.
Joseph, I want you to trust me and have faith in my plans, even though they seem inconceivable.
Joseph, I want you to walk into a life as a Father of a Son that is beyond your imagination.

I am humbled by the trust that Joseph displays.  That kind of trust comes from a heart that really believes God is at work in the most difficult of places in our lives.  

Oh that I had that kind of faith continually.

Peace