September 24 – Jesus & Joseph

September 24 – Jesus & Joseph
Matthew 1:18-24

Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ birth as seen through Joseph’s eyes. Consequently, there isn’t a lot of detail regarding the birth itself.  One of the things that was very important to both Matthew and Joseph was ensuring the world know that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Rumors abound in small communities and even long after Jesus had died; people were probably still talking about the fact that he wasn’t Joseph’s son.  There would have been those who sought to pull every ugly detail out of the story to ensure that others might refuse to believe the Messiah had truly come.

This was a pretty radical story.  Joseph had been pledged to Mary long before any of this baby talk had begun.  One day, though, he discovered she was pregnant. He knew HE hadn’t done anything with her, but he was a good man and rather than make a big deal out of it, he figured he would just manage it quietly and let her move on with her life.  Who knows, maybe she loved the man whose child she carried.  If so, they could be together, Joseph would walk away and all would be well.

Little did Joseph know, she adored the man whose child she carried.  He meant more than anything to her.  He was God, the Creator of the Universe. When the angel told Joseph the whole story and what role he was to play in the drama; Joseph was more than happy to be then man God asked him to be.  This would be his son. He would take Mary into his home, love her and raise the child they had together.

Matthew tells us that Mary was a virgin when the child was conceived and he also tells us that Joseph allowed her to remain a virgin until after Jesus was born.  All of this was to remind his readers that the birth of Jesus was fulfillment of prophecy.  Isaiah 7:14 said that a virgin would give birth to a son and his name, Immanuel, meant that God was now in the world.

Joseph was a carpenter, one man in the midst of many. He didn’t look for fame, he didn’t receive fortune, but he was obedient when God called him to act and he looked upon the face of God in the arms of the woman he loved.