July 21 - Matthew 1:22-24

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Can you imagine the chaos in the lives of these two young people?

Joseph and Mary were betrothed.  He had spent the time between that announcement and this point building a home in which they would live. It was probably attached to his father’s home.  He prepared it for his wife and family.

Remember when Jesus said, “My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2)

It was the responsibility of the bridegroom to prepare the home for his bride.  So, that’s what Joseph had been doing from the moment that his betrothal to young Mary had begun.  Maybe it had been something their families had been planning since the two were very young. In that case, Joseph would have spent a great deal of time thinking and planning and designing and building as he grew up.  This was a very important event in their lives.

And then … he discovered she was pregnant.  They’d not done anything to make that happen.  How could it be? The obvious answer was that she was not worthy of their marriage. He was prepared to be as quiet as possible about divorcing her, because that was what was required, even through a betrothal.  If there was another man in her life, Joseph would bow out quietly and allow her to have a life without him.

But, the Lord stepped in and told Joseph exactly who that other man was and that the child Mary was carrying was someone who would transform the world.

Joseph’s response was to take Mary home as his wife.

He took her home.  He took her to the place he had been preparing for their life together and together in that home, they raised a child who was the Savior of the world.