Hi how are you? How was your week? Mine was good but the weather where I live is hot and there are still bushfires happening. As we are getting closer to Christmas, I want to look at a few of the characters in the Christmas story. The first one is Joseph.
We know that Joseph was engaged to Mary when the Holy Spirit came upon her that resulted in her being pregnant with Jesus. This first mention of Joseph is in the book of Luke in Luke 1:26 and Matthew 1:18 where the Bible not only tells us he was engaged to Mary but was a descendent of King David. This is important as Jesus was coming through the line of Judah which was King David’s line. Anyone in that line could have been chosen but Joseph was and we will find out the reason shortly.
As stated, Jospeh was also engaged to Mary only. They weren’t married yet so Mary was a virgin. This was another prophecy foretold and a very important part of the story.
In verse 19 in the book of Matthew, Mary told him she was pregnant and that an angel had visited her. Joseph didn’t believe her and wanted to break the engagement quietly as he didn’t want to publicly shame her. That shows great character. He must have loved her dearly and didn’t want to embarrass her. He was hurt but wanted to do the right thing by Mary. But before he could do that, an angel appeared to him in verse 20. The angel told him not to be afraid but to marry Mary. He was told how the baby was conceived, the sex and what to call Him. I am sure Joseph didn’t understand – would you? But he knew God and knew to hear the Word of God and trust Him. So Joseph did what he was told – he married Mary. He bore the shame of marrying a pregnant woman when all thought he was involved and he probably endured much ridicule and gossip.
Back to Luke 2 – the king ordered that everyone must go to their ancestral town so that a census could be undertaken. It didn’t matter if you were pregnant, you had to go. So Joseph and Mary set off on their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. When they arrived there, they tried to find a place to stay. They probably took longer on their journey than others as Mary was heavily pregnant and travel would have been slow. When they arrived, they couldn’t find a place to stay. Notice what I said, they couldn’t. Joseph was not a poor man. He could have paid for a room but there was none available. The only place was a manger in a barn and was only probably available because no one else wanted it.
Let’s do a recap on Joseph. He was engaged to Mary. He was a godly man who listened to the Word of God and obeyed it. He was righteous and he had integrity. He cared deeply for his wife and stayed by her side on the journey although it would have been tough. He obeyed the laws of the land as well as God. He was not a poor man. He was a carpenter and had his own business. He was the perfect person to be an earthly dad to Jesus.
In the next few days, read Joseph’s story and reflect on your life. Would God have chosen you to be the earthly father of Jesus? If not, how can we get better at living everyday for Jesus. If yes, keep going on your walk and don’t get proud.
Have an amazing few days and keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you heaps
Karen
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