Joseph and Mary and the Will of God

Friday Devotion

Matthew 1:18-25 "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 fulfill 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."

We are so accustomed to hearing the Christmas story at this time of year, and we can somewhat numbly listen to it and do not grasp some of the powerful things taking place. Mary deservedly takes prominence in the story alongside the baby Jesus because of her sacrificial acceptance of God's will. However, I want to think about someone else with you for a minute, Joseph.

 Like Mary, God sends an angel to inform Joseph of what is taking place, but this is in response to what he was planning on doing, divorcing Mary quietly to prevent her from public judgment. Joseph was a good man, but what was happening with Mary would be a terrible scandal disgracing her family and Joseph and his family. Everyone would have thought him justified for withdrawing from the marriage since she had become pregnant, which had nothing to do with him. She would be susceptible to public judgment, including stoning beyond any shame everyone would have endured. America increasingly sees a shame culture rise as the diversity of cultures in our nation continues to grow. Unless you grew up with this type of culture, though, you will probably not grasp the weight of shame on a life.

Here in the Christmas story, we discover God calls Joseph to embrace the shame Mary carries and make it his own. By moving forward with the marriage, Joseph would be implicating himself in the public humiliation. People would think he was doing the honorable thing by marrying her, but they would also believe he had sexual relations with Mary before the marriage.

 What God is asking Joseph to do would be difficult and awkward. However, what God asks of Joseph is nothing more than what God would also do. Later in the gospel accounts, we see Jesus doing the same thing. Jesus became known as someone who was a friend of sinners and tax collectors (Matthew 11:19). After calling Matthew to follow him, Jesus sat at dinner with Matthew, other tax collectors, and various other sinners, including prostitutes. (Mark 2:13-17) Jesus took the public shame and disgrace upon himself to touch the lives of those who needed him. Where the religious leaders would not do this for fear of the idea of being polluted by such people, Jesus knows He can make clean those who are unclean.

 Hebrews 11:16 "Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

 With people who need Him, people who will receive Him in faith, God is not ashamed to be called their God. Jesus embraced more than the torture and death of the cross; he embraced our guilt and shame to have us. Not only did Jesus embrace it, but He also scorned it, thinking it nothing for the sake of having us as His people.

 Hebrews 12:2 "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer, and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

All too often, we are overly concerned with our reputation. Yes, we should seek to maintain our integrity and have a good reputation with our lives. Nevertheless, some God would call us to are people who need us to stand with them in their shame and love them with the love of God. In such times, we should be prepared to sacrifice our image and desire to be admired, and instead stand with those people God would stand with – or sit and eat with. Like Joseph who stood with Mary, and Jesus who stood with sinners and tax collectors, we should make a stand as well. Reaching people for Christ will sometimes call us to stand in awkward places and risk our standing with people we want to admire us. Who has God brought your way, that needs you? Who can you help step into the will of God?