Mary and Joseph, Part V

Matthew 1:18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold , the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying , Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done , that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child , and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. 24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

They were engaged, this carpenter in Nazareth and this young woman he had loved for years.  And now, all of a sudden, there are nasty stories going around, people pointing and whispering behind their hands.  Poor Joseph, everybody in Nazareth knows but him…well, he’ll find out soon enough…

Oh, he knew, all right, but he loved her and he wasn’t going to make an example of her, although, under the law there were lots of things he could do…even stoning was an option.

Are dreams only our own wishful thinking, or do they really bring us answers?  Joseph put a lot of stock in the dreams he was having…enough to think maybe, just maybe, God was telling him something very important.

And he decided to trust God.  Because he loved God and because he loved Mary, he insisted on going ahead with the wedding.  And taking full responsibility for Mary and her child, the boy to whom he became role model and teacher and nurturer…setting an example of what a father should be like, so that when, in later years, the adult Jesus chose the metaphor of “father” to express the relationship of God to his people, when he taught his disciples to pray “Our Father,” he surely had in his mind a picture of one who was loving and just and fair.

Prayer:  Thank you for Joseph, the humble carpenter, who understood that God works in mysterious ways and uses each of us to further his plans.