Joseph's Wonder

Big Point: Joseph received God’s invite to His work when life was a mess.

Have you seen the commercial where the couple shares a brand of gum and the guy keeps all the wrappers to propose? He draws pictures on each to represent their courtship, then frames and hangs them in order, with him at the end with a ring. It is touching, romantic whimsy, even for us today, but not at all reflective of the engagements of Mary and Joseph’s day.

At that time, most marriages were arranged by the bride’s and groom’s families. Often the first time...
the couple would have seen each other was at their betrothal, a solemn and purposeful commitment ceremony which involved an actual contract that could not be broken, except by divorce. After the betrothal year was up, the couple had a marriage ceremony and began to live together and have sexual relations. But, it’s during this time that God had worked a miracle and made Mary, a virgin and Joseph’s betrothed, conceive a child.

This is quite a dilemma for Joseph, who at this point only has Mary’s story. After 400 years of God’s silence, this is not so likely in Joseph’s mind, but he’s a good man and cares for Mary, so he decides to divorce her quietly and get out of this mess; but, that was not God’s plan. The interruption in Joseph’s plans comes in a dream that confirms Mary’s story. As Dietrich Bonheoffer, pastor, says, “The Christian’s job is to listen to God and care about what God says above all else in every moment.” For Joseph, that meant accepting a pregnant woman as his wife, based on the words of the angel in his dream, and his confidence in God’s faithfulness through the fulfillment of the prophecy found in Isaiah 7 and referred to in what the angel told him.

READ IT… What does the Bible say?

Matthew 1:20-24 (New Living Translation), parentheses added

²⁰ As he considered this [breaking the engagement], an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: ²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’” ²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 

Question: Joseph had decided to divorce Mary; what changed after his dream?

Answer:

BELIEVE IT… What is the lesson for me?

If God calls you to a difficult task, are you willing to respond without question?

LIVE IT… What will I do now?

Do you regularly create space for God to speak into your life? Why or why not?

Are you willing for God to interrupt your schedule to do what is important to Him, and make it important to you, whether it appears messy or not?

PRAY… Thank God for wanting to use you. Ask Him to help you create space to hear His instruction, and then make space to do it regardless of what you had planned.