Joseph seems to be a very unusual man from the accounts of him in the Bible. We will look a little deeper into the words that Matthew said about him. Picture, you as a man seeing Mary your betrothed for the fist time after a 3 month trip and she is showing (with child). You know you were not part of this; but she is still with child. Joseph being a Jew could have had Mary stoned for her infidelity. Joseph would be completely within his rights to do that. He also could have divorced her publicly and humiliated her and her family. This also was completely within his rights. Joseph does not do either of these things but is thinking of divorcing her quietly. It is while Joseph is contemplating these options that God sent an angel to comfort him and advise him on what to do. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1: 20 - 21).
Matthew goes on to say all this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the Prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel". (Isaiah 7: 14) Immanuel means God with us.
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel had commanded him. He took Mary for his wife and went with her to Bethlehem so the Scriptures might be fulfilled. It goes on to say that Joseph never consummated the marriage until after Jesus was born. This act also shows that Joseph was not like other men. Most of us would not have that degree of self control.
Look at this couple God picked to be the human parents of His Son Jesus. Both were plain and simple people. Why would God, make the parents of His Son from folks like these?
Adam was created without sin, but gave into his free-will and sinned. This sin brought sin into the perfect place God had created for them. This set the requirement to restore what was lost. This was accomplished by Jesus the God-Man, who was strong enough to say no to temptation, and restore the world of men back into favor with God. Jesus being God and Man was able to resist sin.
This study will follow Jesus' life and show what God has accomplished so far. When Jesus dies, the story does not end there but continues.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment