Read: Matthew 1:18-25 NRSV
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
Any sermon or devotional about this particular passage usually focuses on the strength of character Joseph showed first in being willing to divorce a woman who he had every reason to believe had sinned and humiliated him, and second in obeying the angel in taking Mary as his wife. There’s a reason we hear the same message so often: it was extremely honorable of Joseph; an act of courage and selflessness that is still a credit to him.
I’d like to highlight another layer of his obedience. Not only was Joseph willing to believe that Mary had conceived a child by the Holy Spirit, he was also willing to raise the Messiah of the Jewish people with no claim upon his lineage. To understand the level of humility and obedience Joseph displayed, you have to understand how fervently the Jews had been waiting for the Messiah for generation after generation. Here was Joseph’s chance to establish himself as the father of the long-awaited Messiah! If he bore any resemblance to the prophecies in 2 Samuel or other places in the old testament, he would vanquish the hated Romans and restore the temple and the nation of Israel to its former glory. As Jesus’ father, Joseph would have been celebrated and revered by the Jews.
Instead, Joseph showed the humility and the obedience to relinquish any biological claim to Jesus’ lineage. He did not sleep with Mary while she was pregnant, but abstained from marital relations to strip away any doubt that the immaculate conception was the work of God alone.
Not only did Joseph expose himself to ridicule, he willingly denied himself the possibility for glory and adulation. Are we brave enough to show the same kind of obedience?
