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Saturday, December 14, 2013

December 14

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. 
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.
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. 
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.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 
But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.



God takes care of all the little details.  An angel had already appeared to Mary and told her she was miraculously going to birth the Messiah.  She wondered, she trusted and she believed.  Even when God gives us a message and points us in a direction, there are still obstacles to overcome.  There are other people to deal with, logistics to work out, personal emotions and a slew of other things that come crashing around.  But God didn’t leave Mary alone with the promise to deal with the reality of life, He sent an angle to Joseph as well.  God affirmed his plan with the most important person in Mary’s life so together they could move forward to care for this gift from God who would save the world.  I’m sure it took a bit of time to work it all out in his heart, but Joseph accepted God’s change to his plans.  He listened to God and obeyed.   

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