Devotional for Monday, December 9th
Today's Bible Reading: Matthew 1:18-25
The Christmas story unfolds slowly, with new characters popping up with every turn of the page. We began the story last week, but there's still one leading player we haven't met yet: Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus.
Luke tells the Christmas story from the perspective of Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary. To get the scoop on Joseph, we have to flip our Bibles over to the book of Matthew. The Christmas story is really lots of smaller stories that all intersect at a baby in a manger. It's a reminder that God always has more than one pot on the stove. We never know how he's going to bring everything together!
Joseph is a character that can fade into the background if we let him. Not because he has a small part, but because of the kind of person he was. Joseph was a doer. He never drew attention to himself. Not one spoken word from Joseph is recorded in the Bible. We see him in action, taking care of his family in whatever way he could.
Joseph was a good man, but not a perfect man. (That honor would be reserved for his son!) After he found out his bride-to-be was pregnant, Matthew tells us:
Joseph...did not want to expose her to public disgrace, [so] he had in mind to divorce her quietly." (v. 19)
This was an honorable thing to do, especially in a culture where women could be shamed so easily. But I wonder—did Joseph take the time to listen to Mary's side of the story? Or was he ready to cut his losses and move on?
Matthew tells us that an angel visits Joseph and gives him a message like the one Mary received. But where Mary got a visit from an angel in person, Joseph saw the angel in a dream. Why the difference? I don't know, but it's interesting that the Joseph in the Old Testament had a gift of interpreting dreams. Maybe this Joseph was living up to his namesake.
After Joseph wakes from the dream, he had a decision to make. The angel told Joseph, "do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife." But I wonder if Joseph still considered walking away from it all. Joseph seemed like a quiet man who preferred a drama-free life. Would he want to invite this chaos into his home?
Yes! The next thing we know, Mary and Joseph are headed on an adventure to Bethlehem. It would be a long, tiring journey. Joseph would have to lead his family on a wild escape to Egypt to avoid an evil king. It would also mean being a father to Jesus, which couldn't have been an easy task. How does a broken man be a dad to the savior of the world? (And then you have the whole "losing Jesus at the temple" incident!)
We don't know how long Joseph lived or the way he died. But as Jesus grew, Joseph must have looked at his son in amazement. And I'm sure he thanked God for including him in the adventure.
Questions to Ponder:
When you read Matthew 1:18-25, what kind of picture do you get of Joseph?
There is some drama that should be avoided. There is some drama that God invites us into. How can we tell the difference? (If you have an answer, please tell me because I really want to know!)
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