Prophecy: Try to imagine the feelings of Joseph as the angel of the Lord told him that his fiancé was impregnated by the Holy Spirit.
06 JOSEPH’S OBEDIENCE
The Bible gives little information about Mary’s husband, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. Matthew 1:16-25 contains virtually all that is known about Joseph prior to his trip to Bethlehem for Jesus’s birth.
Try to imagine the feelings of Joseph as the angel of the Lord told him that his fiancé was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. How could anyone, especially a righteous Jewish man, process such an event? This is how Joseph reacted: he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do and took Mary home as his wife.
The Bible doesn’t say when Joseph took Mary home, but in the hours, days, or months between her being found to be pregnant and her arrival at his house, there must have been a myriad of emotions of the people involved: Joseph and his family members, Mary and her family members, neighbors, rabbis, and others in the community. Few people in Nazareth would have been exempt from being involved emotionally.
Under the customs of that time, betrothal was equivalent to being married, except that the betrothed did not have sexual relations. That is why Matthew 1:16 says Joseph was her husband. That same verse says that Joseph was faithful to the law. According to the Leviticus 20:10, both parties to adultery by neighbors were to be put to death. There was no alternative, such as divorce. Joseph was in a complete dilemma. He did not want to publicly disgrace Mary, but he was trapped as to what to do.
It's been three months. Three very long months. My soon-to-be-wife and her mother left town without any warning or so much as a good-bye. Now they are finally returning after being gone for three months. They’ve been to see her cousin, Elizabeth, who in her very old age is miraculously having a child. It's a big deal. I understand. Of course, Mary had to go. But now she’s coming back. I'm very excited. Our whole village is excited. None of us can wait to see them.
It’s said that the angel foretold the birth to Elizabeth’s husband in a dream. Can you imagine, an angel telling your future in a dream? Especially something as impossible as them having a baby? And specifying that the baby would be a boy? Even giving the son-to-be its name? I heard that her husband didn’t believe the angel.
I decide to wait in my workshop and be productive. My friends will come tell me when Mary arrives. I can’t get Elizabeth’s husband off of my mind as I look around my shop. How amazing it would be to have a young son to share my craft with!
Give him a tiny chisel to help shape the ox yokes that have become my biggest seller. Show him how to use a piece of lava rock from Capernaum to smooth doors and door frames. Watch him drag rocks to me that I will shape for a cornerstone or capstone. (smiles) As he grows stronger, those stones will get bigger and bigger.
And when I get too old or my eyesight goes, I will turn my business over to him. He will take care of Mary and me in our old age. (smiles)
The hours pass slowly. I wait and wait. And wait. What’s the hold-up? Some neighbors went by earlier, chattering, but that couldn't have been about Mary’s return. She would have caused a joyous celebration. I wait. Until noon, and I can wait no longer.
Watch the docudrama “Joseph’s Obedience:”
