Events Leading to Jesus’ Birth ~ The Shame that it Could have Brought - Day 18
· Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married and she became pregnant. Joseph’s Response to Mary’s Pregnancy (Matthew 1:18-25).
· Internet- Matthew’s account passes over in silence about how and when Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant through the operation of Holy Spirit. An engagement required a woman to remain chaste, and unfaithfulness to her future husband constituted adultery. Moreover, the engagement was just as binding as marriage and could only be terminated by giving the woman a divorce certificate that would allow her to marry another man.
· Therefore, Joseph faced a serious dilemma on account of Mary’s pregnancy prior to their being united in marriage. To all appearances, she had been unfaithful, and the truthful explanation Mary may have given him could not be verified. While miracles had occurred in the past, nothing of this nature had ever taken place (Matthew 1:18).
· Being righteous or a man who wanted to do what was right, Joseph did not want to expose Mary to public shame. So, he considered divorcing her secretly, perhaps in the presence of two witnesses.
Scripture - Then, in a dream, an angel appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is through the Holy Spirit. And she will give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:19-21).
· Upon awakening from his dream, Joseph followed through on the angelic direction and took Mary as his wife but had no intimate relations with her until she gave birth to the son whom he called Jesus (Matthew 1:24, 25).
· Mary’s pregnancy fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah (7:14), “Behold! The virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name ‘Immanuel,’ which means, With us [is] God (Matthew 1:22).
Let’s bring it home
· Suppose God told you to do something that seemed outlandish to others and could
have caused embarrassment and shame. Will you disobey the Lord, because of what people say or think? Or would you be ashamed to share what the Spirit of God prompted you to tell others?
· There have been times in my life that I was prompted by the Spirit of God to say and do certain things that were revealed to me and some of them were my personal experiences. People who do not understand are still thinking with their natural or carnal senses, therefore they cannot understand with that kind of mindset, because this is spiritual.
Thank you Lord, that we can lift our voices boldly, unashamedly, and sing “Hallelujah to Jesus!"
Next - The Importance of Angels
~ Betty A. Burnett ~
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