Joseph-A Man of Courage

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.”  Matthew 1:21

At the time when Mary was told that she would bring forth Jesus, it was the custom among the Jews for a young man’s bride to be selected by his father, his mother, the bride’s father, or a friend.  When she was selected, she was betrothed or espoused to the young man.  This “was a formal proceeding undertaken by a friend or legal representative on the part of the bridegroom and by the parents on the part of the bride; it was confirmed by oaths and accompanied with presents to the bride” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary).  It was basically a contract and was binding in that it was as if they were already married, but they would not be intimate with one another until after the marriage ceremony.  Thus Mary was still a virgin when she became pregnant with the Son of God.

It was fitting that Jesus be born to a betrothed woman rather than one who was single and not engaged.  Otherwise people would have accused Jesus of being the child of a harlot.  When Joseph first found out about Mary’s condition, he must have been very shocked and disappointed.   He was a just and righteous man.  He knew the law which stated that if a betrothed virgin had sexual relations with another man, she and the other man were to be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:23-24).  This was certainly a dilemma which was staring Joseph in the face.  What was he going to do?  In ancient times, purity was a prized possession among young women and men, too, for that matter, not like today where purity is ridiculed.

Joseph didn’t want to have Mary stoned to death.  Even though this was likely an arranged marriage, he loved her and was a kind and compassionate man.  To keep her from being the subject of a public scandal, Joseph decided to quietly issue a writ of divorcement, a legal divorce from a legal betrothal.  However, Mary would have still been scandalized when her pregnancy became evident.  Joseph went to sleep that evening no doubt struggling with this dilemma, but he began to dream.  In his dream, an angel of the LORD came to him to assure him not to fear to take Mary as his wife because the baby she was carrying was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would be the Savior that God had promised to save man from his sins.  This news was likely even more shocking than when he learned she was pregnant.  The angel also reminded Joseph of the prophecy by Isaiah that a virgin would conceive and bear a Son (Isaiah 7:14).  Joseph was convinced that the word of the angel was truthful and thus took Mary for his wife.

Tomorrow, we will hear about Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, and the birth of the Savior.