If you are a believer, then you probably believe that Mary and Joseph were devout Jews who practiced their religion with correctness.
I want to look at what they risked by agreeing to be the parents of Jesus.
Mary
Mary risked being rejected by Joseph, the man she was engaged to. Joseph knew that they had not had intercourse so Mary knew that there was a very high probability that Joseph would terminate the engagement and expose her as a fornicator. There was even the potential that Mary could have been stoned for committing the act of adultery.
At another level, Mary's family was very highly regarded. Her brother-in-law was one of the priests allowed into the sanctuary of the temple. Being pregnant before she was supposed to be would bring dishonor upon her whole family. Likely, she would have been disowned.
Joseph
Joseph was a tradesman. Traditionally, his profession has been translated as "carpenter" but some scholars think it he could have been a brick maker or a potter or some other building trade. Their reasoning is that wood is scarce in the Holy Land and having one person working solely with wood seemed unlikely in a village.
It is almost a certainty that the crones would count the months from when Joseph took Mary into his house and when Jesus was born. They would look at his size when he was born and they would quickly figure out that Mary had conceived before they were married.
This will seem like a very, very small thing to many modern people...but it was a very big deal not so long ago.
The people in the village (many of them family members) would conclude that Joseph did not follow the rules, that he cut corners and "cheated". Not a very good look for a tradesman whose reputation pays his wages.
That would have been a cruel, hard blow to an upright man who took pride in his strict compliance to Mosaic Law.
Flight to Egypt
Shortly after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt to evade King Herrod's massacre of the infants. In some ways this is a repeat of the Jews fleeing to Egypt to evade the famine during the time of Joseph, son of Jacob.
In this case, Mary's time with Elizabeth, Jesus's birth in Bethlehem (not Nazareth) and the subsequent flight to Egypt stymied the old hags who would have counted the months and then wagged their tongues.
The message for us in 2025/26
Mary and Joseph followed the mission that God gave them. They knew the risks and did the right thing anyway. They had no way of knowing that other things would happen that would short-circuit the likely outcomes.
To me it is a message of "Do the right thing. Be merciful. Pray. Let the chips fall where they may." Don't be enslaved by the bad decisions we may have made in the past. This is what we signed-on for.
"The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the
father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the
mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter
in law against her mother in law." Luke 12:53 KJV
Absolutely worth reading and thinking about.
ReplyDeleteThank You
Good thoughts on a Christmas morning ERJ. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI've had conjectural debates over things like, "If you see a nail in the road and pick it up, the "butterfly effect" might be to something like giving rise to the next Hitler, so why not just leave the nail in the road?" My answer is always the same. God wants us to do the right thing. Picking up the nail so the next car doesn't get a flat is the right thing. History may or may not remember what happens afterward, but God will remember that you did the right thing...
ReplyDeleteMary's acceptance of God's will for her was an ASTOUNDING ac of faith and COURAGE!
The bible doesn't give a detailed timeline so it's possible that Mary and Joseph were married shortly after she became pregnant..making it feasible for people to believe that it was Joseph who was the father. The bible really isn't very good about profiding much in the way of details regarding what happened.
ReplyDeleteMathew 1: 18 Now the birth of Jesus the [a]Messiah was as follows: when His mother Mary had been [b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to [c]send her away secretly. 20 But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for [d]the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for [e]He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this [f]took place so that what was spoken by the Lord through [g]the prophet would be fulfilled: 23 “Behold, the virgin will [h]conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him [i]Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he named Him Jesus.
DeleteYour correct Dan. The timeline seems to support this.
Luke 2:4-7 gives a little bit more detail.
Delete"And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, To be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son..."
NAB translation. Others are similar. Mary is identified as the woman who Joseph is engaged to, not as his wife.
There are times when it takes courage to do what is right. Short term it may be painfull but long term the results are from God.---ken
ReplyDeleteAgree with Ken!
ReplyDeleteAvoid ALL evil.
ReplyDeleteLike it says in the banner above, from Thessalonians.
That gets one about half way there.
Do what is good---that is the other half---the really hard part, and that is where the examples of the behavior of Mary and Joseph shine.
Do what is good, like Mary and Joseph and Stephen in Acts 7:54-58 from today's daily reading, and endure to the end. The world didn't like Stephen doing what is good and they stoned him and sent to him to his maker for doing what is good.
Stephen endured to the end.
Stephen won. Be like Mary and Joseph and Stephen.
Milton