The First Noel – Don’t Do Anything Yet.
Stephen March suspects that Joseph’s first thoughts were “don’t do anything yet” as he pondered Mary’s surprising pregnancy.
The Announcement to Mary
When the angel Gabriel made the announcement to Mary that she would become pregnant and give birth to a child who was the Son of God that was pretty heavy stuff to take in. The next part of the story leading up to Jesus’ birth, involves Joseph. We can read about that in Matthew chapter one, verses 18-25.
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means God with us). When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
Joseph’s Role
Mary, having received her announcement would then be getting ready for everything that would take place leading up to the birth of Christ. Being betrothed, naturally part of that process would be to tell her soon to be husband the news. Now Joseph often gets overlooked in the overall story of the birth of Christ, and certainly has less of a presence throughout the entirety of the gospels. Actually, Joseph is only mentioned by name once during Jesus’ adult ministry, when the people say “is this not Joseph’s son?” Joseph himself does not appear in the gospel accounts beyond Luke chapter 3 when it says Jesus’ parents looked for him and found the 12-year old at the temple. For whatever reason, God chose not to use Joseph prominently later in Christ’s life, but his role at the birth is quite critical.
Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant, and makes the decision that while he does not want to shame her, he still feels that divorce is necessary as, let’s face it, to most people of any era, there is only one way a woman becomes pregnant, and in this case it wasn’t Joseph. Thankfully we are not treated to how the conversation went, or if there even was a conversation, perhaps Joseph just happened to notice Mary after she started showing signs of being with child. However, there are some subtle hints that are given throughout scripture that suggest Mary and Joseph had what was likely a very private conversation, which at first failed to convince Joseph. Support of this comes from several verses where it is mentioned by others that Jesus was the son of Joseph.
To me, this indicates that Joseph did a tremendous job of keeping this shame from afflicting the family long-term. Deuteronomy 23:2 suggests that an illegitimate child, one born from adultery, would be excluded from the assembly of the Lord, which would likely equate to the temple in the time of Jesus’ birth. There is also a bit of a clue in the lack of anyone referencing the virgin birth beyond the early chapters of Matthew and Luke. So Joseph being on board with the idea of staying with Mary would become a key part in Jesus’ identity in the culture of his day, simply as a Jew, let alone as the “master” and “teacher” that many people called him.
But Joseph wasn’t on board immediately, and can you blame him. I mean, the story sounds really far-fetched, an angel appeared, and poof she’s pregnant. Oh, but what about the prophesy of Isaiah 7:14, about the sign being a virgin conceiving and giving birth to a son? This is another case of having the fullness of understanding that comes from a completed word of God. Joseph didn’t have this advantage, and to the Jew, Isaiah 7:14 is not a messianic prophesy, as in their tradition this was fulfilled with the fall of Syria and Israel. So, because he was less than sure, an angel of the Lord comes to Joseph in a dream and tells him exactly who this child is, and how he came to be. From then, Joseph takes her to be his wife, no longer just betrothed, but fully joined, and this would create the supposed viewpoint that Jesus was the son of Joseph.
Joseph’s Obedience
Joseph, like Mary, fully complied with the Lords command, and was used by God in many great ways throughout the nativity and into Jesus’ childhood. It was because of Joseph’s ancestry that they were brought to Bethlehem, fulfilling the prophetic words of Micah 5:2. It was because of a vision sent to Joseph that the three of them were able to flee to Egypt and avoid the wrath of Herod. His knowledge of the political scene brought them to the town of Nazareth when they returned, again to fulfill prophesies concerning the messiah. Joseph would also have received the blessings of hearing people like Simeon and Anna speak of the importance of this child, or hearing Jesus at age 12 conversing with the teachers at the temple, not to mention all the unrecorded blessings I am sure he received living with the Savior of mankind.
Don’t Do Anything
I’m stuck on verse 20 of Matthew chapter 1, “As he considered these things, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him.” I wonder how many people have missed out on the blessings of God, because they dismissed the message of the gospel on first hearing. Maybe it all sounded too illogical, or fake. Perhaps they didn’t want to acknowledge that they could be sinners. Maybe it seems too easy, that we can have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, just by believing in Jesus. I get it, there are so many reasons a person can hear the good news about Jesus and push it aside as nonsense, or just not for them. Of all the things Joseph did around the birth of Christ, I think the most important thing he did was nothing. After learning that Mary was pregnant he did not act, he did not rush to judgment, or cast her aside immediately, but as verse 20 tells us he considered these things, and that’s when God spoke to him directly.
Consider What the Bible Teaches About Christmas
When we look at Christmas, especially in our modern culture, there are so many things that tell us we should ignore how the holiday started and focus on what it’s become. Let’s not do that, but instead consider everything that the bible tells us about the birth of Christ, and as we reflect on that, pray that God will reveal to us the true joy that is in his son Jesus.
Do you think that Joseph’s “don’t do anything yet” approch was the correct one? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Stephen March
Stephen March is the President of FBH International and HopeStreamRadio. He graduated from the Broadcasting Program at Niagara College in 2001, and has previously worked in television production and post-production. Stephen lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with his wife Corinne and their four children. He serves as an elder at Scottlea Gospel Chapel.
Read and hear more from Stephen Marchon his contributor’s page.
Stephen currently has 3 Programs on HopeStreamRadio:
More Podcasts Below:
More Blogs
Peace Through The Christ of Christmas
Can We Be Holy? The Process of Sanctification
Images courtesy of:
The Virgin Mary – Free-Photos
Mary & Joseph – gamagapix
Angel – stux
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