Shocking news for an engaged carpenter
Daily Scripture
Matthew 1:18-19, Psalm 18:28-30, Isaiah 43:1-4
Matthew 1
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly.
Psalm 18
28 You are the one who lights my lamp—
the Lord my God illumines my darkness.
29 With you I can charge into battle;
with my God I can leap over a wall.
30 God! His way is perfect;
the Lord’s word is tried and true.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
Isaiah 43
1 But now, says the Lord—
the one who created you, Jacob,
the one who formed you, Israel:
Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
when through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched
and flame won’t burn you.
3 I am the Lord your God,
the holy one of Israel, your savior.
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your place.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
you are honored, and I love you.
I give people in your place,
and nations in exchange for your life.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels did not duplicate each other; they complemented each other. Luke told about Jesus’ birth through Mary’s eyes, while Matthew told the story from Joseph’s outlook. He was engaged to Mary when the story began. Mary lived in the tiny village of Nazareth, but it seems from the slender evidence the gospels give us that Bethlehem was Joseph’s hometown (cf. Luke 2:1-4). If so, that suggests that their families arranged the marriage, as was common in their time and place.
- “In Matthew’s Gospel, Bethlehem appears to be Joseph’s hometown…. Nazareth was certainly Mary’s hometown, Joseph and Mary’s engagement was most likely long-distance, arranged by their respective families in Bethlehem and Nazareth.” * When Joseph learned Mary was pregnant, he knew he couldn’t be the child’s father. Hurt and let down, he likely turned to Scriptures like today’s. How can passages like these give you a spiritual foundation when you face a letdown?
- Isaiah 43 came in a section of the book many mainline scholars call “Second Isaiah.” It spoke first to Israelites returning from exile in Babylon. It emphasized God’s personal bond with God’s people— “I will be with you…. I love you.” It did not promise an easy, pain-free life, but pledged that whatever happened, God’s people can depend on God’s presence. How could such a passage speak to Joseph’s hurting heart? How does it speak to you today?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, your miraculous conception started your life upending business as usual in our broken world. Fill me with the courage to let you reshape all the parts of my life that need it. Amen.
GPS Insights
Denise Mersmann
Denise Mersmann serves as the Care Coordination Director for the churchwide Care Central department at Church of the Resurrection.
There were so many reasons for Joseph to be humiliated, angry and vengeful. Each time I read this passage, I think of how Joseph responded to the news that his fiancé was pregnant, not by him, but by the Holy Spirit. The laws at the time had severe punishment in place for women in that situation. It would have been very easy for Joseph to let that justice be served. Instead, he chose to simply dismiss Mary quietly. No shaming. No revenge. No public humiliation.
Joseph chose to act in Mary’s best interest, not his own. He made a choice. He chose to be kind.
Joseph decided to show kindness and mercy even before he was visited by the angel telling him that Mary was indeed carrying a child conceived by the Holy Spirit.
I think the part of this passage that causes me to pause is that, as a society, we often fail to choose kindness. We don’t simply walk away or turn the other cheek when we believe someone has wronged us. And when I say, “a society,” I mean me. I own my place in that society.
I would love to tell you that when I am somehow wronged (in my own humble opinion) that I always look for a way to take the high road. I would love to tell you that I respond with kindness when I am humiliated or angry, but then I would have to own that I’m not telling the truth.
The truth is, it can be easier to seek retribution, to lash out, to want to save face by making someone else look bad. It’s easy to point to a bad guy. But as with Mary and Joseph, in many cases there isn’t a bad guy. There are just circumstances. Many times those are circumstances that we don’t know about or are beyond anyone’s control.
This passage is about Joseph, but I feel like it is speaking directly to me. It reminds me that I have choices. I get to choose if I am going to respond to situations with kindness and mercy. This passage calls me to think of the other person and how I can quietly let things go. I don’t need to retaliate if I am embarrassed or not treated how I would like to be.
This Christmas I am reading this Scripture and accepting it as a goal. To choose kindness when things aren’t the way I want them to be. To quietly let go of things that I don’t like. To show grace when someone has done something that hurts me.
And next Christmas, when I read the words in Matthew 1:18-19 about how Joseph responded to a tough situation, I pray that I can say, “I am becoming a Joseph”!
© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Hamilton, Adam, The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem (pp. 34-35). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
