Thank You, Mary & Joseph

This week as Christmas draws near, I find myself thinking about a pregnant teenager and her twenty-something fiance.  The faith they exhibited is phenomenal.  It is almost unimaginable that they would make the decisions they did in the face of the cultural mores of the time.  The dangers of being ostracized and possibly killed were very real.  I know that God is sovereign and that His play would be done, if not through them, through someone else, but I can't imagine anyone else with so much on the line.  Follow the story in Matthew 1:18ff from the new Common English Bible.

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. 20 As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “ Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. ” 22 Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:
  • 23 Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son,
  • And they will call him, Emmanuel.a
( Emmanuel means “ God with us. ” )
24 When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus.

I'm amazed at the matter of fact statement in verse 24.  
Oh that we would have such faith today!  Thank You, Lord for giving these young people such great faith.  May we learn from their experience that we can trust You even when we may be in danger if we obey You.

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