Throughout Advent, we would like to inspire you with Bible passages that prepare you for Christmas. TIP: Click on the Bible portion to read along in the Study Bible app ⤵️
An angel clarifies Jesus coming | Matthew 1:18-23
One of the greatest gifts the Creator gave us is our mind. Although people believe that the mind developed by chance, the Bible rather speaks of the mind as God's design. God wanted to share some of his secrets with us. Secrets about who we are and who He is and what His plans are for us. God probably could not do that if we were blocks of granite, cats or trees. Our mind is a God-given gift through which He can reveal His truth and through which we may know His secrets.
The dream of Joseph
That fact recalls the angel appearing to Joseph in a dream. Joseph was young and courageous toward Mary. At first he "planned to dismiss her quietly" (Mat. 1:19). Many times this has been explained as a negative reaction to what Mary experienced. Those who followed Torah instructions realized that the people would have to stone Mary and the man who had had sex with her (Deut.22:23-27). The righteous Joseph then preferred to save Mary and the man who had crawled into bed with his fiancée from death rather than follow God's instructions in this. A question then remains as to how it is that God can still call Joseph "righteous" (Mat.1:19).
Joseph's faith
This indicates that Joseph believed Mary's testimony. It would have been perfectly normal for Mary to tell Joseph the angel's story right away. Why would Mary have kept it from Joseph for months if Elisabeth and Zechariah already knew about this incident? Joseph, however, did not quite know his own place in this divine disposition. He wanted to surrender Mary completely to God.
The House of David
But Joseph need not be timid before God, for he is from the house of David, as the angel reminds Joseph in the address. The Messiah comes from the house of David (Luke 1:32). For its fulfillment, Joseph is necessary. He is to marry Mary. Joseph agonized over something that was illogical. Mary had been betrothed to him and now God had chosen her for the birth of the Messiah. Joseph did not want to stand in God's way in this. He wanted to live in accordance with God's will. It was exactly that when he married Mary. The angel alerted Joseph to this. Joseph was a descendant of David in the line of Solomon.
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