December 13th - An Angel Comes to Joseph
Passages: An
Angel Comes to Joseph
18 This was how Jesus, God’s Anointed One, was born.
His mother, Mary, had promised Joseph to be his
wife, but while she was still a virgin, she became
pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Her
fiancé, Joseph, was a righteous man full of integrity and he didn’t want
to disgrace her, but when he learned of her pregnancy, he secretly planned to
break the engagement. 20 While he was still
debating with himself about what to do, he fell asleep and had a
supernatural dream. An angel from the Lord appeared to him in clear light and
said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t hesitate to take Mary into your
home as your wife, because the power of the Holy Spirit has conceived a
child in her womb. 21 She will give birth to a son
and you are to name him ‘Saviour,’ for he is destined to give
his life to save his people from their sins.” 22 This
happened so that what the Lord spoke through his prophet would come true: 23 Listen!
A virgin will be pregnant, she will give birth to a Son, and he will be
known as “Emmanuel,” which means in Hebrew, “God became one of us.” 24 When
Joseph awoke from his dream, he did all that the angel of the Lord instructed
him to do. He took Mary to be his wife, 25 but they
refrained from having sex until she gave birth to her son, whom they named
“Jesus” (Matthew 1:18-25).
The Prophecy
from the Old Testament: “Therefore, the Lord himself
will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and
will call him Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).
Ponder:
“In the Jewish culture the
engagement was a prenuptial contract (ketubah), which was entered into
before witnesses, that gave legal rights over the girl to the bridegroom. This
agreement could only be nullified by going through the formal divorce process.
Since the girl still lived with her family, sexual relations were prohibited
until after the second event of the public marriage ceremony. This engagement
period was usually entered into when the girl turned thirteen. Mary was just a
teenager when she gave birth to Jesus.**
Joseph was obedient to the angel’s
“message, overruling his own suspicions of Mary’s faithfulness as well as fear
for the ruin of his own reputation and honour”
The preceding genealogy is leading
to “this central focus and purpose – the conception and birth of the
Messiah…Jesus, revealed as the son of David and son of Abraham but now revealed
as the Son of God, Emmanuel – God with us! The angel from the Lord, likely
Gabriel famous for announcements, gives us Jesus’ ultimate purpose, namely to
be Saviour and save His people from their sins, by giving His
life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). This is the only time an angel
cites scripture." **
Matthew is the one Gospel writer
who regularly cites Old Testament passages by way of a “fulfilment formula.”
“Jesus specifies what
He does (“God saves”) and Emmanuel specifies who he is (“God with
us”).
05.09.06BC - 01.12.06BC = Joseph's dream
Prayer:
Thank you for coming to provide for
me your wonderful salvation – deliverance from sin, through the work of
Jesus. Thank you also for the promise of your Holy Spirit’s presence, that you
will be with me always (Matt 28:20). You “saved us, not by any righteous
things we had done, but because of your mercy.” You “saved us through
the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3:4-6).
My heart sings to you today Lord - “Jesus
my reason for living, Jesus my King of Kings, Jesus my greatest possession,
Jesus my everything.” Amen.
*(The Jesus Diary – The Most Comprehensive Chronology of
the Life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God)
** Luke: The NIV Application
commentary from Biblical Text to Contemporary Life: Darrell L. Brock – Quotations (moving forward)
will be from this source and The Matthew Commentary Collection by
Wilkins, Osborne and McKnight.
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