Joseph's Choice

As the Christmas season is upon us, I tend to take the time to read and re-read the different passages about the birth of our Savior. I usually find my mind pondering and meditating on the old familiar story of Jesus and thinking about those events from all of the various points of view. Recently, both in my own devotional time, and during a sermon at our church last night, I have found myself thinking quite about about Joseph and the choice which God laid before him.

Why did God, in His soverignty, choose Joseph in the first place? The Bible talks a lot of him being a just man, and devout, and I think that was important for more reasons than just the rearing of the Holy Child. He needed to be someone willing to listen to God, and go against the flow. As we have been learning in the Faith Bible Institute classes which my husband and I are taking at church, in the Bible, the majority is usually wrong (ie, 10 said no but 2 said Go at Kadesh Barnea).

Anyway, this got me to think about the choice Joseph had to make. Picture it: a godly man, engaged to a young woman he assumed was pure and godly too, in a day when people get stoned to death for premarital s*x and suddenly he finds out that she is pregnant. What would most guys do? what would you do?

A man not really in control of his passions may have lost his temper and had her stoned to death promptly, in the heat of the moment, and his pain at the betrayal.

A self-righteous and insecure man may have wanted to make her a public example just to protect his own good reputation, making certain that everyone knew HE was an innocent victim in all of this, and SHE was guilty.

But, being a godly man, he didn't do anything rash. He took some time and prayed and pondered these things, finally deciding to put her away quietly, instead of letting her become a public example.

Finally the Lord sent an angel to speak to him, and tell him to do something that defied reason: take Mary as his wife.

I don't really think I ever quite grasped just what this meant for Joseph before, until recently. By marrying her, it appeared to those in the area who knew of her "condition" that he was admitting guilt along with her. After all, why would he marry her if he wasn't the father? He risked so much by marrying Mary, not the least of which being his reputation.

Perhaps, looking at His character, God knew that Joseph was a man which God could trust to make God's choice, and not the logical, common sense one.