Matthew 1:18-19

Matthew 1:18-19

And the birth of Jesus Christ was in this manner.  After His mother, Mary, was promised in marriage to Joseph – before they came together – she was being found while having in the womb a child out of the Holy Spirit.  And her husband, Joseph, while being righteous and not desiring to put her to shame, devised a plan to divorce her privately.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Let’s set this story up properly.  In the ancient world, marriages were often arranged – in their mind far too important a thing to leave to the whims of the human heart.  Often a young woman (mid teens) would be bethrothed to an older man (late twenties or early thirties).  This might seem very strange to us, but it allowed the woman’s family to know that the woman would be cared for because by this point a man would have had enough opportunity to establish a business and a name for himself in his trade.  It meant that the woman could be certain about what kind of family she was going into and what kind of life she would lead.  This time of betrothal would last one year – enough time to prove that the woman did or didn’t enter the marriage pregnant and thus offspring would belong to the man.  The man and woman would be known as husband and wife, but they would not have sexual relations until after this betrothal period was over.  It is in this time that we find Mary and Joseph.  They are to be married.  In fact, they are already socially known as husband and wife.  But being only betrothed, no sexual relations would have taken place.  This is why Joseph has to officially divorce Mary even though they had not yet consummated the marriage.  The marriage was legal and binding, simply unconsummated.  This is why Matthew tells us “before they came together.”

Does this arrangement sound strange to you?  What are the obvious drawbacks to such an arrangement?  What are the social, economic, and communal benefits to such an arrangement?

Second Thought:

When it comes to the Holy Spirit of God, the Jewish people largely connected it to the concept of creation.  After all, in no place in the Old Testament is the Spirit of God more present than in Genesis 1:1!  Sure, the Holy Spirit is present elsewhere.  But the Holy Spirit takes a much more subdued role among the prophets and stories of the kings.  But this is a rather neat reflection on what is going on here.  In Genesis 1:1, God’s Spirit was clearly present in the creation of the world.  Here in Matthew, we see that the Holy Spirit is once more actively involved in a creation story.  The Holy Spirit is involved in the creation of God’s plan of salvation.  God is creating His Son on earth.  God is creating a manner through which we can have our relationship made whole.  The birth of Jesus is very much a creation story, as seen in the clear and overt presence of the Holy Spirit.  For the record, the same is also true about the creation of the “church” – a time we largely call Pentecost.

What does the coming of Christ mean for you?  What has the Holy Spirit created within you through the work of God’ hand?

Third Thought:

Joseph was a righteous man.  How does Joseph’s righteousness play out in this story?  It plays out two ways.  First, it plays out in that he wants nothing to do with a woman who appears to care so little for the sanctity of sexual relations between husband and wife.  After all, Mary is pregnant!  From his perspective, that is pretty clear proof that she had been having sex outside of marriage.  After all, conceptions like Mary actually experienced are very rare!  So Joseph comes to the first righteous conclusion: he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life with a woman who has sex with other men than her husband.  Tomorrow he’ll discover that his conclusion is wrong, but certainly understandable.  But what I think is even more significant with respect to the righteousness of Joseph is how he plans to deal with Mary.  He could have scandalized her publicly.  He could have dragged her name through the mud and made a public spectacle of it.  But he resolves to do it privately.  Joseph’s righteousness plays out in that he still cares for the person who has done him wrong.  He doesn’t want to impose any more shame upon her than she will already incur by being pregnant out of wedlock.  I think this is what impresses me about Joseph.  He could have really torn Mary’s life apart.  But he doesn’t.  He still demonstrates compassion towards her in spite of what appears to have taken place.

How does Joseph demonstrate the character of God in his actions?  Are you quick to protect even those who hurt you?  What does this say about Joseph’s relationship with God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 1:20-25