It's For You...
Matthew 1:18-25
Did you ever wonder if Mary was the only one asked to be the mother of Jesus?
Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. - Matthew 1:18-25
Even in our time, it is not difficult to find a thirteen-year-old virgin girl. But it would be hard to find one that was betrothed to marry a man of means.
I am not trying to be funny.
In Jesus’ time, it was not hard to find a virgin girl who was betrothed to marry a good man who could provide for her.
But Jesus needed to be a descendant of David in order to fulfill the prophecy as the Messiah, so one or the other of the two had to be a descendant.
Joseph was a direct descendant of David through Solomon, so he qualifies, but he is the guardian of Jesus, not his biological father, so Mary had to be a descendant as well.
And she was, through Nathan, not Solomon.
So, it had to be Mary.
But there must have been more young female virgins who were descendants of David. Many generations passed, and there were thousands of descendants of David alive at the time. How many of these descendants were young women of childbearing age were virgins?
I asked AI and received a variety of assumptions and estimates, but the most conservative of these was around 500.
So, God had 500 women to choose from.
Now, I am not trying to upset all who venerate Mary. My point is this. While many could have qualified, and we have no idea if God asked others before Mary, Mary said yes.
That is no small thing. Here is a young woman, desired and committed to marry someone who will protect and support her and her family, and she chooses to be accused of having sex outside of marriage.
She could be stoned to death for that.
And once Mary said yes, Joseph needed to commit to ridicule as well. He had to be complicit in this arrangement for it to work.
So, while we venerate Mary for her choice, we should also recognize Joseph for his.
Many could have been asked, but it is the one who says yes that matters in the greater scheme of things.
That is our lesson for today. When called, what will you say?
More to come...