LUKE 1:26-38 & MATTHEW 1:18-24 - JOSEPH'S FIANCE FAVORED BY GOD

JOSEPH

Joseph’s Fiancé Favored by God

Luke 1:26-38

Matthew 1:18-24

Luke 1:26-27 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Susie: Six months after he gave Zacharias the news about Elizabeth’s pregnancy,

Susan: God sent the angel Gabriel on another mission, a second divine assignment.

Susie: Gabriel was dispatched to the small town of Nazareth to make an announcement to a virgin girl named Mary. She was engaged to a carpenter named Joseph who was in the lineage of King David as was she, but they had not yet married.

Susan: They were betrothed, which was legally binding; and any infidelity would be considered adultery against the future spouse.

Susie: We’ll examine this from Joseph’s perspective in Matthew’s gospel after we finish Mary’s encounter with the angel.

Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

Susan: Gabriel told Mary she was to be unique among all women, specially chosen by God.

Susie: He explained that God was present in her life. Mary was favored in the sense that God extended grace to her for the assignment of bringing forth the Redeemer of the whole world. Mary was a simple peasant girl.

Susan: She was confused and in wonderment at this greeting from the angel. In fact, she was completely taken by surprise.

Susie: She may have even felt alarmed at the presence of an angel.

Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Susie: Seeing the shock and alarm on Mary’s face, the angel assured her she had nothing to fear. In fact, God was pleased with her and gracious toward her.

Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

Susie: Gabriel gave Mary the shocking news that she was going to become pregnant and have a son and she understood this to mean immediately even before her marriage to Joseph.

Susan: She was to name this son Jesus which means “Jehovah is generous, Jehovah saves.”

Susie: Jesus is a derivative of Joshua or Yeshua and was not an uncommon name, but the angel’s next statement made clear that this would be no common baby.

Luke 1:32-33 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Susie: Gabriel clarified that this baby would not be the son of Joseph. Instead, He would be the Son of God, but that did not really sink in with her at that moment. Gabriel told Mary that her son would reign on the throne of David FOREVER.

Susan: That throne would continue eternally because Jesus as the Son of the Most-High, the Son of God, is an eternal being.

Susie:  A descendant of David was not on the throne at this point in history, for Rome had appointed Herod the Great as Israel’s king.  Herod was not a Jew.  His father was from Idumea, and his mother was Arabian.  Both Mary and Joseph were in the line of David, but they were poor peasant people. Therefore, this news was shocking.

Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Susie: Mary, understandably, was astonished at the news that she would be pregnant since she and Joseph were not married yet, and she was a virgin. I’m not even sure she comprehended the rest of Gabriel’s message because her mind stopped at the word “pregnant.”

Susan: She must have been terrified and confused. Also, she would have no one to share her troubles with since probably no one would believe her. 

Susie: Keep in mind, this was a private conversation between Mary and Gabriel. God did not provide her with other witnesses to corroborate her account.

Susan: If Mary shared this with anyone else, surely, they would have deemed her crazy. 

Susie: Or worse, stoned her as unfaithful to her betrothed, Joseph.

Luke 1:35-37 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Susan: Gabriel answered Mary’s question by explaining that this was not going to be the normal exchange between a woman and a man. God was going to personally, miraculously, impregnate her with His Son in the form of an embryo. The virgin birth was in fulfillment of prophecy:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Susie: Gabriel assured Mary of God’s power to perform this miracle in her by telling her of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, miraculous because of her advanced age. I find the statement in verse 37 in the Voice translation particularly comforting: "So the impossible is possible with God." AMEN.

Luke 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Susan: Hearing the angel’s answer to her question, Mary submitted and committed herself to the process of conception, pregnancy, and birth of the Redeemer Jesus in accordance with the Father’s will. 

Susie: She must have known she would be subjecting herself to ridicule, gossip, and even the possibility of stoning or banishment, either of which would have been within Joseph’s rights to demand. 

Susan: At the risk of all these things, she humbly submitted anyway.

Susie: Surely, she had an understanding that God was able to do what He was proposing, including protecting her and the child.

PONDER THIS: Mary's response to God's plan for her was humble.  When God uses you in a mighty way, remember to give Him all the glory and credit. You are just the vessel to carry His blessings to others.

Susie: Wait! What is Joseph going to say about this? Will he even believe it when you tell him, Mary?

Matthew 1: 18-19 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

Susie: In the Jewish culture of that day, parents chose a mate for their children, sometimes while they were still quite young. From that point, they were considered engaged. When they came of age, a date was set for the wedding and the man began preparing a place for his bride to live. At this point they were considered “betrothed” and if they decided not to marry, the man would need to divorce his wife. With the assumption that Mary had been unfaithful to her betrothed husband, Joseph could have had her publicly humiliated and even STONED TO DEATH as an adulteress! So, Joseph was going to do an extremely kind thing in divorcing her quietly and sending her away from the prying eyes of their home town.

Susan: Joseph was merciful even though he did not yet know the true origin of Mary’s baby. He knew he was not the father, so the only logical assumption was that she had been unfaithful. Joseph was upright in heart and a man of integrity, but he did not assume a “holier than thou” position.

Susie: Even though this was an arranged married, I believe Joseph already loved Mary, his bride to be.

Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Susie: God sent an angel to explain the situation to Joseph in a dream. I’m sure Mary had tried to give Joseph an explanation, but he probably found it hard to believe. 

Susan: The angel announcer of Heaven was probably Gabriel who had previously appeared to both Zacharias and Mary, now sent to let Joseph know not to fear going ahead with marrying Mary because it was part of God’s redemptive plan. 

Susie: He let Joseph in on a bit of the divine masterplan. He reminded Joseph that he was descended from David as was Mary. Then he pointed out that Mary’s pregnancy was orchestrated by the Holy Ghost, making the baby the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah.

Susan: The angel instructed Joseph to name the baby Jesus meaning “Jehovah is generous, Jehovah saves” because He would save His people from their sins. Jesus would later declare, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Susie: As He shared a last Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus made it clear that His death on the cross was to free believers from sin:

Matthew 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Matthew 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Susie: Matthew makes it clear that Joseph’s step-son, Jesus, would be the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 which we quoted above.

Matthew 1:24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.

Susie: We do not know how much time intervened between the announcement to Mary and Joseph’s dream. Joseph may not have been aware of the pregnancy until after Mary returned from a three month visit with her relative Elisabeth. However, we know that Joseph realized this dream was truly from the Lord God and obeyed what the angel told him. 

Susan: Joseph married Mary, but he restrained his physical, human desire for intimacy and kept Mary chaste until after Jesus was born. He named the baby Jesus as the angel had instructed him.