Tag: courage

Joseph’s Courage (Matthew 1:18-25)

Today we continue with our study of Matthew, and conclude chapter one. Previous posts in this series were – Son of David, Son of Abraham, and also The Cast List.

Let’s read the final verses of chapter one:

A Bible open to the page of Matthew chapter 1

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)

This is part of the Christmas story which we think about each year. Matthew gives us a fairly brief account of how Jesus was born, although goes into further detail in the next chapter.

We learn that Joseph is pledged to be married to a young girl named Mary. “Pledged to be married” in this context means betrothed, and perhaps what we might think of as “engaged.” However, in the culture of the day, our understanding of “engaged” does not go nearly far enough. Couples today can break an engagement by simply deciding to do so. In the culture Matthew is describing, you would need a divorce to break such a betrothal. It was a commitment, and could not be broken.

Before the couple are formally married, and so before they consummate their marriage, Mary is found to be pregnant. This is no small scandal. Either Mary has been unfaithful to Joseph, or else Mary and Joseph have jumped the gun as it were. Neither of these scenarios are true of course, but no one in their community would understand that.

Joseph, of course, knows he has not slept with Mary, and so finding her pregnant leads to only one conclusion. Verse 19 tells us that he is faithful to the law, and therefore he must act. In such cases of adultery, he would not be wrong to insist on the justice of law and condemn Mary to death by stoning. Yet, he does not do this. Instead, he has in mind to divorce her quietly.

Why would he make such a choice? The law allows for him to condemn her, yet he chooses instead to dismiss her as quietly as possible so as to not expose her to public shame. He must care about her, and although must do what is right and just, he does not wish to seek revenge or punishment. An unmarried pregnant girl and then mother in that culture would be punishment enough.

Things do not work out as planned…

Verse 20 tells us that an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, and tells him that Mary will have a son. This Son will not be any old child, but the Messiah and conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel instructs him to take her home, and to name the child Jesus when He is born.

Verse 24 tells us that when he awoke, Joseph did exactly what the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary home as his wife. We must not underestimate this. How many of us can claim that we have done precisely what God told us? Not many, I’d wager. This obedience is costly too, as it means (in the world’s eyes at least) admitting he and Mary were unfaithful before they were married. You and I know this to be untrue, yet his community would not have. This took tremendous courage for him.

There are a couple of points in this passage worth noting. Firstly, verses 22 and 23 quote the prophet about a virgin conceiving and having a child. It is often Matthew’s habit to quote the prophets and point to Jesus as fulfilling them. There is some debate about the word for “virgin” here, and some say that the original text of the Old Testament uses a word for “maiden” rather than specifically “virgin.” This is typically to argue that the Virgin Birth was not credible.

However, there are two things to point out about this. First off, a maiden aka a girl having a child is not a sign. Women have children all the time all over the world, and it was no different two thousand years ago. It’s hardly a sign! A virgin, however, having a child is something else entirely!

Secondly, the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament used a very clear term for “virgin.” I think there is little room for doubt here. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin – amazing at it sounds – and so we choose whether to believe it or dismiss the text as untrue. i choose the former.

Another thing to note from this passage is found in verse 25. It says clearly that Joseph did not consummate his marriage with Mary “until after” Jesus had been born. There will be people who tell you Mary remained a virgin for her entire life, yet the biblical text disputes this. The verse says “until” implying she was a virgin for a time, and then not after. Likewise, we know from other texts that Jesus had siblings (half-siblings at least) again showing us that Mary had other children in a more traditional way.

Finally, Joseph names Jesus as he was told to. To give a name is to be someone in authority. I name my children because I am the parent. Joseph here does name Jesus, but only as instructed. This indicates that the authority over Jesus was not in Joseph, but in another… namely the Father.

Matthew chapter one communicates the heritage of Christ. It shows us that He was the descendent of both David and Abraham, and that He entered the world in an extraordinary fashion. Matthew has established that this Jesus was no ordinary man, nor just another Rabbi or teacher. Matthew claims Him to be the long-awaited Messiah.

We often reflect on Mary’s holiness and the miracle of the Virgin Birth. We think of other well known Christmas things, such as Shepherds or Magi or the angelic host. We rarely think of Joseph’s courage. Becoming a father is tough enough in any circumstances, yet for him, he was taking on responsibility for God’s Son. And, as discussed above, he would not have the support of his community to do so. Joseph was something of a hero in my eyes.

Are you willing to obey the Lord, no matter the cost to you or your reputation? I wish I could say a definite yes, but I also know my weaknesses and limitations. I thank God for His patience with me, and for the Son He gave us to fulfil all aspects of the Law on our behalf. Thank God that Jesus came and completed His sacrificial work that you and I might not be trapped forever in our sin.

I pray I may have even half of Joseph’s courage to follow the Lord’s direction whatever it may be.

The Rule of Six

Here in the UK, the government have now introduced a new rule known as “The Rule of Six,” which means that outside of work or other specific situations, no more than six individuals should meet together. This is an attempt at preventing further spread of COVID-19 which is on the rise across the country right now.

Some have questioned the new rules, accusing the Government of having no science to back this up. While true, there are no scientific papers to support the idea of six people being anything other than an arbitrary number, it is more a practical decision. Previous rules were somewhat confusing about who could meet and when. The premise of the Rule of Six is to simplify things. Sadly I don’t think it has achieved that.

Our family is a family of six, which means we cannot all meet up with any other person or group. Some point to the absurdity of being able to work with a group of seven people but then not being to go out to lunch with them.

It is all rather easy to criticise the Government in this situation. They cannot get it right for trying. No one wanted a lockdown, and yet they were criticised for not locking down sooner. There is obvious contradiction in their seemingly random approach, encouraging us to eat out one minute and stay home the next. I do want to point out what a difficult job the Government have and it is right that we believers pray for them continually.

This is all well and good, but not exactly my usual approach to blogging. Typically I stick to the Bible and leave politics out. I make no comment here on the new or previous rules, and so turn to the Scripture in our uncertain times.

Whether deliberately or otherwise, a great sense of fear was created around this virus. We have never locked down before, and many – rightly – understood this to mean how serious the situation was. The subsequent consequences to the economy pose an equal or even greater threat, so steps are being made to try to undo the damage. Fear is not so easily dismissed as it is created.

We were not created for fear. In fact, we see that fear was the very first negative experienced by Adam and Eve after the Fall of humanity.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool[c] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[d] 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Genesis 3:8-10 (ESV)

Having eaten of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve realised they were naked. They were just as naked before, but now, for the first time, took their eyes off of God and turned them on themselves. Sin entered the world, and the first emotion they felt was fear. There is no evidence of fear prior to this.

The Bible has much to say about fear – far more than I can ever say in this one short post. Suffice it to say that fear is not what God wants for His people. Fear often stops us obeying the Lord or doing what we know is right. Sometimes we fear other people and so don’t fully serve God, frightened of people’s judgement or criticism.

Many places in the Bible tell us not to fear. It does not necessarily mean do not feel the emotion of fear, but rather, do not allow the fear you feel to stop you doing what you know is right.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

So how do we conquer fear? How do we master it in these fearful times? I could write a whole book on the subject, but hope these few points help.

We must start from the point of understanding that God does not want us to be afraid. Fear is a very real and powerful emotion at times, but we must harness it, not allowing it to drive us but instead God’s Spirit. As you act and speak this week, ask yourself if the words or deeds are driven by fear or the Holy Spirit.

We must pray through fear. Fear is not an easy foe at times, and so we must stand firm in prayer and draw on the strength of God. If you are facing a particularly frightening time, then please do seek God more and more. Often the thing we fear becomes tiny and insignificant as we compare it to the splendour and majesty of our God!

My final suggestion is to think through the consequences or outcomes of what you fear. For example, a couple of weeks ago I faced a situation which was quite scary. I knew it was coming and was getting anxious about it. As I thought about it however, I realised if it did not work out as I wanted, there were virtually no consequences. at all. Fear and worry about it was a major waste of energy. We play the “What if?” game which can be mentally draining. Many of the things we fear though have little consequence, and even fewer have eternal ramifications.

The world we live in can be a frightening place at times, but you do not face it alone. Fear can be beaten, and we do so in the strength of our Lord. What do you fear right now? Talk to God about it and fight that fear!

Fear Nothing (PoW)

Pearls of Wisdom

Fear nothing, except God Himself

We are often afraid of many things in life. That fear can prevent us doing what we know is right. Often the fear of other people stops us doing or saying the things that God has prompted us to. Or worse, peer pressure leads us to do things we know are sinful.

The Bible has much to say about fear, and while I do not think the emotion of fear is prohibited in the Scripture, bowing down to it and letting it stop us certainly is.

When this life is over, and we stand before God, all those things we feared will seem rather insignificant. There is nothing to fear, except God Himself.

When we say “fear” these days, we simply mean things that we are scared of. Often people are afraid of spiders, heights or public speaking. This kind of fear is not what we were made for. God does not want His people to be afraid. Evolutionists explain fear as a safety mechanism, and yet we saw no sign of fear in Adam and Eve until after the Fall and sin entered the world.

Our Heavenly Father does not want us to fear Him in the sense of being afraid of Him. Rather, when we speak of fearing God, we mean a reverential fear. This is to highly respect God in His position of Sovereign Lord with the power of eternity in His hands.

Next to God, there is nothing worth fearing. If your fear is stopping you from serving God then cast it out today! Fear nothing, except God Himself!