Luke 1:56
Mary stayed with Elizabeth
and Zechariah about three months and returned home, and guess what, no one at
home maybe not even Joseph knew about Mary being with child. She would have been four months pregnant and
she returned to a small town were she is well known; this is found in Matthew
1:18, “Now the
birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been
betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child
from the Holy Spirit.” (Note: Before they came together means that Joseph and Mary
did not have sexual intercourse and so Joseph would have assumed Mary had been
unfaithful.)
Can you imagine what that
thief the one Jesus refers to in John 10:10, the one that controls Channel One
the deceptive channel is doing to Mary on her way home? I bet it went something like this; “girl
there is going to be a stoning and you are going to be at the center of
it.” Now for my young readers, Mary
understood that an unfaithful wife by law could be taken out and the village or
town people would throw stones at her till she was dead. Do you recall my favorite saying: “But God,”
and you can be sure what is referred to as Channel Two, controlled by the Holy Spirit
is telling Mary; “Do
not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your
God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you
with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
Joseph does not get much ink
in the Scriptures, but do not doubt that He is the handpicked husband for Mary
and a mentor and teacher and earthly dad to God’s one and only Son. So it should not be a surprise to anyone the
character found in Joseph. “And her husband
Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce
her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take
Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his
people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name
Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he
did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not
until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:18-25 ESV)
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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