"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." Mt. 1:18-25In the Christmas story, Joseph tends to be overlooked. We should remember that if he made a different decision the story we know would be very different. According to Jewish law, he could have had Mary stoned for infidelity, but instead he made the decision to accept her and claim the child, which was not of his blood, as his own.
By his acceptance, Joseph let the neighbors think that he had overstepped the betrothal boundaries and had relations with Mary. She was exonerated and he took on the shame of her pregnancy. Only the pair knew the whole truth of the angelic visitors.
Joseph is usually portrayed as a much older man. In truth he would have been older than Mary (who was probably only 13 or 14), but to me that doesn’t mean he was aged. I like the images I found online that show him as a younger man--I think the second one is from "The Nativity Story" movie.
I would urge you to take time to read and re-read the passage from Matthew.
Think about what your reaction would have been to Mary’s astonishing announcement.
What would you have done?
Could you have accepted her and the child, knowing it was not your own?
How would you have felt when you were visited by the angel?
Would the announcement that Mary’s Child was ‘conceived from the Holy Spirit’, have been reassuring or not?
Why do you think Joseph believed the angel and took Mary as his wife?
Enjoy your reflections. See you tomorrow.