God and Dad (Matthew 1:18-25)

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. 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. (Matthew 1:18-19 NIV)

Often times our Christmas celebration includes a picture of the emotional turmoil Joseph faced.  His bride-to-be is pregnant.  He is not the father.  It seems strange that such a soap-opera kind of story would be included in the pages of Scripture, but perhaps it is not strange at all.

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. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). (Matthew 1:20-23 NIV)

I love that Scripture is honest about the people who decide to walk together with God.  These are not idealized heroes like we find in other ancient literature.  These are real people facing real issues with a real God helping them.  Joseph was torn up over what to do because he knew he wasn't the father.  Even if Mary had told him she was still a virgin, no man in his "right mind" would believe it.  Virgin births simply do not happen.

It took an angelic intervention to convince Joseph that this was God at work.  God made it clear that a virgin birth would happen this time in this place to fulfill His plan.  Joseph caught a glimpse of the bigger picture, and stayed with Mary.

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. (Matthew 1:24-25 NIV)

This story is not important because of the soap-opera drama involved.  It's not even included to show us real people being led by a real God.  It's included because the Savior/Messiah was going to be born of a virgin.  The prophecies said so.  This was one of the many signs that point us directly to Jesus.  The rest of the story reminds us that we're not the only ones who struggle with faith in Jesus.  God gave us all plenty of reasons for our faith.

How about you?  Do you struggle with faith in Jesus?  Have you investigated the stories - even the "soap-opera" ones?  Do you see the reasons God gave us for faith in Him?