Plan B. Matthew 1:17-25

Matthew 1:17-25

All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

¹⁸ This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

²² All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

²³ “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

²⁴ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. ²⁵ But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus

I should have included verse 17 with yesterday's devotion. I like how neat it is with 3 sets of 14 generations. That's 42 generations, most of us can only go back a couple of "greats". I read the Jewish people kept meticulous genealogical records. 

Matthew traces the lineage of Jesus through Joseph's lineage, Jesus's earthly father, His "step father" so to speak. 

It must have been difficult for Joseph. He was engaged to be married and his betrothed comes up pregnant! He KNOWS it's not HIS baby! People are going to gossip! 

Then, an angel came to him and said "Don't worry, marry her anyway"! What could Joseph do? He could have run for the hills, he could have had Mary stoned for adultery, he could have gone with plan "A" which was to "break the engagement quietly ". 

Instead Joseph decides to go with plan "B". The plan the angel gave him. Joseph decided to believe what the angel told him. He decided to have faith, to "step out of the boat". He married  Mary, named the child Jesus and  raised Him as his own son. 

That took a lot of courage. That took a lot of faith. That took a lot of love on his part. Love for Mary, love for her baby and most if all, love for God. 

Blessings, Cecilia