Joesph

So today I studied out of Matthew 1:18-25.

18Now 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. 19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But 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. 21She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel"
(which means, God with us). 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Something that really stuck out to me was how legit Joseph was during this time. You may be reading this and think, "What? Joseph tried to divorce the mother of Jesus Christ the Savior, and you are calling him legit?" But let's think about this.
-Joseph and Mary were betrothed, not exactly the same as our modern society calls being engaged. Meaning, customarily, the parents of a young man chose a young woman to be engaged to their son. After the second stage of betrothal, only a divorce could properly break the binding contract.
-Betrothed partners were referred to as husband and wife; however, they were not yet considered to be married.
-Then Mary was found to be with child.
-Having sexual relations during the betrothal period was considered immoral and was also considered adultery. According to Mosaic law, the penalty for adultery was to be stoned to death.
-Joseph then considers divorcing her, because she appears to have been unfaithful.

So Joseph is hurt, he probably feels betrayed by his betrothancee (betrothal + fiancee)(I like to make up words)and most people in his situation would make an extremely big deal out of the fact that she is pregnant and not with his child while she is legally bound to him. But Joseph doesn't do that. Verse 19 says he "resolved to divorce her quietly." And in doing so, showing compassion to Mary even though he is probably broken by what he has found out. Obviously we know that Joseph didn't divorce Mary, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and explained everything about Jesus, and our Savior, born of a virgin, saved us.

But Joseph, not knowing the whole situation, still proved to be man of God in showing Mary compassion after thinking she had been unfaithful to him. To me, this definitely earns Joseph the award of Legit.

It makes me think about how mean I've been to a few friends that have hurt me in the past over something that is so small compared to how I'm sure Joseph felt when he thought Mary had cheated on him. I definitely haven't been showing love to them or to God through those relationships with them. That's something that I am going to work on now after reading this passage. What about you? Is there anyone that has hurt you that you haven't truly forgiven? Or have you hurt someone that maybe you need to seek their forgiveness? Are there any grudges you are still holding onto? Let's give it all to God and start loving on them and Him.

Love God. Love Others.
Love Jesus. Love People.
Love. Love.