Matthew 1:18-25 The Birth of Jesus
18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they enjoyed their wedding night, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic revelation to full term:
Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son; they will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).
24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.
If ever there was a juicy piece of gossip for the Nazareth busy bodies to sink their teeth into, this is it! Mary, the daughter of Anne, that paragon of virtue, that model daughter-sweet, biddable, hard-working, kind, loving Mary-is PREGNANT!!! This is scandalous! And what’s more, she claims she is still a virgin, that God has impregnated her…..wait for it…. to bear the Messiah! Well. The ladies at the well have heard all kinds of excuses throughout the years, but this is a new one.
While the ladies at the well are chortling over this revelation, let’s examine Jewish marriage customs in this age. David Guzik in his Enduring Word Commentary gives us the following information: “There were essentially three steps to marriage in the Jewish world of Jesus’ time.
· Engagement: This could happen when the bride and groom to be were quite young, and was often arranged by the parents.
· Betrothal: This made the previous engagement official and binding. During the time of betrothal the couple were known as husband and wife, and a betrothal could only be broken by divorce. Betrothal typically lasted a year. (The year of betrothal was used by both bride and groom to prepare everything they would need once they became a married couple; however, the bride and groom might not even see each other during that year, let alone have sex with each other.)
· Marriage: This took place after the wedding, after the year of betrothal.
i. We should consider what a great trial this was for a godly young woman like Mary, and for Joseph her betrothed. “Her situation was the most distressing and humiliating that can be conceived. Nothing but the fullest consciousness of her own integrity, and the strongest confidence in God, could have supported her in such trying circumstances, where her reputation, her honour, and her life were at stake.” (Clarke)
ii. The truth of the supernatural conception of Jesus was disbelieved by many then and was later twisted into lies about the parentage of Jesus. References are made to these suspicions in passages like John 8:19 and 8:41. Lies spread that Mary had become pregnant from a Roman soldier. Here, Matthew set the story straight – both then and now.
iii. “There was no other way of his being born; for had he been of a sinful father, how should he have possessed a sinless nature? He is born of a woman, that he might be human; but not by man, that he might not be sinful.” (Spurgeon)
2. (19) Joseph seeks a quiet divorce.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
a. Joseph her husband: The previous verse told us that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. This comment shows that even though they were not formally married, Joseph was still considered Mary’s husband by betrothal.
b. Being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example: Being a just man, Joseph knew that if Mary had been unfaithful to him, it would be impossible to go through with the marriage. Yet his nature as a just man also did not want to make this an unnecessary hardship or stigma upon Mary. Joseph made the understandable decision to seek a quiet divorce.
c. To put her away secretly: This refers to breaking an engagement by divorce. In Jewish culture of that time, a betrothal was binding and one needed a divorce to break the arrangement.
Many times, we get so caught up in nativity scenes that we forget that Mary’s pregnancy begins by her becoming the talk of the village. Joseph was a wonderful young man; however, he was ready to find the kindest way to break the betrothal when God sent an angel to reassure him. Before things were through, Joseph would have to take Mary to Bethlehem, help deliver Mary’s baby, and then flee with his young family to Egypt, where they would live until King Herod died.
While we focus on Mary and Joseph, we should also remember their families. We know nothing about Joseph’s family apart from his genealogy; however, we do know that Mary’s mother’s name was Anne. For God to choose these two young people means that they were both exemplary individuals from equally exemplary families. How difficult it must have been for those families to face the gossips, the critics, and those envious of them! But we never hear anything about either family abandoning either Mary or Joseph. Once more, we see that God calls groups of people to sacrifice obediently, even when that means disgrace.
May God help us so that we will obey, even when obedience means public disgrace.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we thank You that Mary and Joseph and their families obeyed. Help us to follow closely after You, no matter what. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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