Wednesday 8 December, 2021

3 Comments/in /by

Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:18-19

Isaiah 7:14 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Matthew 1:18-19 18 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. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

As with yesterday’s passage, we clearly see how the birth of Jesus was the fulfilment of prophesy that had been documented over 700 years before He was born. 

But in the grandness of prophecy being fulfilled, we also have the mess and the details. 

Mary would have been a teenage girl and Joseph would have been heartbroken by her pregnancy. What would I have said if I was in his shoes? What would her parents say? 

Jesus’s birth is something to celebrate, but this amazing miracle occurred during the complexity and challenges of everyday life. 

Lord help me to keep your eternal perspective and help me to live all my life in celebration of the risen King, especially when everyday life feels messy, hard or frustrating. 

Written by Ps Justin Ware 

3 replies
  1. Richard says:

    Joseph was a God fearing man , he followed God’s law. So when he finds out about Mary being pregnant and he is not the father even though he is engaged to her he wants to do the right thing and fulfill the law.

    It is clear he also understands compassion. In the society at the time Mary could have been stoned for her promiscuity. Joseph decides to do it all quietly so as not to bring disgrace to her. This risked Shane for himself that he didn’t push hard for her to be publicly shamed.

    We know that Jesus is full of Grace & Truth and that the Gospel encompasses both completely like the two sides of a coin.

    We see here that Joseph had God at heart fully by encompassing both.

    The challenge I have today is do I embrace both grace and truth fully or one more than the other?

    Father search my heart that I may embrace both grace and truth fully.

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