This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 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."
Matthew 1:18-21 (find this or any other passage at www.Biblegateway.org)
So then, as we have discussed for two days, Joseph was a good guy who did the right things. Now, back to Mary for a moment; looking at verses from Luke 1:
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
Mary was greatly troubled...and who could blame her? The great stories she had been taught from Israel's past, of God calling out individuals, had usually been hard work and great trouble for 'great' men like Noah, Abraham, Moses...and there were only two stories of angels appearing to women...and both of those over troubled children...what could this mean for her?
But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said."
"May it be to me as you have said."
Mary put her whole trust in the Lord. And while God never promises ease, He is always faithful to provide strength and means.
Mary, young, single, pregnant, leaning on God for her sustenance, her future, her very life. The angel did not make any detailed promises about her future, did not promise her a husband, did not promise her a home with her parents. There was so much uncertainly! Still..."May it be to me as you have said."
The angel did promise that she did not need to be afraid. He did promise that she had favor with God, and that God would be with her. Mary knew that everything would be as the angel said, for nothing is impossible with God.
Enter Joseph...whose intent was always honorable, and now armed with the truth of God, he became part of the strength and means that Mary knew that God would provide.
Friends, God will always provide strength and means for us as well. If only we could muster the faith of a frightened, unmarried, pregnant, teen-aged girl...how God would provide!
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Questions:
1. Have you ever considered Joseph as part of God's promise to Mary?
2. Do you think they were following His guidance when they first became engaged?
3.How might things have been different if Mary had lost faith in God's provision?
INTERESTING THOUGHTS ON FAITHFULNESS:
"Expect great things from God.
Attempt great things for God."
William Carey
"We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in His Word,
He intended to be conspicuous in our lives."
Charles Spurgeon
"I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God;
first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done."
Hudson Taylor
"Few are they who by faith touch Him;
multitudes are they who throng about Him."
Augustine
"Faith takes God without any ifs."
D.L. Moody
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