If Joseph were given opportunity, what might he say about his role in the Christmas story? The first thing he might say is that God may call upon you to make a commitment that can only be fulfilled by God’s grace. Check out Matthew 1:18-29, “The birth of Jesus came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly” (HCSB).
God asked Joseph to do something very difficult. Joseph was a good Jew, one of only five people called “righteous” in the entire Bible. He practiced his faith with duty and devotion. There were no skeletons in his closet to be revealed by the media. But his life plans were interrupted by four words from Mary that none of us ever want to hear: “We need to talk.” Joseph was faced with a hard decision as he stood right at the crossroad of character and reputation. You know the difference. Character is what we really are, while reputation is what others say and think we are. On one hand Joseph was a man of character that loved God and wanted to please him in every possible way. On the other hand, however, Joseph was a man living in a culture steeped with blame and shame. The birth of Jesus would be scandalous. Whispers regarding the legitimacy of Jesus birth would follow him all the way to the cross.
Joseph’s life is a testimony that God is not afraid to ask us to do things that we cannot do on our own. He asks us to do things that can only be accomplished by His grace and strength. What hard thing is God asking you to do today that is impossible unless God gets involved?
