This is a guest post from Jacob Sahms. Jacob is husband to one, father to two, pastor to 2 churches under 1 roof, blogs at Mustard Seed Thoughts, tweets @Spider_Raven, and is managing editor at HollywoodJesus.com.
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary,
was engaged to be married to Joseph…an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream…When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord
commanded and took Mary as his wife.
I won’t forget the births of my children anytime soon. With our first son, after a healthy nine-month pregnancy, we waited for hours until our son was born. With the birth of our second, my wife’s water broke in the early morning, and we sped to the hospital where our son was born less than an hour later.
I won’t forget, but honestly, I didn’t have much to do with the carrying our sons before they were born.
Still, my role as father was intentional. My wife was carrying my sons, our sons, children we had created together. And I find myself wondering every year, “What could Joseph, the fiancé of Mary, been thinking when he heard he was about to be the husband to a woman whose baby wasn’t his?”
It’s absolutely amazing to recognize that Mary, a mere teenager, said “yes” to God and willingly, without argument, accepted the call of God on her life. But so often, we overlook that Joseph said “yes,” that Joseph took on the disapproval and shame of those who knew his fiancé was pregnant before they got married, because he was obedient to the vision that God gave him.
Where would we be without Mary and Joseph? What would we still be looking for if men and women weren’t obedient to the calls that God placed on their lives, to do this or say that, to go there or to stay put?
I thank God this Advent that I am loved by the creator of the world, who chose to send his son to live life on Earth and to die on the cross for my sins.
But I’m also thankful for all the people who said “yes” along the way.
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary,
was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the
marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she
became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to
disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the
engagement quietly.20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared
to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said,
“do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child
within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will
have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save
his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message
through his prophet:23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord
commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not
have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And
Joseph named him Jesus.
