A Place

Have you ever wondered how Joseph felt? What would it be like to hear that your fiance was suddenly pregnant and you had nothing to do with it? In fact, she pleaded with you to believe her innocence? What would he have thought when she claimed that an Angel had told her she carried the Messiah, that she was innocent of anything impure?  How would you handle it?

The turmoil Joseph experienced must have been excruciating.  From scripture, he seems like a very tenderhearted man. Wanting to spare Mary shame, he wanted to handle it all quietly. Then he got a visit. Face to face with an Angel, I cannot even grasp what that would have been like.

Joseph woke from his vision with new understanding and a choice. There was a place for him in this magnificent plan. He had a choice to make, would he take that place?  Josephs actions speak loudly.

He did as he was commanded.

Joseph refrained from intimate relations with Mary until the child was born. When the baby was born they named him Jesus just as the Angel had told him to.

How did he feel when he held this new baby?

What was spinning through his mind as the little hand grasped his finger?

He was supposed to be a Father to this baby, who in turn was to become his Redeemer?

This helpless babe was to become the Savior of the world.

I am sure Joseph was full of questions and doubt. Could he love this child as his own? How does one parent God? How is it possible that this baby would grow up to reconcile people to God? Was that Angel a figment of his imagination?

You may wonder the same things. It may be difficult to grasp that this could be true. It might be hard to imagine that Jesus is anything more that a story.

Scripture meets more of the Literary requirements than any other document, it is reliable. Eyewitness accounts were written, letters circulated while eyewitnesses were still alive. Over 500 eyewitnesses. Not one contradicted what was written about Jesus. I can't see that many people making up the same story and sticking to it if it wasn't real.

The Miracle of Christmas, the miracle of Christ is powerful. Powerful enough that a man, who by law should have separated from his seemingly unfaithful fiance kept his promise and married her. Joseph claimed Jesus as his own, loved him and raised him. 

That first night, as Joseph held that little baby, he didn't know what lay ahead. He wasn't given a detailed timeline or manual of how it was all going to unfold. He accepted it, lived it and took his place, the one prepared for him. If you have taken your place, I pray that this Christmas, the miracle reignites your passion for the Good News we have been entrusted with.

If you do not believe or are struggling to believe, are you ready to do some solid investigation? Do you need to take an action step like Joseph? Are you ready to take your place?