No one would have thought a child born in a humble manger could change the history of the world. The birth of Jesus Christ in the little town of Bethlehem is the execution of God’s outstanding plan for humanity’s ultimate need. The events around the birth of Jesus provides many invaluable insights for our Christian living.
The conduct of Joseph is one such a great example for us to ponder upon. The Author of the book of Matthew depicts Joseph as a righteous man. His righteousness was clearly evident through his response towards Mary, his betrothed fiancée who was pregnant even before they were united in marriage.
“And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:19)
Mary could have even been handed capital punishment for being pregnant before marriage, though it requires the authority of the Roman empire to permit the execution of anyone convicted. Having said that, if Joseph had approached the judicial court, he would have got back his money, which he paid as a bride’s price. Instead, he chose to let it go and was willing to divorce Mary secretly so that Mary would not be put to public shame. In all these, Joseph showed exemplary acts of righteousness which is not how most people of his time would have reacted in such times of personal disaster.
Despite all these, Joseph would have still missed God’s standard, if he hadn’t responded positively to the instruction given by God through His angel. Had Joseph shrugged off God’s command and moved away from Mary, he would have missed God’s special plan for his life. No matter how righteous we are, it is not even worth comparing with the standard of God’s righteousness.
“But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags..” (Isaiah 64:6)
Many times in our lives, we tend to miss God’s standard by being dependent on our own acts of self-righteousness over God’s great plan for our lives. While we think we are doing a great act of righteousness, we are pathetically short of God’s glorious standard. Like Joseph, may we also obey God’s word and walk according to His will. Merry Christmas!
