Before Relinquishing the Christmas Season to the new year…Part 3 of 4

Remembering our theme of faith for 2017 and our focus for January, “Do Not Fear, Only Believe”, let’s consider the third character in the Christmas story, from the first two chapters of Matthew and of Luke.

On Tuesday we mentioned the encounter between Zacharias and an angel of the Lord. We learned that Zacharias, the only one of the characters in the account who had prayed specifically for something – a child, was also the only one who exhibited a lack of faith by asking for “a sign”.  He got his request. He became mute, unable to speak, until after the longed-for son, was born.

Yesterday, we considered Mary. She also asked the angel, Gabriel, “How can this be seeing I do not know a man?” But her response was one of faith, as she sacrificially submitted herself to God and His plan, even though she did not understand.

Today, we see Joseph, a man of honor and integrity, a man with a gentle spirit. Even when he heard that Mary was pregnant, he did not want to humiliate her and was planning to silently “divorce” her, and so minimize her shame and reproach. That was his plan, until God intervened, sending his angel to appear to Joseph in a dream. In fact, Joseph had four dreams and four appearances of an angel of the Lord (although in the fourth dream, it may be that God Himself appeared to Joseph). This all happened over about a two-year period. Whereas Mary’s faith response was one of the heart, Joseph’s faith response was one of action.

1. It was in the first dream that the angel began with the words, “Do not be afraid…” and proceeded to explain to Joseph the truth about Mary’s pregnancy. The angel told Joseph, “Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife.” Joseph’s response was swift. He “awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Maryas his wife…” His complete faith and resolve to fulfill the prophesy from Isaiah, spoken by the angel, is included in the next phrase, “but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24)
2. The angel appeared a second time to Joseph in a dream on the night following the visit by the magi. Again, the angel told Joseph to do something. “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you…” Joseph got up and went immediately before the morning came. (I suspect that gold, frankincense, and myrrh came in quite handy for taking care of the family financially during those years in Egypt!)
3. The angel appeared the third time in a dream, as he had told Joseph he would. The angel, again, had a message from God directing Joseph to get up and go. “So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.” (Matthew 2:20-21) On his arrival, he knew he had obeyed the angel of the Lord, but now he was afraid, because even though Herod had died, Herod’s son now reigned. But the Lord did not leave him in fear.
4. Even as Joseph got up, took his family and returned to Israel in faith, he wasn’t sure where to go to keep his family safe. But somewhere along the way, he was warned by God in a dream, to take his family to Nazareth. His concern for his family was completely legitimate, and God had him covered even before Joseph knew of the danger. Joseph had obeyed right away, and now God took care of the details, sending them to Nazareth, which was part of the plan all along.

Sometimes, God only tells us what we need to know, just as he did with Joseph. And hopefully, we will respond as Joseph did, with faith and immediate obedience, knowing that the Lord has our back, that He goes before us, and that He stands beside us, just as He did with Joseph. We have no need to fear, only believe!