Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Matthew 1:20 ... behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."
BY THE SPIRIT OF OUR GOD
People today often balk at the idea of the Virgin Birth of Jesus. "It's just too hard to believe that," they say. Well, what about Joseph? Didn't he have the same problem when he realized his betrothed was pregnant? He knew the child wasn't his. So what were the possible explanations left to him? Right. Joseph came to the obvious conclusion--and decided he could not go through with the marriage.
We all know Joseph changed his mind--not about what adultery is but about where the Child growing in Mary's womb came from. Shouldn't it mean something that Joseph, an ethical man whose reputation was on the line, a man who was personally involved, came to the conclusion that the impossible--a virgin with Child--was the true explanation of the situation? Shouldn't Joseph's change of mind convince some modern-day doubters to reconsider? After all, what do they have at stake compared with him?
Just a minute. Not so fast. What was it that convinced Joseph that Mary's pregnancy was not by human flesh and blood, but by the Spirit of our God? An angel, a messenger from God came to Joseph with a word from God. That is what changed Joseph's heart and mind, and led him to act at once upon his new conviction.
That is still the way God creates faith in who Jesus is in doubting human hearts--through His Word. Still He says, "His name [is] JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). And, of course the modern-day skeptic does have as much at stake as Joseph as he considers the question of who Jesus is and whether the Word from God in the Bible can be believed, for "whoever believes in In Him will not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
Not by human flesh and blood,
By the Spirit of our God,
Was the Word of God made flesh--
Woman's Offspring, pure and fresh.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 95:2, Martin Luther)
