God With Us

As we enter week two of Advent, we focus on Joseph and God’s promise of the virgin birth. We meet Joseph in an impossible situation, his bride-to-be Mary is with child. He could have her stoned, but Joseph is a righteous man who contemplates quietly divorcing her instead. However in Matthew 1 v20, we read as Joseph considered his options, God provides Joseph with a third choice, to marry Mary.

Joseph did not rush to a decision. He contemplated his choices, then listened and obeyed the angel’s instructions. This fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 “There the Lord himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Joseph’s obedience, humbleness, and trust in the Lord should not be understated.

I’m reminded of the contemporary Christmas song, “Better You Than Me, Joseph”, which the singer contemplates being in Joseph’s shoes:

“Is the touchstone forcing you to hide, Joseph?

Are the rumors eating you alive, Joseph?”

The song highlights the specialness of Joseph in the Christmas story and outros with “better you than me” sung repeatedly. It’s a light-hearted song but it calls to attention an important lesson. God’s providence is over time and space. Joseph was the exact right person to be Jesus’ earthly father and through his free will Joseph was obedient to God’s instructions despite what cultural norms and personal objections he faced. God has put us here in 2021 for a reason. We all have divine appointments, are we obedient and trusting enough to show up to them?

-Alex Pfister