Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.   Matthew 1:20b NLT¹

Read Matthew 1:1-25

As he worked in his carpenter’s shop, did Joseph ever ponder the fact that he was a descendant of the great King David? His ancestors, for fourteen generations, had been kings of Israel, the leaders of God’s chosen people. Did he ever wonder how his life would have been different had Israel faithfully served God and still had a king on the throne? He could have been raised as a prince, not a pauper. He could have been preparing for the throne instead of building a blue-collar business.

As he contemplated current events, did he ever pretend he was sitting on Israel’s throne ruling the nation, making decisions, and throwing off the yolk of the Romans? Did his stomach turn as he thought about the evil deeds of some of his ancestors? Did he get furious over the fact that the godly kings so often did not pass on their faith to their sons? Why had his ancestors not remembered God’s promise to King David, “‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before Me in faithfulness with all their heart and all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel’” (1 Kings 2:4)?

Did Joseph ever wonder what God was doing and if He would ever send the Redeemer He had promised (see Isaiah 59:20)? If he did wonder these things, he probably didn’t realize he would have an integral and very personal part in God’s plan for redeeming Israel! He surely didn’t have a clue how his nobleness would be tested as he carried out God’s plan. He couldn’t have guessed how difficult it was going to be to do the right thing.

Scripture tells us, “Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the Child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a Son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’… When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born” (Matthew 1:18-21, 24-25 NLT¹).

Imagine Joseph, a really nice guy, planning a wedding and preparing for his future, getting the news that the beautiful, sweet, young woman with whom he was in love was not as pure as he had thought. By law, Joseph had every right “to disgrace [Mary] publicly” (Matthew 1:19 NLT¹). But with nobleness, he did just the opposite. Joseph put goodness on a higher level than his rights.

Think about how completely full of faith Joseph must have been to believe the Child Mary was carrying was actually the product of the Holy Spirit. And how even more impressive it would have been for Joseph to back up that belief with obedience to the command of the angel with no concern over how that action would tarnish his reputation. Joseph proved his faith in God with his immediate, complete, unquestioning obedience to Him.

Notice also, how Joseph continued in his righteousness by “not have[ing] sexual relations with [Mary] until her son was born” (Matthew 1:25 NLT¹). Joseph had every right to have sex with his wife. He could have even expected it because he had spared Mary from pubic shame. He could have used intercourse as a way to prove her virginity. Instead, in faith, he took the higher road and waited, keeping Mary pure. Joseph’s character was one of self-sacrifice and respect for holiness.

Joseph had a unique role in God’s plan for the salvation, of not only Israel but all of humanity. Joseph named and nurtured, protected and provided for the Redeemer! Yet Joseph probably never even got to witness any of Jesus’ ministry on Earth. If Joseph were around at the time of the wedding in Cana, would Mary have come to Jesus to ask for help in acquiring more beverages (see John 2:1-22)? If Joseph had been alive as Jesus hung on the cross, would Jesus have asked John to care for Mary as he would his own mother (see John 19:26-27)?

Though Joseph was noble enough to hold a scepter, he held a hammer. Though Joseph ministered to the Messiah, he never saw the fulfillment of the prophecy. What about you? Do you feel like you are suffering at the hand of someone else’s mistake? Are you finding it extremely difficult to do the right thing? Do you desire to do something great for God but don’t feel like you are in the right position to do much of anything? Are you holding onto a promise of God that seems like it will never be fulfilled? Do you think what you are called to do is meaningless in the whole scheme of things?

You have an important part in God’s plan. If you are walking with Him, you are right in the middle of what He wants, even if it looks different than you would expect. Take a lesson from Joseph and walk nobly as a child of the King and “live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1 NIV², see also, Colossians 1:10, Philippians 1:27). You will not be disappointed when you get to see your life from God’s perspective.

¹Scriptures quotations marked with NLT are from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, Tyndale House Publishers, INC., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA.

²Scripture quotations marked with NIV are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.