The birth of Jesus took place like this.
His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came to the marriage bed, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—’God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins. “This would bring the prophet’s embryonic sermon to full term:
 “Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
 They will name him Emmanuel” (Hebrew for “God is with us”).
Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.
reckon I’d have been a bit “chagrined” too!
Poor old Joseph – my nomination for patron saint of foster parents.
that was my thought too – Mary is always the one who is revered but I reckon joseph was a bit of a hero.
And I can’t imagine making decisions based on a dream, either – we’d just put it down to some bad prawns or something..
I’m also thinking that Joseph was a very patient man. Without wishing to be too crude about the human father of the Son of God…….he, I’m sure was a testosterone-filled, hot blooded male looking forward to getting married……not exactly the wedding night he’d planned………or the next 9-and-a bit months(!!!)……a hero indeed!!!!!
so patron saint of both foster parents and… er… delayed gratification?
Yep … I reckon this Joseph was a decent bloke. Wants to treat his lady right – doesn’t just abandon her when she turns up pregnant, hears from God and obeys, does the decent thing. Good on ya.
Yes – a fantastic role model for all step/foster parents!
As someone who is part of a step family this passage is particularly poignant. Ever a tricky start, I feel so blessed when I see the depth of love between my daughter and her step father – I wonder if Mary felt the same when she saw Joseph and Jesus together? I’d never thought of that before …..