Wednesday, November 28, 2012

a compassionate guy...


November 28, 2012

Matthew 1:19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly decided to divorce her secretly

 

To become pregnant while betrothed but not yet married was, in Jewish society, a No, No! To do so was to open yourself up to all sorts of rumors, scandal and shunning from society. Joseph, apparently a really nice guy, wanted to spare Mary from having to experience this. Now, at this point Joseph doesn’t realize that there is anything special about Mary’s pregnancy. He assumes that she became pregnant in the normal way. That being said what compassion he is willing to show this girl who, for all appearances, has broken her covenant with him. All around him, his family and friends, would have been screaming at him to renounce her and her wicked behavior; to disgrace her publicly in front of everyone they know. Yet, he didn’t. Instead, he was willing to show her compassion and divorce her quietly. So, much attention is focused on Mary in the birth and life of Jesus Christ (and that’s ok) but I think that Joseph proves here that he is a pretty good guy to be the earthly father of our Savior. Would any of us be as compassionate to someone who had hurt us?

No comments:

Post a Comment