The news of a baby coming is one of the most exciting you can share. So many people rejoice with you as they look forward to being grandparents, aunts, and uncles. The only time it isn’t exciting is when it isn’t expected. Joseph and Mary can relate to that. They were making plans to get married and then God calls Mary to an extraordinary mission, to carry baby Jesus. Imagine the shock the Joseph felt. I can imagine him saying “What do you mean you’re having a baby?”
Matt 1:18, 21
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit… She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Engaged to Be Married
Mary had been promised to Joseph as his wife. Their fathers had worked out a deal, and now they were waiting until the appointed time for the wedding. That is what a betrothal is, an arranged marriage. When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, it was before the marriage ceremony. He had every intention of secretly divorcing her before an Angel appeared to him in a dream.
A Special Mission
God chose in Mary, a young lady who would best carry His son and raise him the right way. Joseph was part of that combination after a little prodding. This baby wasn’t his because she was with child because of the Holy Spirit. It was any normal baby either. This child was going to be the savior of the world.
Saved from Our Sins
Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation.” It was a very common name in Israel because the Jews were looking for someone to save them from the Roman Empire. Jesus came to save us from something much more powerful than the Roman army, our eternal death caused by our sin. The Jews struggled with this and eventually rejected him as their Messiah, but for those who put their faith in him, they will be saved. God took an awkward situation and used it to change the world.