Bill Cosby years ago did a famous bit about Noah and how hard it must have been for Noah to accept that God was asking him to build an ark. "An ark?" "Yes, an ark." "Right ... what's an ark?" I was thinking about Joseph.
"I don't know how to tell you this, Joseph, but your bride-to-be is pregnant." Imagine. In a world where sexual purity was mandatory and failure was punishable by death, Joseph discovered (we don't know how) that Mary was with child (Matt 1:18). Now, Joseph was an amazing fellow. The legal option would be to report her and she would be taken out and stoned to death (Deut 22:20-21). But Joseph set aside his own loss and grief and, "not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly" (Matt 1:19). He would divorce her (cancel the marriage contract) quietly so as not to cause her excessive pain or shame. Nice guy. Exceedingly nice. But while he contemplated this, he was informed by no less than an angel of the Lord that this child was not conceived through fornication (technically adultery in their day), but "of the Holy Spirit" (Matt 1:20-21). Perhaps, to me, the most striking response occurs here at this point. "Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife" (Matt 1:24). No hesitation. No question. No, "Hey, what about me, my reputation, my needs?" He married her that very night and "kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son" (Matt 1:25).
Scripture describes Joseph as "a righteous man" (Matt 1:19). I think he was likely a remarkable husband, placing God's instructions above all else and his wife's well-being above his own. Cosby joked about the confusion Noah likely felt with God's instructions, but Scripture offers no such dilemma for Joseph. "God said it, that settles it. Let's get on that right now." I can only hope to some day be that kind of "righteous man."
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