Hello All,
Happy
reading :)
The Intervention (Matthew 1:18-25)
By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (24th November
2012)
As angel
Gabriel had foretold to virgin Mary
She was
found to be with child before matrimony
Joseph, her
betrothed, resolved to divorce her quietly
Unwilling
to shame her for he had great integrity
As Joseph
considered some plans which seemed right to him
An angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream
'Joseph,
son of David, things are not what they seem
Mary has
kept her vow to you and in no way has sinned
The Holy
Spirit brought forth this child she has conceived
This child
will save sinners who repent and believe
You are to call the name of this son of hers, Jesus
As prophesied, his name is Immanuel, God with us'
At dawn when Joseph finally awoke from his dream
He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him
He took Mary as his wife but had no union with her
Until the time came for the baby to be delivered.
Points
for Reflection:
·
In those days, if an unmarried woman was found
to be with child, she would be called an adulteress and stoned to death.
If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in
the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of
that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)
·
Just try to put yourself in Mary’s shoes. It
is an extremely precarious situation to be in. And yet, Mary chose to submit to
God’s will, trusting in his faithfulness.
And Mary said, "Behold, I am
the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the
angel departed from her (Luke 1:38)
·
Initially,
Joseph resolved to divorce Mary quietly for he intended to maintain his
personal righteousness, yet he desired to show compassion even though Mary
appeared to be an adulteress.
·
However,
God, being true to his promise, intervened by sending an angel to tell Joseph
of Mary’s innocence and that the child, Jesus, was to be the Saviour of the
world foretold by prophets of old.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken
by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and
they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us) (Matthew 1:22-23)
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the
government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)
·
There will be times when submitting to God’s
will is hard and we would feel our faith in God being stretched at times. But
the marvellous thing is that God is always there to strengthen and comfort us
when the going gets rough. Trials are precious moments in the valley of despair
that God uses to bring us hope. Difficulties teach us to grow increasingly
dependent on him instead of trusting in our abilities and resources.
Adversities enable us to grow in our character and maturity in Christ. God is
faithful in seeing us through our hardship.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of
various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces
steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be
perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James
1:2-4)
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am
your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10)
And we know that for those who love God all things work
together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)
I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
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