Daily Dose of Hope
May 19, 2025
Day 1 of Week 8
Scripture – Matthew 1
Prayer: Almighty God, We come before you on this Monday, as we start a new week, with both humility and gratefulness. You are so powerful, so holy, and so wise. We need you. We seek you. We are desperate to hear a word from you today, Lord. We also know that we have failed over and over again. Lord, forgive us for our sins, for the ways we fall short. In these next few moments of silence, Lord, hear our prayers...Jesus, help us stay focused on you and your Word today. In Your Name, Amen.
Welcome back, everyone, to the Daily Dose of Hope, a Deep Dive into the Gospels and Acts. Today, we start the book of Matthew. While the author does not identify himself, most scholars agree it was written by Matthew the tax collector. He actually mentions himself a couple times in the Gospel. The events in the book take place in the first 40 or so years of the first century. It was actually written somewhere between 50 and 90AD.
Let’s keep in mind that all the Gospel accounts were passed down and taught orally for about 30-40 years before they were written down. Each Gospel author collected and arranged these accounts to highlight certain themes about Jesus. Mark, who we just finished, emphasized Jesus’ authority. Matthew, on the other hand, very intentionally uses his Gospel to demonstrate the continuation and fulfillment of the whole Biblical story of God and the people of Israel. Thus, he emphasizes how Jesus is the Messiah in the line of David, and he focuses on how Jesus is Immanuel (which means in Hebrew, God with us.)
Matthew 1 starts with a genealogy. Sometimes, our inclination is the brush over the genealogies, but this one is pretty unique. First, we can see the connection between the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus. As we read through the names on the list, we get a picture of God’s history of redemption for his people. Abraham and David are highlights, as both were recipients of God’s promises for the people of Israel, significant parts of redemptive history.
Another reason I love this genealogy is that five women are specifically mentioned. This was at a time when women were basically never mentioned in the history of patriarchal societies. And here we are, five very unique and interesting women–Tamar (who was quite tricky to achieve her purpose), Rahab (at one point a prostitute), Ruth (a Moabite), Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba), and Mary.
The first four women were Gentiles or married to Gentiles, they were outsiders to a certain extent, and yet they had tenacious faith, the kind that would be critical for faith in Jesus. This focus on Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba leads to the introduction of Mary. It’s like the author is saying, “Don’t discount Mary!” She may not be who you would expect to be the mother of the Savior of the world but God uses all kinds of people! God lifts up all kinds of women, those who are proper and those who aren’t. What a beautiful reminder that the Gospel is for ALL.
Then, we have Joseph’s story. Joseph is probably the most underrated person in the Christmas story. He is like the father of the bride at the wedding. No one notices him yet he gets to help pay for the whole shin-dig. But Joseph is an example of faithful, unquestioning obedience in the middle of fearful, life-altering circumstances.
Scripture says that Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. Remember, Mary was a very young girl and was probably very poor. Joseph would have been older than her. We tend to think of Joseph as a carpenter but really it's more likely he was a general builder. He was from a kind of backwater, remote area of Palestine. He was probably illiterate (education was generally just for merchants and aristocrats at the time). Both Mary and Joseph were humble people from a very humble part of Israel.
Scripture continues, "before they came together, it was found that Mary was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit." Joseph, being a righteous man, faithful to the law, didn't want her to be publicly disgraced so he had decided to divorce her quietly. At the time, when one became engaged, it was much more formal than it is today. Most likely, Joseph had made an agreement with Mary's father, perhaps years earlier, to take Mary as his wife. This would have been a binding agreement. In the eyes of the law, they were as good as married already, even though the relationship had not been consummated.
Mary was found to be pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind that all Joseph knows at this time is that she is pregnant. His fiancé is pregnant and he knows the baby isn't his. We don't think much about Joseph's feelings. We focus a lot on Mary (and rightfully so) but Jospeh must have had all kinds of feelings too. The whole thing must have been crushing for him. He had hopes and dreams. My guess is that he was hurt and betrayed. Despite that, he doesn't fly into an angry rage or have a desire to hurt Mary even though this would have amounted to adultery in their culture.
Joseph had compassion. He doesn't want to bring additional shame onto Mary if he can help it. Part of this could have been that Joseph was older than Mary. He might have known that a girl of that age didn't really have much control over her sexuality in that culture. Joseph is in a predicament. He wants to be faithful to the law, so he can no longer marry her, but yet he doesn't want to humiliate her either. So he decides to quietly divorce her, not make too much of a big deal about it. Regardless, Mary would face humiliation and be ostracized. That was the nature of the situation.
But before Joseph breaks off the engagement, he goes home and goes to sleep. It's always good to sleep on big decisions. While he is sleeping, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream and says, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” And here is the amazing thing. Scripture says that when he woke up, Joseph did what the angel told him and took Mary as his wife. If Joseph had doubts, they weren't recorded. If he made excuses, we certainly don't know about them. It appears he was simply obedient.
It's worth mentioning that the angel tells Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary because the baby she is carrying was conceived by the Holy Spirit. We know that Mary was risking a lot, but Joseph was also taking big risks here. He also will make some pretty significant sacrifices. People are generally pretty good at counting and they would know that the baby was conceived before they got married. He also faces being ostracized and being an outcast in his community. It was scary! What would their lives look like? What would their families do? What would become of them? Joseph models for us that we can be obedient in spite of fear. He did what was commanded of him, even when it was hard.
Being obedient to God doesn't always look like we want it to look. Let's be real. We want being obedient to God to be a good job with a comfortable salary, a nice home, good schools for our kids, plenty of leisure time and fun activities, a fairly decent social standing, and occasional church attendance. For most of us, if we are honest, that's what we want obedience to God to look like the typical American dream. But we learn from Joseph is that obedience to God might not always make sense, it might not be popular, and it might not be comfortable.
Obedience to God may also require sacrifice. In the case of Joseph, obedience may have cost him his reputation and his place in the community. We know that later it means he has to drop everything to go to Bethlehem for a census. Then, he has to go to Egypt to keep the baby safe from an evil king. This probably wasn't what Joseph envisioned for his young family.
When God calls us to something, there are often things we have to give up. Joseph gave up stability and safety. Think about what God has called you to. Maybe God has called you to minister to someone and give up your time. Maybe God has called you to share your faith with your neighbor, coworker, or that person at the gym and risk rejection. Maybe God has called you to volunteer in a specific area or give sacrificially to a mission partner. Maybe God has called you to go back to school, change jobs, reconcile with an estranged friend or family member. Maybe God has called you to full-time ministry. However God has called you (and I can guarantee he has called you in some way), it typically involves some kind of sacrifice, discomfort, and hard work. Being obedient to God doesn't always look like we want it to look.
The last thing I’ll mention is that God calls us to obey even when we are fearful of the future. This is so hard but God calls us to obey through the fear. We trust that if God has called us to it, God will see us through it. What I've come to learn is that obedience and trust go hand in hand.
Have a wonderful Monday. We will chat again tomorrow.
Blessings,
Pastor Vicki
