THE EARLY YEARS

JOSEPH AND MARY'S WEIRD WEDDING

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but 
before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband 
was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "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"…  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as 
his wife.  But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
(Mt. 1:18-25)

Nazareth was like any other small town—a place where everyone knew your name (and just about everything else about 
you).  Secrets were hard to keep and rumors were as common as the daily trips for water at the town's well.  Rumors 
surely had spread just as soon as Mary returned from her three-month visit in Judea—"She's put on some weight, don't 
you think," a neighbor quips.  "Something's wrong between Mary and Joseph.  He just doesn't have that twinkle in his eye 
since Mary came home," an old friend of the family observes.  "I've heard that Joseph is using the "D" word regarding his 
and Mary's betrothal," a fellow carpenter whispers.

The Bible makes is clear that Joseph had tried to keep his disappointments as secret as he could.  Quietly, he may have 
met with the local rabbi, weighing his religious options.  From some old, gray heads—trusted friends and mentors—he 
probably sought insights and suggestions for what he should do.  It just didn't seem fair!  Why should he have to divorce 
his fiancé before they were even officially married.

One night, while Joseph mulled over his options, he finally drifted into a deep sleep.  When he awoke the next morning, 
he likely sat up straight in the bed.  Could it be true?  Was Mary's story that she was "pregnant by the Holy Spirit" really, 
really TRUE?  Maybe he was just dreaming—of course, that was obvious.  But maybe the dream was just that—a dream.  
Maybe an angel had NOT appeared to him.  Maybe he was NOT to take Mary to be his wife.

But that name—Jesus, "Yahweh saves"—the name the angel told him to give the child; surely a man wouldn't dream up 
the name of the child of his pregnant fiancé?  It must have been a vision from God.

When Joseph finally got ready that morning so long ago, he did something as ridiculous as the story Mary had told about 
how she had gotten pregnant.  Joseph got up and took Mary to be his wife.

While the scriptures aren't forthcoming, I suspect the wedding of Joseph and Mary was about as quiet as the intended 
divorce.  Today, very few pregnant teens have big church weddings.  Even fewer pregnant Jewish girls had big weddings 
in ancient Galilee.  

For Joseph, the humiliation of the ceremony's ending would have been too much.  You see, the big finale of ancient 
Jewish weddings was the consummation of the marriage by the husband and wife in the bridal chamber.  After several 
days of celebration, the bridegroom would carry his wife to a beautifully decorated room where they would spend their first 
night together while the wedding party continued outside.  The guests would eagerly await the announcement from the 
best man that the two had become one flesh (Gen. 2:24).  Then everyone would cheer and the celebrations would 
continue.

For Joseph, there would be no bridal chamber, no finale to the ceremony, no announcement of the consummation by his 
best man—just a realization that he would have to wait for six months before he and Mary could truly understand the 
meaning of one flesh.  By then his life had taken a turn in a direction about as weird as their wedding had been.

Now just think about the things we are called to as Christians and about which we sometimes complain.  We would do 
well to learn from Joseph's incredible love and faithfulness to God, Mary and the one he named Jesus!

See you next week!