Theological Commentary: Click Here
I love the artificial
transition made by jumping from Ezekiel to Matthew. It’s artificial because it certainly wouldn’t
normally be read this way. Ezekiel is at
the end of the Old Testament. The only
reason to read it this way is because it is the calendar I put together. That being said, it is a great transition.
Ezekiel ends
with the idea that the name of the Lord’s temple is “The Lord is there.” Today, in the birth narrative of Jesus, we
are told that His name is Immanuel, “The Lord is with us.” What a wonderful parallel between the
testaments. God’s plan hasn’t
changed. He is still with us. He wanted to be among us. The plan hasn’t changed; it has merely gone
into phase 2.
What I love,
though, is the reassurance that this story can bring to us. How many times do human beings wonder what
God is doing? How many times do we get
down on ourselves for missing God’s hand at work? As we see here, that is simply human
nature. God has to come to Joseph and
explain His plan to him because he doesn’t get it. Joseph plans to divorce Mary quietly because
she is going to give birth. God has to
tell Joseph that it is really okay.
Granted,
that isn’t permission to go about life with a laissez faire attitude towards
God. He doesn’t expect us to understand
everything, but He does expect us to try.
He expects us to listen to Him and to change when we aren’t in line with
Him. That’s what Joseph does. He might not get what God is doing at first,
but once he figures it out he is on board all the way!
We don’t
hear much about Joseph in the Bible, but we can be reassured. He is human, no doubt. But he is also a follower of God. He is willing to be the hands and feet of God
once he understands the plan.
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