12-22-23-ENG.

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus. "

Matthew 1:21 
TWO RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE

Read It: Matthew 1:18-21, 24-25
A word of caution as we dive into the Christmas story today. Don't let familiarity breed a spirit of complacency, an attitude that says, "Oh yeah, I've heard this so many times. I know exactly what happens." I say this because God's Word is always fresh, and the Spirit always has something new to teach us if we are open to His ministry. So pray for a teachable spirit. Ask God to give you a childlike sense of wonder for the next four weeks. Matthew cuts to the chase right away. Mary is pregnant, and Joseph knows the baby is not his. So as not to publicly disgrace Mary, he makes plans to divorce her quietly. But then he hears from God. The angel tells Joseph that this baby is the Savior, the fulfillment of God's program. You have to love Joseph's response (v. 24; I'm saving vv. 22-23 for tomorrow), because it is a response of pure faith. When he hears from the angel, he embraces God's word so completely that he completely reverses his plans. Instead of divorcing Mary, he takes her as his wife and cooperates fully in carrying out the will of God.

Think about this. Do you know why God could do a miracle through Joseph and Mary? Because they were righteous people. The Holy Spirit was free to do His Holy Spirit thing because they were righteous people. Now Joseph wasn't perfect, and neither was Mary. But the driving passion sion of their lives was honoring God in their attitudes and actions. If you don't have a passion for holiness, you are not a good candidate for God's miracle. They had a passion for holiness. Because a holy God was getting ready to produce a holy Son, He wanted to work through holy people. The Bible says that Joseph protected Mary's virginity. He would not touch her sexually during the entire betrothal period and pregnancy. And we know from Luke's account the kind of godly woman Mary was. I wonder what God could do if He could find two righteous people like that today? There's no telling. Think About It Joseph had a moral code that would not allow him to compromise. Mary had a godly character. And they were both obedient. Any Josephs and Marys out there today?