Advent Part 15: Joseph gives everything for his and God’s son.
Matthew 2:19-23 (NLT)
19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”
21 So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. 22 But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. 23 So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Dear God,
I remember when my children were in grade school, and I was unemployed. As I prayed about job opportunities and what you had for us, one of the things that always stuck with me was to ask where you wanted them. Where did you want them to grow up, be in school, go to church, and make friends? They were as much a part of my decision as your call for my wife and me. And I will confess that, over the years, after we moved to this small town when they were in the fourth and first grades, there were times I wondered whether or not we made the right move. Was coming here what was best for them?
I finally got to a place where I simply put my faith in you and decided that you would have closed the door or guided me in a different direction if this is not where you wanted all four of us. The path has not been straight, and there are a lot of circumstances in their being raised here that concern me. But did they need those experiences to develop something in them? Even if something looks wrong, is it exactly right? That is where I am putting my money, through my faith in you. I am betting that things have worked the way you ordained because 1) I prayed over and over again that your will would be done in all our lives, and 2) I trust you will guide us all into your plan.
I say all of that because I see Joseph having to make a lot of decisions in this passage. He gets his third and fourth angel visits. The third visit instructs him to go to Egypt. The fourth, to go back to Israel. So he had some affirmation he was doing the right thing. But all of this—all of this—was for Jesus. This was not about Mary. It was not about Joseph. He did it all to keep Jesus safe. I wonder how much of this Jesus knew and how old he was when he knew it. I wonder how you used these years in Egypt to form Jesus’s love for Gentiles and for the poor. A love for foreigners and those who feel out of place. A love for the lonely and the friendless because he had to make new friends at least a couple of times.
Father, thank you for the joy of learning to make decisions for the good of someone else, including our children, even though it will cost us something. In this case it cost Joseph convenience, reputation, and momentum in starting/stopping/starting/stopping/starting his business. But he did it for you. He did it for this boy. He did it for my Messiah. I hope I am man enough to make similar decisions.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
