No other way

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

NO OTHER WAY

Matt 2:19-23

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead." 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

NIV

 We see another fulfilment of prophesy concerning Jesus here. He will be and is called a Nazarene. Joseph certainly seems to be a man who listens to God, or at least to the angel of the Lord. First he marries Mary even with her being with child. Then he experiences the visit of the Magi and perhaps even sees the Star, or whatever the great light was that rested over Bethlehem. We don’t know much about their life together from the time of the marriage to the time of the birth of Jesus. Matthew does not say anything about the angel of the Lord along with the host of angels appearing to the shepherds. Matthew does not tell us anything about Mary visiting Elizabeth either and the blessing Elizabeth gave, or for that matter, about the miracle surrounding her son, John the Baptist. But Matthew does tell us that Joseph listened to the angel of the Lord and when the time was right he left Egypt and brought Mary and Jesus back to the land of Israel, but he was also warned in a dream, which would be the angel of the Lord again telling him not to return to the same region where the son of Herod was reigning. So Joseph heads out to the region in Galilee to the town of Nazareth. We remember a song we knew once, “The man from Galilee”. The point here is in this man Joseph. What a man of character, a man of faith and of obedience. His life could have been much different had he refused to listen to the angel of the Lord. We do not know if it was always the same angel of the Lord that spoke to Joseph, but it would make sense that would be the case. The angel of the Lord had become a part of the life of Joseph, he developed a personal relationship with him. It must have been much like the Holy Spirit does with us today. We might even say that Joseph walked in the Spirit. Because he listened to the angel of the Lord and married Mary, fled Israel, going to Egypt, then returning, but not to the same place, but to Galilee, Joseph was a blessed man. We know that from the time he married Mary until the birth of Jesus, he did not demand or expect her to fulfill her duties as a wife. He had no intimate contact with her. He would raise Jesus as his son. We are not told much about the youth of Jesus except the time he stayed behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and Mary had to go looking for him. But we know Jesus was a carpenter before his public ministry began. He learned that trade from Joseph. Joseph must have spent a great deal of time with Jesus. Perhaps Joseph even learned some things from Jesus, things about God. Although we are not told anymore about whether the angel of the Lord spoke anymore to Joseph, we have to see how good a man he was. He should serve as another example for our life. We have the indwelling of the Spirit and he speaks to our heart and mind, giving us guidance in not just our daily life, but in the entire direction of our life. Changes we make, decisions we make that effect where we work, where we live, where we church, all are dependent on listening to the voice of the Spirit. From what we know about Joseph it certainly appears he did not do anything unless he heard from the angel of the Lord. We can also conclude that Joseph did everything the angel of the Lord told him. This is our example. We do not make a change unless we hear from the Spirit. We move, we do change when we hear from him. One of the lines from one of the Star Track movies dealing with the Borg, they tell their enemies that resistance is futile, they will be assimilated into the Borg. We should have that kind of attitude. That resistance of the Holy Spirit is futile, at least it leads to futile thinking.

Rom 1:21-23

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

NIV

When we refuse to listen to the Spirit and comply with his guidance and directions we are not glorifying God or giving him thanks and therefore we may well have futile thinking with foolish darkened hearts. So the lesson here, looking at Joseph, is to listen, trust and obey for there’s no other way.