Obedience Please God

𝐃𝐄𝐂. 𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐒

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐉𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑:𝟓-𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟕𝟐:𝟏-𝟐, 𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟑, 𝟏𝟖-𝟏𝟗 “𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏:𝟏𝟖-𝟐𝟒

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐥.” (𝐯.𝟐𝟑) 

          There have been many instances when weddings were cancelled for a number of reasons such as when one of the parties to the wedding suddenly realized he/she was not prepared for a life-long commitment, or when one fell ill, or to a certain extreme when one was found to have been unfaithful to the other.

         This could have been the case in today’s Gospel passage had not God sent an angel to relay to Joseph that Mary’s conception was the plan of God and that the child in her womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that Joseph and Mary are to name him Immanuel which means God is with us as was prophesied by Isaiah (Isa 7:14).

         This revelation by the angel carries with it the important truth that Jesus is fully divine and fully human. The exegesis of this scenario was that God made full use of the limitations of the human being so that his Son could live and die for the salvation of those to whom he was sent.

         It was in living as a man that Jesus understood “𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧.” (𝐇𝐞𝐛 𝟒:𝟏𝟓). And because he is God, he also has the power to save us from our sinful nature and make us alive in him as he forgives us all our sins (Col 2:13).

         This is what his nature means because Jesus means the Lord saves and Jesus came to save us for the simple reason that we are unable to save ourselves from eternal damnation. Regardless of how good a man is, there is just no way you will not give in to sinful tendencies no matter how irrelevant or minute it may be because of the sinful nature of man resulting from the sin that came into the world through the first Adam.

         And Jesus did not come to help us save ourselves. The truth is Jesus came to save us from the wages of sin which is death. It is when we realize this truth, embrace it and allow Christ through the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives that transformation takes place. Conversion is manifested when we become aware of the presence of the Lord in us.

          How Joseph responded to the news brought by the angel should provide us with an overview of how we too should respond to the Word of God. It helped that Joseph was a God-fearing man who did not wish to embarrass or punish Mary his espoused wife when he discovered that she was pregnant.

          Even if from all appearances that Mary had broken their solemn pledge to be faithful and chaste to one another, Joseph must have took this problem to God in prayer. What we can see from Joseph’s actions was not only the righteousness of his behavior but his being sensitive and discreet in his ways.

         Joseph was not hasty to judge or to react with hurt and anger and God rewarded him not only with guidance and consolation, but with the divine assurance that he had indeed called Joseph to be the husband of Mary and to assume a mission that would require the extreme faith, confidence and, complete trust in God.

         “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐬.” (𝐑𝐨𝐦 𝟓:𝟐𝟎)

          Because Joseph was a devout Jew and so was very familiar with the Scriptures his acting in obedience to the angel who appeared to him in a dream was to be expected. At the end of the day, his fear of God was what moved Joseph to do what the angel told him to do.

         The rest was history and like Mary who said: “𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝” Joseph also was a model of faith for us. He became a faithful witness and servant of God's unfolding plan of redemption.

         The question now is are we ready to believe in God’s promise of salvation even when we are faced with confusing circumstances and what may seem like overwhelming problems? What we must all realize is that God did not leave us orphans after he created us but he sent us his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to become our Lord and Savior.

         As Christian disciples we can all draw inspiration from Joseph whose actions in this Gospel passage showed the qualities of his godly nature. He was clothed with unparalleled righteousness when he chose not to embarrass Mary by breaking off the engagement quietly (v.19). In our case, do we resolve our differences quietly so as not to embarrass the aggrieved person or do we go to town and broadcast the imperfections of the person with whom we disagree?

         When Joseph acceded to the message of the angel he also displayed his responsiveness to God (v.24) and this is where we come to grips with our own nature. As a believer, do we listen to the Word of God in the way we relate to God and our neighbor? Do we allow God to not only move in our lives but to give him full control of our nature? In other words, do we have a spirit that is yielded to God’s Will?

         Joseph also showed an admirable level of discipline in his life (v.25) as Mary remained a virgin until her son was born and Joseph named him Jesus as the angel had instructed. How about us? How disciplined are our lives? Do we recite the Shema when the sun rises and when we turn in for the night? Do we honor God by honoring our parents or spouses? How far can we go to show our love for God and our neighbor? How Joseph conducted himself should give us an idea of how we too should live and relate to God and to others and like Joseph, our obedience to God will beget bountiful blessings that we may not even have enough room for it.

         Let us thus await the birth of Jesus Christ with joyful expectation and let this be an opportunity for us to renew our faith and hope in God and in his redeeming work. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘋𝘦𝘤. 18, 2025)