Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” … When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…
Matthew 1:18-21, 24 ESV
Jesus… conceived from the Holy Spirit… came down from on High… to save His people from sin…
Joseph… Jesus’s adopted father-to-be… believed his wife-to-be had sinned… ended up pregnant… destroying his hopes of marriage…
But the angel of the Lord came to explain… reveal… what happened to Mary was Holy… filled with purpose…
“…you shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The revelation of the truth behind Mary’s pregnancy… changed Joseph’s mind…
In his mind… her sin removed because of the good news of Jesus…
In his life… what was broken… was restored… redeemed… set right….
In a sense… Joseph woke up to the need for a Savior to set his world straight…
In our Advent waiting for Jesus’s return… we too need to awake… to our need for a Savior…
My last three days were spent in a court room as a juror in a criminal trial…
A sharp… harsh… reminder of our need for a Savior…
If we do not come face-to-face with our own sin… its contribution to the darkness in the world… its impact on others… its deadly effect on our lives… we will be without hope…
Woe to you, O destroyer, While you were not destroyed; And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed; As soon as you cease to deal treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.
Isaiah 33:1 NASB
The wonder of Jesus conceived in a virgin womb… Light entering darkness… coming into and leaving out of this life… in a bloody mess… is His love and desire to take what we destroyed… His creation… our relationship with Him… and set it all back right…
He came… stooped low… suffered much… to save His people from their sins… paying the price we couldn’t…
Awake to your need for a Savior… for then there is something worth waiting for…
God, in His tender mercy, continues to send the message of repentance into the world through His Spirit — the Counselor (John 16:7-8). Separated from Him by sin, He knows we live in darkness and walk in the shadow of death. Until we recognize our need for a Savior, we will reject salvation. Without salvation, we have no peace.
–Carol B Weaver, The Heart of Bethlehem
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