The Christmas Code - December 19, 2022
THE FORGOTTEN MAN AT THE MANGER
An Angel... appeared to him... saying. “Joseph... do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 1:20
Joseph is the one person in the Christmas drama seldom mentioned and never quoted, yet the entire narrative hinges on his faithfulness. Mary is quoted. As are Elizabeth, Zacharias, the shepherds, the wise men, Herod, Simon, and even the angels. But there is no record of anything Joseph ever said.
We hear a lot of carols at Christmastime. There are songs about Mary, the wise man, the shepherds, the angels, the star. Everyone has to care about them, except Joseph. Hardly anyone sings of him at Christmas.
But there is a reason God chose Joseph to mentor and raise his own son he was faithful. Each time God sent him a message to an Angel, he obeyed immediately (Matthew 1: 18-25; 2: 13-15; 2: 20-22). Our legacy from this forgotten man at the manger is not in what he said but in what he did. The entire story hinges on his obedience to God.
CODE WORD: ORDINARY
Maybe no one takes notes of what you say. Perhaps you have never written a book. Like me, you are just an ordinary person. Learn a lesson from another one of us, Joseph, a common Carpenter. God uses ordinary people. He chooses people like you and me to do as He commands.
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Lord, help me see today what I do speaks louder than anything I might say.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.