In the Jewish culture
being pregnant out of wedlock was a very grave matter, worthy of being stoned
to death. There was no mercy shown to
those who would commit such moral sin.
It was written in God’s law that such people would be unfit to live
since they had blatantly disobeyed God’s law and shamed their parents.
Mary was a young
teen-ager around thirteen or fourteen years old. Joseph was probably a young man in his twenties. It was normal for girls to get engaged young
at that time. An engagement was a legal
binding agreement to marry; it was deemed to be a lifetime commitment to one’s
finance’. An engagement, though legal,
did not allow the couple to consummate their relationship until after their
wedding ceremony. The only way to break
an engagement was through a divorce, or in the worst case scenario, a stoning
due to immoral behavior.
Joseph was a man of
integrity. He loved Mary and did not
want to see her stoned to death. He was
just and could have demanded it, but his love would not let him. He did not know at this time how she could
have done such a thing to him, but he wanted to treat her with love and
grace. He could not continue on with the
engagement so he sought a way to divorce her without having her stoned to
death.
We can learn a lot
from Joseph. He was quick to offer grace
instead of judgment. He loved Mary and
wanted to spare her life and even public disgrace if he could. How often do we think before we act? How often do we ponder how to act graciously
towards those who wrong us? How often do
we try not to publicly shame those who do us wrong? Think about it, shouldn’t we all be more like
Joseph? Shouldn’t we all be quick to
offer grace instead of condemnation? How
can we claim to love the Lord and act like we don’t?
Let us strive to a
people of integrity and be gracious to those who may wrong us. Our acts of kindness may very well make the
difference between them embracing our Lord or turning away from Him.
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