Jesus the Savior

“And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

These are the words of the angel to Joseph in his dream. In a man dominated world, God over and over specifically pointed out specific women to be part of the plan of redemption of mankind. The Lord chose Sarah to be the mother of the promised child to Abraham. (Genesis 18:10) He chose Rahab to birth Obed the great-grandfather of David, ancestor of Jesus. (Matthew 1:5) The Lord chose Elizabeth to birth John the Baptist who would be the voice crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. (John 1:23) And He chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus. (Luke 1:26,27)

We all can imagine the difficulty Joseph endured when it was known that Mary was with child. We can understand his reluctance to marry her. He loved her and didn’t want to expose her to the shame and punishment according to the Law. She would be considered profane or polluted. The priests were not allowed to marry such a woman. And if a daughter of a priest was profaned, she was to be burned with fire. (Leviticus 21:7-14) It was customary to burn to death or stone those found in adultery. (Deuteronomy 22:21-24)

 Joseph recognized the dream as coming from the Lord. And Joseph changes his mind and marries Mary. A word from God can change our hearts. It can be a Scripture we read or hear. It can be Scripture we remember, one spoken to us by someone or one that comes to us even in a dream like Joseph. God’s word, spoken or read has the power to change our hearts. “For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) I have experienced this myself several times. I always determined that I would never live in a specific place. I detested that dinky little town. But when the Lord spoke for us to move there, my heart for that place changed. We lived there for nineteen years, more than in any other place. We flourished there. We grew in the Lord. We served the Lord and were successful there. And just like my heart for that place changed the instant the Lord spoke His Word, God changed Joseph’s heart.

The Lord is specific about certain things, like who should be the mother of Jesus. He was specific about the name to be given this baby, Jesus, which is “Jehoshua” meaning Jehovah is salvation. It’s from the Hebrew "Yĕhôshúa." Today, Jesus is called Yeshua which is an alternative form of Yeshoshua and used more by Messianic Jews in place of the name Jesus.

But part of God’s Word that would have rocked me if I’d been Joseph was that this baby would save His people from their sins. Scripture doesn’t tell us much about Joseph, what he thought or did concerning Jesus. We do know that he raised Jesus as his own son and taught him carpentry. Jesus was known as Joseph’s son. But Joseph isn’t mentioned after the birth of Jesus except when Jesus was taken to the temple to be presented to the Lord. (Luke 2:22-38) And he is again mentioned when Jesus was twelve years old and stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary both looked for him and found Him in the temple. (Luke 2:46,47) And other than those incidents, we are not told anything about Joseph. We wonder if he understood the significance of God’s Word spoken to him in his dream or if he understood that Jesus was the Messiah.

Jesus is the Messiah, the Promised One, the Anointed One Who came to take the sin of the world. He came to redeem man, to buy mankind back to the Father through the payment of sacrifice on the cross as the Lamb of God. This transaction cost Jesus suffering and death which He took in our place so that we could live in righteousness, in right standing before God. (1Peter 2:24) The love and mercy demonstrated in the sacrifice of Jesus is one we cannot repay or earn. It is beyond us. We can only respond to it in humbleness and gratefulness.

In short, God’s Word to Joseph and his obedience made him the foster father of the Messiah, the Lord our Savior. The same can go for us. Our obedience to God’s Word can put us in a place of favor and blessing. God knows what is best for us. Jesus paid the debt of sin for us and made us free to follow Him.