Matthew 1

The first half of this chapter is the geneology of Jesus. There are nuggets of truth here -what a line-up of ancestors -evil kings, prostitutes, gentiles -that has to mean something. But, honestly, I didn't think too far into that. What really struck me was the second half of this chapter.

The second half of Matthew 1 is the simple story of Joseph as he struggled with the reality of a pregnant girlfriend with whom he had never been intimate. In verse 19, it says that Joseph was a "righteous" man.

What being a righteous man meant to a Jewish man at that time was that Joseph kept the laws and commandments. And, I think implied is that Joseph had strong sense of right and wrong. His current circumstance clearly was wrong -and the law had a prescribed penalty. Legally, Joseph was required to expose Mary's obvious sin. She was to be taken before the local synagogue leaders, and she would then be stoned to death -or at least excommunicated from the Jewish community.

But Joseph had a problem -although he had this really strong sense of right and wrong, he loved Mary. So, on the one hand, because he was a righteous man, he had already decided to do the right thing -but on the other hand, he wasn't sure what he right thing was. Should he follow the law, or follow his heart.

Of course, then an angel showed up and told him exactly what the right thing was -ultimately his choice was easy. But I wonder how this all would have transpired if Joseph had not already (before the angel showed up) decided that he was going to do the right thing?