50d An Angel Visits Joseph [Matthew 1:18-25]
The Bible passage: [Matthew 1:18-25]
The Story:
After Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they were married that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.
Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to publicly disgrace her, decided to divorce her secretly. After thinking this through, an angel suddenly appeared to him in a dream and told him, “Joseph, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the baby she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: The virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but was not intimate with her until after she gave birth to a son. And he named Him Jesus.
The Lessons:
- “Name Him Jesus”: You will remember Joshua from the stories after the people of Israel came out of Egypt and got to the Promised Land. His name means “Yahweh is salvation“ in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek and the Greek version of the name Joshua is Yeshua. The English translation of the name is Jesus. All of that is to say, the name Jesus means “God saves”.
- You may remember the name Immanuel from the story 36b Isaiah’s Prophecies About a Messiah.
- I talked about the seriousness of being engaged in 50b An Angel Visits Mary.
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