When most of the world thinks of Joseph and Mary, the so-called “Christmas story” jumps to mind. But those of us who worship Yahweh don’t celebrate pagan holidays so we have a different image.
Consider for a moment: An angel appears to a young unmarried woman and tells her she will give birth to none other than Yahweh’s own Son, the Savior of the world! One can only imagine what Mary was feeling. Excited? Sure! Terrified? Of course! And then there must have been all those frightening questions in her mind: “What will Mom and Dad think? Everyone knows I am not yet married—I could be killed for this!”
Unplanned pregnancies nowadays cause many problems for families, but nothing like in Bible times— back then, it could mean a death sentence!
And poor Joseph—what must have been going through his mind? “How could Mary humiliate me like this? What was she thinking to let this happen? How foolish of me to have thought she was a ‘respectable’ girl!” It was only through Yahweh’s intervention that Joseph and Mary did get married. The angel basically told Joseph to “go ahead and take her as your wife.”
But the false rumors and social ostracism probably followed Joseph and Mary wherever they went. In those days, some people, mainly the religious rulers of the time, were extremely bloodthirsty for “justice” when it came to other people’s shortcomings. We can just imagine what was being whispered in the dark corners of society about Mary’s “infidelity” and Joseph’s lack of responsibility to bring judgment against her.
Many of us can relate in part to feeling ostracized in society. Sometimes false rumors are thrown against believers—many times from unbelieving family members or so-called “religious” people! Let us stay faithful to Yahweh’s plan like Joseph and Mary even when life hurts. Stay steadfast in your faith knowing that others can relate to your struggles.