January 3, 2011

A few thoughts concerning love, trust and obedience.

Love, trust, obey, these three simple words sum up the lives of Mary and Joseph.  Both of them were loyal observant Jews who loved God with their whole being.  Out of this love there was an implicit trust in God and, most important, an obedience to the wishes of God.  It is out of this simple trust in God that our savior, Jesus was born and reared by the holy family.

Mary who was to be the mother of Jesus was a teen aged virgin engaged to Joseph a skilled carpenter.  Mary demonstrated love and trust in God when the angel of the Lord came to her and informed her that she was to be the mother of the Son of God.  She trusted God.  Her response to the angelic visit as recorded Luke 1, 41-45 was:

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

Joseph was engaged to a Mary whom he loved.  He was distressed when discovered Mary’s pregnancy.  He knew he was not the father of the unborn infant.  His first impulse was to marry her to prevent her being persecuted and possibly killed for having a child out of wedlock.  He resolved to divorce her after an appropriate period of time.  His love and trust in the Lord was put to the test when in a dream an angel of God asked him to fully accept Mary because she was to have God’s son.  Joseph was instructed to name the new born Jesus.  Thereby Joseph and Mary provided a normal home for Jesus.  Mary and Joseph made this possible by their love and trust in God as evidenced in there obedience to God’s will.

Joseph’s love and trust in God was put to the test a second time just 12 day’s after our savior’s birth.  Joseph was once again was told in a dream by an angel of the Lord to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt.  They were to remain there until told they could leave.  Once again Joseph obeyed Gods request out of his love and trust for the almighty.  He took Mary and the new born Jesus to Egypt.  The reason for this visit by the angel of the Lord was Herod’s plan to have all male children under age of two killed.  Herod ordered the killing of infants to prevent the birth of the king of the Jew’s (Jesus) from threatening his throne. 

The third and fourth instances of Joseph’s trust in God and obedience to his will also occurred after visits of angels in his dreams.  An angel of the Lord informed him of Herod’s death and instructed him to leave Egypt and return to Israel.  After the holy family’s return the angel returned in another dream and told him to leave Judea and move his family to Nazareth in the district of Galilee to insure Jesus’ safety .

It was through the love, trust and obedience of both Mary and Joseph that Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, Emmanuel, the Prince of peace came to us to conquer sin and save all of humankind.

Thank you Mary and Joseph for the love, trust and obedience to God that allows us to pray,

“Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.”