Faithfulness of Joseph to God and Mary (Matthew 1:24-25)

It is wonderful that God keeps His promises. The fulfillment of prophecy reveals God’s character. He is One whom we can trust. He never fails to keep His promises. He never says, “I forgot.” He never says, “The job prevented me from keeping my promise.” God always keeps His word and His Word. He is faithful toward us. We can trust Him. What a great example He is to us. He wants us to be just like Him! The birth of Jesus proves that God keeps His promises.

And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. (NASB) Matt. 1:24-25

Joseph had made a promise to marry Mary, and God was directing him to do just that. She had told him the truth, and he had not believed her. I wonder what he said to her. Did he apologize? What did he say to his parents and to her parents? Joseph would have brought wonderful news to Mary. His love and support must have been comforting. His emotions were different now. Her stress would now disappear. This was wonderful news.

She had seen an angel in real life, and he had seen an angel in a dream. She had heard that her son would be the “Son of the Most High” and that He would “reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom would have no end.” He was to be a king. Joseph heard that He would “save His people from their sins.” They both heard that His name would be Jesus.

Today, most Christian couples have sex before they get married. They ignore God’s Word and prove themselves to be unfaithful to God even though He is faithful to them, but not Joseph and Mary. The Greek phrase translated as “kept her a virgin“ is in the imperfect tense and it means that he continued to keep her a virgin until she gave birth. That is, he abstained from sex. He controlled his urges. It must have been hard for a young man to sleep with his wife without having sexual intercourse, but he controlled himself.

Conclusion. God was faithful to all of us and kept His promise that Jesus would be born into this world. Joseph was faithful to God and married Mary and kept her a virgin. The scriptures said that a virgin would give birth. If Joseph had had sex before she gave birth, that promise of God would not have been true. God has been and is faithful. He is an example of faithfulness and He calls us to be faithful when scripture says,

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” (NASB) Rom. 1:17

The righteous are to trust God. Trust is the result of believing. So, to trust God means that I am believing God, and faith in God starts when we believe in Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (NASB) John 3:16

God wants us to trust Him - Jesus Christ. He is the Prophet of prophets. He is the Priest of priests. He is the King of kings. Jesus is the only Savior of saviors!