His betrothed was pregnant. And he had not impregnated his bride to be. You can imagine the thoughts that ran through this man’s mind. Only he knew this. If he disclosed it, his wife to be would be shamed by her family. This would be disgraceful in a family that had strong religious beliefs. She was already pledged to Joe and was eight months into her pregnancy. She couldn’t hide being with child. As we pick up on the story, the couple was on the run, traveling to a distant town. They used the excuse of having to sign census forms in their home town to escape from their families. Joe, torn inside by the fact Mary was apparently pregnant by another man, decides he must divorce his new bride. Yet in a dream he is told by God to marry his fiancée.
Given there weren’t marriage certificates in those days, Joe would have customarily paid the father of his fiancé the traditional bride price, so in effect, they were married. That relieved the scandalous problem of being pregnant before marriage. But who was the father? Joe wrestled with knowing he had not had sexual relations with Mary.
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He was beside Mary when, while traveling, she suddenly broke water and could only make it to a nearby barn to give birth to an infant boy as hotel rooms were jammed due to the required census taking. The shepherds came to view this child in awe and amazement. But what was so special about this infant?
The above story is a paraphrased version of the birth of Jesus to Joseph and Mary some two thousand years ago. Had Joseph left Mary, Jesus would have been a fatherless child. Just how would Jesus have…