3RD WEEK OF ADVENT

Joseph . . . was a righteous man.

The word “righteous” has acquired some uncomfortable baggage in our times. It tends to be associated with self-righteousness, with an egotistical belief that one is better than those around them.

But in Scripture, a righteous person is someone who is faithful to God in all things, someone devoted to the Lord and committed to following his commandments. And that’s who Joseph was: a man who lived humbly before his God and who strove to walk in his ways every day. Indeed, this is why God set him apart and called him to become the earthly father of his Son.

When Joseph learned that Mary, his betrothed, was pregnant, the implication would have been clear: she must have committed adultery. And as a righteous man, he knew what the letter of the law demanded: that he denounce her and that she be punished severely.

But Joseph clearly loved Mary because he saw beyond the letter of the law. He also saw beyond his broken heart and bruised pride. Righteous man that he was, he saw a vulnerable young woman and chose the way of mercy—he decided to divorce her quietly. Even before the revelation that Mary had not, in fact, been adulterous, Joseph had already decided that her dignity, her life itself, was worth protecting.

Many years later, Jesus taught that “the whole law” hinged on the command to love God and one another (Matthew 22:40). His teachings would have made his adoptive father—the righteous man, Joseph—proud!

Jesus is the righteous man foreshadowed by Joseph. He sees your sins and shortcomings, but he also sees the person he created in love, the person he still loves deeply. He fulfills the law by offering you forgiveness instead of condemnation, pardon instead of punishment. He has chosen to take you into his home and make you part of his family. What a gracious—and righteous—Savior we have!

“Jesus, Son of God and son of Joseph, thank you for seeing beyond my sins and right into my heart!”

Jeremiah 23:5-8
Psalm 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19
Matthew 1:18-25