"When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord
had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her
until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus."[1]
Matthew 1:24-25 is at first
glance just a simple note telling us only that Joseph was obedient to God's
instruction through the angel. It is enough to know that of course – because
that is all that is needed to keep to the core message of who Jesus was. Luke
on the other hand, tells us a huge amount of circumstance that Matthew glosses
over. Recognizing that, we can realize that Matthew is telling us the story of
Christ’s birth largely from Joseph’s viewpoint – leaving Luke to tell it to us
from Mary’s.
The circumstance Matthew
skips (Luke 1:39-80, 2:4-40) is the subject of much of our Christmas pageantry
today; the young couple’s journey to Bethlehem, the refusal of a room at the
inn and the birth of Jesus in the manager, amidst the animals. Of course it’s
possible that Matthew simply didn’t know about other details, like Mary’s visit
to Elizabeth and Zechariah’s encounter with Gabriel in the temple (things Luke
found out in his careful study of all that had happened). All the same, one
thinks that he would’ve surely known about Jesus’ birth. Yet he is not alone in
dropping such detail – neither John nor Mark give it either. Mark introduces us
to Jesus at his baptism, and John tells us who He was before time, and then
introduces us to Him at his baptism.
The point is that each of
the Gospel writers reflects Jesus’ life from their vantagepoint. Each tells the truth (for they write from the
Spirit’s prompting) but each speaks from their own frame of reference. The
glory of Christ is such that it cannot be fully represented from one voice or
one account– just as the Scripture is never fully explained in a single sermon
or by a single teacher. The Glory of God is such that it takes all of us,
living all of eternity, to merely reflect the character and nature of
God (which is our purpose – see Isa 43:7).
We can ponder that, and
wonder if, in our fallen nature, to have more than four accounts of Jesus’ life
would’ve added to our ability to know who He is or all He did. But that is idle speculation for fallen
flesh. What is important is that we do as Joseph did. That we promptly obey
God’s instructions as given to us, knowing that God is giving them specifically
to us. That we seek to honor His Name with our whole being. Both what we do and in what we deliberately do not do,
even if it is our ‘right’ to do it.
· What has God
been telling you to do? Have you been
fully and promptly obedient?
· In what way
could you honor God by NOT doing what you have a right to do?
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