Scandal

 As they say, the proof is in the pudding. The facts were clear. Infidelity. Adultery. The pain and betrayal were evident. Questions of why and how could she be unfaithful clouded judgment. The emotions toyed back and forth between rage and gut wrenching grief like a yo yo. Confidence had been broken. Dreams of living happily ever after shattered into a million pieces. 

There was no excuse. Explanations were unjustified. The facts remained. He knew. By this time, the whole town knew. Rumors were spreading faster than the local track team. He hung his head everywhere he walked. People stared and he avoided eye contact. The whispers behind his back seemed louder than any shout could have been. 

In private tears flowed. Depression set in. He had no desire to eat. He just wanted to be alone. Yet while alone all he had was his thoughts. Thoughts of the day he heard the news. His wife was pregnant and the child was not his. He could not keep from rewinding the facts and speculating who the adulterous man was. He wanted to get even, but the adulterous man's identity remained a mystery. He suspected every man. 

His wife's tearfully pleaded for a hearing. He had barely listened to anything once she revealed she was pregnant. Nothing else mattered. The facts indicated she had cheated. She protested to no avail. There was only one logical recourse. Divorce. That is exactly what he intended. 

He still loved her. He did not want to drag her through the courts. He wanted a quiet divorce. He set the plans in motion. All was set except the divorce decree. He went to bed just wanting to forget about the whole thing. That is when everything changed. A night he would never forget. A night that would go down in history. A night that could not easily be explained. 

It all started with a dream. Not just an ordinary dream. A spiritual dream. A dream of profound significance. An illogical dream that would alter the whole course of his life. A dream that would vault him into a role of prominence and privilege. 

God spoke to Joseph in a dream. He told Joseph not to be afraid. Truth is fear had been ruling over him for days. He was terrified of what Mary had done, what people would think, and what life without Mary would be like. In the dream, an angel told him specifically not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. They were betrothed. Betrothal was just as legally binding as marriage itself. It was considered legal marriage. There just has been no consecration of the marriage. 

I am sure that was hard enough for Joseph to digest. What the angel revealed next must have been bewildering. The CHILD she had conceived was by the Holy Spirit. Mary had protested that very same thing to Joseph previously. Such a thing had never happened in the history of the world. That is because the world had never been gifted the very Son of God, Jesus the Christ, the Savior, the precious Lamb of God. 

Joseph learned that Jesus would save people from their sins. He was reminded of the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy that a virgin would be with child and name Him Immanuel which means God is with us. 

All of that revelation came in a dream. A dream. Not a thunderous prophet preaching. Not through some sign or wonder. No, just a dream. Such a powerfully convincing dream that Joseph changed his mind about divorcing Mary when he awoke. 

As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now you know the rest of the story." We read about it in Luke 2. It all started with a scandal. It all boiled down to Joseph choosing faith over fear. Don't ever forget that God chooses to work in mysterious ways. What looked scandalous to the world proved redemptive for all mankind who believe. A Savior sent to save the world from sin. Messiah born in a manger. Immanuel through immaculate conception. All of it believed by faith. Far fetched to the unbelievers. To those of who do believe not far fetched. Faith sight has revealed the reason for the season. God's scandal saved a sin sick and sin soaked world. 

I admire Joseph. His faith was tested. He nearly failed the test if the angel had not shown up in a dream. He did not know all the facts. He almost missed the will of God because he could not see the whole picture. He did not see past the scandal. Praise God he eventually did. He will always be connected to the Christmas story because of God's faithfulness and Joesph's faith. May we not miss what God is up to because we do not look with eyes of faith.