Monday, November 19, 2018

Responding with Compassion and Mercy

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly…Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him. So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of EgyptcalledMy Son.”
(rf. Mt. 1:18–19, 2:13–15NASB)

            Let me state, first of all, that I have no intentions of politicizing this piece whatsoever. I do, however, intend on bringing to all of our attention the interesting “coincidence” that has come to light as it applies directly to some of the leading issues of our day. We begin to see things from a different standpoint when we consider a new context, like turning a diamond and having the light shine on its various facets.
            For instance, as we consider the birth of Jesus narrative, have we ever really looked closely at Joseph’s dilemma? Most Christians, in not wanting to think ill of their own Savior’s birth situation. Though in Jewish culture, a betrothal was as binding as the actual marriage covenant, the fact was that Mary and Joseph had not yet taken their marriage vows. Now, according to the narrative stated above, she “was found to be with child”. Mary is officially an unwed mother. In that time and culture, such a sinful infraction was worthy of the death penalty according to the Law of Moses because her pregnancy was proof of the sin of “fornication” or premarital sex as well as legitimate adultery because it violated the terms of the betrothal between her and Joseph. Joseph could have delivered Mary over to the Jewish authorities and she would have been stoned for her sin and dishonor. However, “being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly”, which, as we know, was providentially engineered by the Lord to keep His Son safe since the child inside Mary was conceived, not by human means, but “by the Holy Spirit”. So, in the first place, we have Jesus, our Savior and King, in his first months of life being nurtured in the womb by a mother whose status in her society being somewhat less than acceptable.
            Secondly, after the departure of the Magi from visiting the Child Jesus and His parents in Bethlehem, Joseph is warned in a dream to quickly pack up and take his family to Egypt where they are to stay in safety until he is notified it is prudent for them to return to Israel. So, Joseph immediately obeyed and journeyed into Egypt where they remained for an extended time until King Herod died. While there, we tend to forget that they were not on vacation, enjoying the wonderful benefits of Egyptian life. They were God-fearing Jews in the land of pagan Egypt, full of a people who worshipped idols. Though Joseph was a carpenter by trade, Joseph would not have been easily allowed to ply his expertise per se. Indeed, I believe that this is the very reason God sent the Magi with their gifts to worship at the feet of Jesus—to provide the necessary currency Joseph would have to use to sustain his family while living in Egypt during their sojourn there. In many respects, Joseph, Mary and Jesus were aliens in a foreign land, immigrants to a place where they possibly were not allowed to work because they were not native to the region. It was only because God’s own provision for them that kept them afloat financially and from dying of starvation. No, I do not believe I am necessarily pressing the point, especially when one considers that the Egyptians would not have had a great love for Israelites following the destruction of the Egyptian armies by Israel’s God back in Exodus.
            In viewing these two narratives from the Christmas story in Matthew screams to me one particular response when it comes to those groups who are often found as objects of shame and reproach because of either poor decisions on their part (which we likewise have made, if we are honest) or situations beyond their own control that have affected them personally. In either case or others, our first response ought to be compassion and love, rather than condemnation, especially if we understand that Jesus came into this world through conditions very similar to these. How many times in His own ministry did He interact with folks who had either sinned blatantly or who had been negatively affected by the sins of others, where He could have responded with blame and shame, He rather offered a heart full of compassion and restoration? 
            If the Savior that we claim to follow was willing to do that during His life and ministry, shouldn’t we reflect the same attitude? Isn’t this time of year a good time to start doing it and continuing it throughout the year? I offer this as a challenge to you. Merry Christmas to all!