The Facts: After 3 Months in the Village, She Came Back Pregnant

by Tad Lindley

It is somewhat difficult to write about this, because I hold Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph, her husband, in such high regard. It is important you understand that their neighbors viewed them far differently than we do. Let me show you why.

The story most modern people are familiar with

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18-20 NIV) If you never read past Matthew, you might get the idea that Mary got her visit from Gabriel, and the next day Joseph got the dream above and everything was good, and nine months later Jesus was born. But there is more to the story.

Went to the village for three months…

Luke’s account of the history of Jesus adds some more details that complicate things a bit. Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married. Then Mary got a visit from the angel, Gabriel. (Luke 1:26-38) She found out that she would become pregnant and give birth to the Messiah. I always thought that her next move was to tell Joseph, but once I studied Luke I see that after the visit from Gabriel, Mary got up out of Nazareth at full throttle and went to visit her cousin in the village: And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda. (Luke 1:39) She went to her cousin Elizabeth’s (who was pregnant with John the Baptist). And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. (Luke 1:56)

…and came back pregnant

Think about the facts that Joseph and every other resident of Nazareth were eyewitness to:

1. Joseph and Mary got engaged

2. Mary up and left Nazareth for Elizabeth’s house in the village

3. When she came home three months later she was pregnant

If that happened to a young lady in your hometown, what would everybody be thinking? The only plausible explanation for the evidence that they saw was that Mary had lost her virginity to some guy in Elizabeth’s village who was not her fiance. They did not get an angelic visitation, all they had was the evidence before their eyes.

Joseph’s response

Joseph surely had to feel betrayed. He could have legally sought revenge for her apparent sin. You see, according to Deuteronomy 22:21, Mary could have been stoned to death based upon the evidence, but Joseph was a just man and decided to secretly terminate their engagement and let Mary deal with the consequences of her sin whatever they might be. And then Joseph had a dream.

God’s response

But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:20-21)

Joseph’s dilemma

Now Joseph had a dilemma: the Lord was telling him to go ahead and marry Mary, but he had to know that for the rest of their lives they would live in unrepentant condemnation from the people of Nazareth. “What kind of man would marry a woman who openly cheated on him and got pregnant on top of it,” they would ask themselves. For Joseph being the stepdad of the Messiah far from being an honor, was to be a mark of shame and humiliation. And so when he awoke from the dream, he now knew that Mary was innocent, but he still had a choice to make.

Joseph’s choice

He had two options: 1) obey God and bear the scorn of men, or 2) walk away from it and enjoy the honor of men. What would you do? I do not need to tell you that it is always better to obey God no matter what the cost is, and that is what Joseph did. And as near as we can tell, Joseph went to his grave bearing the cost of his obedience to God. Even as late as John 8:41 we see the enemies of Jesus still casting that same shame into the face of Jesus.

Your choice

What is God calling you to do? There will be costs, will you pay them? There will be trade-offs, will you make them?

Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church at Bethel, Alaska.

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