Jesus' Divine Origin – Mt 1:18-25
What was the gentleness and justice of Joseph who, seeing that Mary was expecting a child who was not his child, decided to secretly dismiss her? According to the custom of the time, in such a situation Joseph should brand his wife as an adulteress. But Joseph knew Mary. He absolutely ruled out the adultery hypothesis. He didn't understand anything. But he preferred to dismiss her without publicly accusing her and thus expose himself to accusations from human tongues rather than accuse her of anything - he was so deeply convinced that she was innocent.
But let us ask ourselves a second, much more important question: why does the Evangelist attach so much importance to the truth that Jesus was born from a Virgin? After all, conjugal love, from which children are born, is blessed by the Creator himself! After all, Mary herself, sinless and immaculate, was conceived out of the pure and holy love of her parents Joachim and Anna. Why is it not acceptable that the Son of God should be born of pure and holy conjugal love? Why was it necessary for him to be born from a Virgin?
Well, let us note: Jesus Christ is absolutely the only man of all people, whose existence did not begin at the time of His human conception. He is the Eternal Son of God. It was an act of His great mercy towards us that He wanted to humble himself to such an extent and become one of us. Each of us came into the world from his father and mother. But He has His Father God from eternity before the world was created. Therefore, it was not appropriate for him to have a human father, the One whose Father is the Eternal Father. And with this Father, with the Eternal Father, Jesus was in the deepest intimacy from his earliest childhood. In an intimacy so cordial that none of us can even imagine it.
Let us now try to become aware of Joseph's incredible exaltation. He was not the natural father of Jesus, for that, would be wrong. But the Eternal Father entrusted him with all paternal duties towards his Son during his human childhood. Therefore, we call him the guardian of the Son of God, or his adoptive father, or even his virgin father. Joseph was the second man after Mary to be placed so unimaginably close to the Son of God.
One more thought
The sense of mystery is a grace for the reader of the Gospel, but it does not absolve the reader from seeking the truth and drawing the right conclusions. Although the main idea of the fragment is based on showing the divine origin of Jesus, the teaching that follows from this pericope leads to the values by which Joseph lives. For the Church as a community and for each of its members individually, the Guardian of Jesus remains a living and perfect model forever. Obedience to God and fear of Him, humility and unpretentiousness, responsibility and the ability to sacrifice are the most visible features of this extraordinary person. God entrusted himself to the care ofsuch a person and only with such people He does enter into the closest relations, creates lasting bonds, and the criteria of these relationships never change.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george