He Did As He Was Told

Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep,

did as the angel of the Lord commanded him

and took to him his wife,

and did not know her

till she had brought forth her firstborn Son.

And he called His name JESUS.

Matthew 1:24-25, NKJV

This is one of those instances where I have a certain picture in my head about what happened, and I'd like to share it with you. Then when we all get to heaven, we can compare it what really happened and have a good laugh about it.
There were apparently long-standing marriage traditions among the people of Joseph and Mary 2000 years ago, traditions that were guarded as sacred practice, strictly adhered to. Everyone in the community was in on it. They had been from the very beginning of the relationship. They had watched Joseph watching Mary, and Mary watching Joseph, and the parents watching their children. Now everyone was watching for a completely different reason.

The general order of things went like this: Boy finds girl. Boy talks to his father. Father sends his servant to find out all the details and discover if girl's family is interested in talking. The men in the families meet to negotiate the details such as the bride price and the contract guaranteeing the bride's rights. Boy comes to girl's house with the bride price, the contract, an engagement ring and a bottle of wine. Girl accepts the betrothal by accepting the bride price. Boy places ring on her finger. They drink from the same bottle of wine. Trumpets are blown, announcing the betrothal to the community. And then boy leaves.

As he goes, he makes girl a promise: Let not your heart be troubled. I go away to prepare a place for you. And if I go away, I promise I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Boy goes back to his father's house and begins to build a bridal suite where he will live with his bride and consummate their marriage. Girl begins preparations for the wedding. She is baptized in an act called sanctification. She assembles the wedding party of ten virgin girls to assist her in her preparations. Boy sends his best friend as a go-between, carrying messages from boy to girl, and from girl to boy.

And under normal circumstances, nine to twelve months after the betrothal is sounded by the first trump, boy's father gives the bridal suite a final inspection, approves it, and tells boy to go get his bride. Several things happen in quick succession: The father blows the trump again--it's called the last trump--to call the community to the wedding feast. The boy takes off running calling the girl's name. And the friend of the bridegroom runs ahead shouting, "The bride groom cometh! The bridegroom cometh!"

But these are far from normal circumstances.

Because the bride is pregnant, the child in her womb not of her betrothed husband's making. The groom is struggling with this dilemma, wondering what to do about her perceived transgression against him. And the community is waiting for the outcome. Then the angel shows up and tells Joseph what to do. And the Bible says Joseph got up and did it. Aroused from sleep, he got up immediately and did as he was told.

Perhaps he woke his parents up. Perhaps his brother too. And he explained to them that he had received his answer from an angel sent by God, as good as a telegram on the end of a flaming sword. Perhaps there was understanding in that household. Perhaps there was a little consternation, a little apprehension. Perhaps there was a little shame involved if his parents didn't fully accept his explanation or understand its meaning. But the Bible says Joseph did as he was told.

I'd like to think old Jacob, Joseph's father, went to the porch with his shofar and began to blow it, the long loud blasts of the trumpet that called the neighborhood to attention.

I'd like to think Joseph's brother Clopas started running down the street toward the house of Joachim and Anna shouting to the rooftops, "The bridegroom cometh! The bridegroom cometh!"

And I'd like to think that Joseph, full of faith and power and confidence and hope and assurance and love, threw his tousled head back, cupped his callused carpenter's hands to his mouth as a megaphone, and cried at the top of his lungs, "MAAAARRRRRRYYYYYY!" And then he took off running.

I'd like to think that little Mary, wrapped tightly in her blanket, face buried in a tear stained pillow, and trembling in fear of the dawn heard the sound. I'd like to think that she heard the trumpet blast, the call of her Joseph's friend, and the cry of his heart as he called her name. I'd like to think she hesitated only a moment before she heard it again and scrambled into action.

I'd like to think her sisters, the other Mary and Salome, were roused from their own slumber and came to help with her dress. I'd like to think the lamp was already burning in the window, and that they took their little lamps and lit them as well. Perhaps the rest of the wedding party, neighbor girls, cousins and friends, came with their lamps to light the way to the bride.

I'd like to think that Mary was standing at the top of the stairs, waiting as Joseph bounded up them, taking two at a time to claim his bride. And one look into his eyes told all there was to tell. He knew, and that was all that mattered. In that moment, Mary would know too, know that she was secure, from all harm safe in his sheltering arms as he lifted her from the rooftop and carried her away to that place he had prepared for her. And there he took her, shutting himself in with her as a husband should do, though he probably slept at the foot of the bed. The child growing in her was Holy, and she herself was Holy, and that which had conceived the child was absolutely Holy.

And content with the answer he had received, Joseph did just as he was told, and he waited for the day when he would hold that Holy Child in his own hands and say, "You're name...is Jesus!" And you shall save us from our sins.