"This Wasn't the Plan"
Four hundred years of silence. The first book, the first chapter of the gospels, Matthew begins with genealogy. Your identity. Who you are. Who Joseph was in the lineage of Jesus. He was chosen. He was loved. He belonged to God. Just like you do. God had a divine purpose. God had a sovereign plan. Just like He does for you. The first subject, the first conversation, the first spoken words, the first problem as we open the Word after 400 years, was concerning Joseph’s fear. His life had not gone as planned. He was a rule follower. Mary was pregnant. His world blew up. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t the plan. There was supposed to be a big wedding celebration with all of their friends and family celebrating with them. Now everything had changed. She could be killed by stoning according to Jewish law. She would be publicly humiliated at...