Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents
Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 11 – The Kingdom Enters
Joseph and Mary
[Bible references: Matthew 1:18-25; 2:1-18; Luke 1:26-56; 2:1-20, 41-51]
Jesus was born to an apparently ordinary, non-descript couple, Joseph, and Mary. There was nothing outside the ordinary about Mary except that, unlike Zechariah, she believed and accepted the words of the angel, Gabriel, and the miracle was to come upon her. Joseph was only an ordinary tekton[1] (stone mason or carpenter), but he also accepted the words of the angel and received Mary as his wife. The responsibility that this humble couple accepted was full of unknowns for this was no ordinary boy that they were supposed to raise. The unknown hardships they would endure included 1) a trip from Galilee to Bethlehem while Mary was heavily pregnant, [2] 2) giving birth in first floor of a house overflowing with guests and needing to use a feeding trough as a crib[3] 3) and then a trip to Egypt where they stayed for an extended period while the life of Jesus was in danger from Herod, 4) then when Herod died, back to Bethlehem only to find Herod’s son, Archelaus, in charge so they fled past Jerusalem to Nazareth. Joseph and Mary also witnessed several supernatural events around the birth of Jesus: the appearance of shepherds who witnessed the angelic announcement, the prophetic announcements of Simeon and Anna when they brought Jesus to be circumcised[4], the appearance of Magi from the east. Outside those events, Mary and Joseph seemed to have ordinary lives as shown by the reaction they had when twelve-year-old Jesus was accidentally left behind during a family trip to Jerusalem.
[1] Galatty, Robby, “Was Jesus a Carpenter or a Stonemason?” The Christian Post 29 Apr 2017 www.christianpost.com/news/jesus-carpenter-or-stonemason-181531.
[2] Jesus Trail Tours, “Hiking the Nativity Trail from Nazareth to Bethlehem” Jesus Trail Tours jesustrail.com/blog/hiking-the-nativity-trail-from-nazareth-to-bethlehem
[3] Paul, Ian. “Jesus was not born in a stable, says theologian” 23 Dec 2014 The Guardian www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/23/jesus-christ-not-born-in-stable-theologian-new-testament
[4] Bible Project “The Jewish Exile – How it made the Bible” Bible Project 1 Feb 2018 bibleproject.com/podcast/jewish-exile-how-it-made-bible/
Observe
Read Luke 2:41-51. After Mary and Joseph left 12-year-old Jesus behind during a family trip to Jerusalem, what didn’t they understand about Jesus’ answer?
Dancing In The Kingdom 