Matthew 1:18

 Matthew 1:18 says, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.  Matthew tells us about the miracle of the birth of Jesus.  Mary was with child while she was still a virgin by the Holy Ghost.  This was while she was espoused to Joseph, but before they had sexual relations.  Verse nineteen states, Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.  We are told that Joseph was a just man and was going to quietly divorce Mary.  He did not want to cause Mary any public humiliation, so he still cared about her.  Today, the world would ask what the big deal was, but Mary would likely have been an outcast then.  Verse twenty declares, 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.  While Joseph thought about what to do with Mary, an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because she had not been unfaithful to him but had conceived by the Holy Ghost.  Now, Joseph could have just written this off as a strange dream or wishful thinking, but he recognized it as a message from an angel of God.  Verse twenty-one adds, And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.  The angel told Joseph that Mary was to have a son and His name was to be JESUS, and He would save the people from their sins.  This was not just the people in that day, but all the people who had put their faith in the coming Messiah and all the people who have put their faith in Him since His coming.  It may now be common for a couple to know the sex of their child and even name the child before he or she is born, but it certainly wasn't in that day.  Verse twenty-two says,  Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,  Then verse twenty-three adds, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.  Matthew tells us that this was done to fulfill a prophesy that a child would be born to a virgin and His name would be Emmanuel, which means God with us.  This was to be the fulfillment of a prophesy made to Isaiah, which he never lived to see happen.  We have the prophesy of the second coming of Christ, which we may not live to see, but it is just as certain as the birth of Christ was.  Verse twenty-four declares, Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:  Joseph had to have a lot of faith to believe in the message that came to him in a dream.  The angel did not even appear when he was awake, but only in a dream, but Joseph did what God through the angel had told him to do.  As followers of Christ today, we need to be open to hearing the message that God has for us in life today, no matter how He delivers it.  Verse twenty-five adds, And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.  Joseph married Mary and did not have a sexual relationship with her until after the birth of the baby Boy, whom he named Jesus.  Joseph obeyed the message of God, just as we must today when God speaks to us.