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Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Joseph knew that Mary's character was impeccable, that there was zero chance of any kind of adulterous affair. He almost certainly knew that Mary had been formally dedicated to God in the temple from her youth. But it was here the he finally realized how entirely he was out of his depth and how far above his paygrade were the events that were beginning to unfold.
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
What was one to do when he found that the apparently impossible had happened? There was not a natural explanation to do justice to the reality. A righteous man like Joseph was too humble to even guess how it might be explained supernaturally. He only knew that he himself, though righteous, was unqualified for something of this magnitude. He felt that his ongoing presence would only expose Mary to shame. It would in all events cheapen and provide a merely natural explanation for something that should not be thus explained away. How could Joseph suffice as an explanation for something that could only have come about through the will of God?
Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
The angel came to give Joseph the courage to be a part of God's plan of salvation for the world. Joseph would be able to act as the earthly father of Jesus because doing so in no way contradicted the fact that it was through the Holy Spirit that the child was conceived. His acting as earthly father was not competitive with the work of God in Mary, and was in fact a part of the plan, by which Jesus himself would be a part of the royal lineage of David. He himself was the perfect representative of the human race to give to Jesus his name, which had the meaning 'God saves'. It was his perspective and proximity to the child and his Mother that allowed him to realize something of truth of the name Emmanuel, "God is with us", long before it was revealed to the world.
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
We too are called to be participants in the plan of salvation, we who are likely not as righteous as Joseph. We too are called to give our assent to God's will for us, just as Mary gave her assent to God's will by her fiat and unlocked the floodgates of salvation for the entire world. The lesson for us today is that while none of us is naturally qualified for the role God has in mind for us, we are not for that reason disqualified. Though we are too small and too sinful God still can and will work through us. Just as in the genealogy of Jesus many questionable characters were incorporated into salvation history so too can we hope to play a part in spite of the stains of our past or the liabilities and limitations of our present. To do so we must heed the angel and be not afraid, not because we ourselves are strong, but because it is the Spirit himself who is at work, making "all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose". As surely as Joseph and Mary were called we too have been called. Knowing that God does not call the qualified but qualifies the called let us boldly give our own fiat. Our boldness here is not arrogance but shows forth our trust in God himself.
Though I trusted in your mercy,
let my heart rejoice in your salvation.
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