Angel #3

Joesph truly loves Mary and was barely managing the long wait between engagement and marriage, when she tells him that through the Holy Spirit she was pregnant. An unwed mother is a disgrace and subject to stoning. Joseph wants to protect her, but how can a man believe such a story. He was older than Mary and understood about birthing- sheep, goats, donkeys, cows, and people required a male to begin a new life. How could Mary have done this? He will have to divorce her- quietly if possible.

How very sad and angry he must have been.

He knows the rabbi well. Tomorrow he will talk with him; and Joseph falls asleep grieving for the loss of their marriage.

Angel #3 may have been Gabriel, but we know that an angel was sent, once again, by God.
This time he appears in a dream and tells Joseph that Mary's story is true and she will bear a son. Joseph is to help raise the Son of God and is to name him Jesus.

I imagine that Joseph awoke relieved, confused, and wondering if it truly was an angel from the Lord. When Mary returns from visiting Elizabeth, Joseph knows the truth and takes her home to live with him.

The gossipers are still talking at the well, but Mary and Joseph begin their life together with love and a precious secret. Mary glows as she shows him the baby clothes she and Elizabeth made. She bubbles with joy when she feels the baby move. She giggles in delight as she lets out the seams of her gown. Joseph hums as he builds a cradle of the finest wood; he will carve it with a design fit for a king.

But the Christ child will never lay in that cradle or wear those tiny clothes ...

Selah-

Shalom, Connie