JOSEPH ADOPTS JESUS AS HIS SON

 This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus (Ecclesiasticus 46:1) , because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.”  (Psalm 130:8) Now all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ''the young woman is with child. She will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel'' (Isaiah 7:14), a name, which means, “God is with us”. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home; he had not had intercourse with her when she gave birth to a son (Ezekiel 44:1-3) ; and he named him Jesus. Return