Mary

When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would have a child by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary was already betrothed to Joseph. When Joseph found out that Mary was with a child, he was not pleased. He could have uttered the “a…..” word but chose not to. He was considering putting her away secretly. Here, some scholars suggest that Mary’s pregnancy was by none other than Joseph himself during the betrothal period. In Jewish custom of the time, upon betrothal, the man and the woman are given conjugal rights by society. Even though they had not started living together, they were considered lawful husband and wife. If he was the father of Mary’s unborn child then Joseph did not have to worry about a scandal. It was not a scandal at all. But he did, thereby strongly supporting the belief that Jesus was not the son of Joseph. Why did he then decide to marry her in the end? Was it because he was so deeply in love with Mary that he decided to forgive and accept her? Could he trust her in the future? I do not know if anybody could answer these questions for Joseph. All sorts of thoughts and emotions run in a man’s body when faced with such crisis. At moments like this it would take a great deal of fortitude to be able to make a wise decision. My guess is that ultimately it happened just the way the Bible tells us. That is, an angel of God told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
When Mary said “……Let it be done to me according to your word,” she very well knew the danger she was placing herself in. It could be considered an act of adultery. And the price of adultery in the Jewish society of the time was death. Mary, though virgin and full of grace, could have died the death of an adulteress. But God intervened.
Thirty or so years into the future, we find Jesus standing between a murderous crowd and a real adulteress. “Anyone without sin must cast the first stone” was all He said! And a new day was born! Hallelujah!