Read Matthew 1:18-2:23.

We rarely hear sermons preached on great faith or courage with Joseph the husband of Mary as the central example. Sadly, his role in the Christmas story has become almost a caricature we tend to skim over at other points on the Christian calendar.

Consider what this key New Testament figure endured in the short chapter and a half of Matthew where his story appears:

• An angel of the Lord appeared to him in dreams not once, not twice, but three times.
• He was told to believe that his fiancée’s pregnancy was the result of a miraculous conception and not an indiscretion.
• He was also told that the child was the long-awaited Messiah, and was instructed to go through with the marriage as planned.
• He kept his new bride a virgin until the child was born.
• Exotic foreign visitors made an unannounced appearance at his home…