Matthew 1:24,25
There are two Josephs in the Bible. The first was a favored son turned slave then ruler. The second was an ordinary carpenter turned father of the Most High God. One saved his people from destitution; the other raised the One who would save his people from destruction. Both were honored, privileged for the role they played in God's kingdom, and both showed remarkable sexual self-control.
The first Joseph turned down the advances of Potiphar's wife by saying, "How then could I do such a wicked thing against God?" (Genesis 39:9). The second Joseph "had no union with [Mary] until she gave birth to a son" (Matthew 1:25).
Often the attitude is "as long as the person gets the job done it doesn't matter what his sexual proclivities are." So why does the Bible take a different stand? Why does it even point out that Joseph #1 consistently resisted Potiphar's wife's advances or that Joesph #2 refrained from having sex with Mary until Jesus was born?
I think the Bible shows the value of purity because God is so interested in love.
Purity is at the heart of love. The same self-control needed, the same attitude of honoring God's law above one's desire is a strong foundation for loving other people well. The first painful lesson of childhood, "the world does not center around me" is reinforced when a person takes a serious step at living purely: purity teaches "the world does not center around my desires".
Sexual restraint in Joesph #2's case was good for another reason. It provided a place for his faith to grow. Joseph could have ignored the angel's reference to "the virgin will be with child" (Matthew 1:23). No one would have known the better. But by allowing the prophecy to be fulfilled according to the Bible, Joseph always had just a little more room to believe. If Joseph had had sex with his wife, there would have always been a lingering doubt. What if Jesus really was his son? What if the prophecy was just something he and Mary had conjured up together?
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