Jesus was ADOPTED
I've been mulling over this post for a few weeks now. After watching the Nativity Story movie, Jay and I had a conversation about a reality that hit us during this film. Jesus was adopted....Jesus was adopted!!! Joseph was called by God to be the father of a child that was not his own biologically. Yet Jesus had many character traits that mimicked Joseph's, and was raised a carpenter because Joseph was a carpenter. What a comfort to adopted children! What a confirmation to us as adoptive families. Here is an portion of an article I read about the subject:


In a culture captivated by the spirit of Herod, could it be that God is calling our churches to follow the example of Joseph? This might mean a battalion of new church-sponsored crisis pregnancy centers, able and equipped to provide an alternative for confused young women who might otherwise listen to the slick but deadly propaganda of the Planned Parenthood profiteers. It may mean pastors prophetically calling on Christians to oppose the abortion culture by actually rescuing babies through adoption. It will mean Christian parents willing to open their hearts and their homes to unwanted infants -- infants that Planned Parenthood would like to see carried out with the medical waste. It might mean that, next year, there will be one more stocking at the chimney at your house -- a new son or daughter who escapes the abortionist's knife to find at your knee the grace of a carpenter's Son.We often talk about how WE are adopted by God the Father through Christ. But we rarely talk about how Jesus was adopted by Joseph, and the "sacrifice" it was for Joseph to marry Mary and "adopt" this baby who wasn't conceived by him.


If you watch the Nativity Story, they do a great job of developing this part of the story:There's one scene of a lady reading their palms, she looked at Joseph, and said something to the effect that there is no greater joy than to see yourself in your child. Joseph and Mary look at one another with a solemn yet peaceful and trusting look - one that understands this child will not "look" like Joseph because he does not have Joseph's DNA. YET, by God's design, Jesus' roots are from the line of Joseph.

Adoption.

Is God calling YOU?