Loving the wrong people

We heard from Mark on Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Matthew.

Here we have a problem: Joseph is engaged to Mary and she is pregnant! Joseph is a righteous man who obeys the Torah (Jewish law), so he has no choice but to divorce her. But then an angel turns up in his dream - and tells him its legit - this baby is from God and he is going to save people from their sins. (But wait - isn’t the messiah supposed to save them from the evil empire? The angel said something different).

In an honor/shame culture, Joseph chooses to marry Mary. He chooses to love the wrong person. This would have bought shame on his family and himself for the rest of his life as he was misjudged for not following the law - all while following God.

Jesus needs to save us from the sin of attaching him to our ideologies and our agendas regardless of what they are. He doesn't belong to us. We belong to Him. There have been wars where everybody claims Jesus is on their side. The assumption is that God is on my side. We need to be saved from that -all of us. We need to see people as people. Have you ever loved the wrong person? Jesus loved the wrong people - the prostitutes, the tax collectors. He welcomed them, accepted them, loved them.