**Daily Devotional** **August 20** *18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. - Matt 1:18-19 (KJV)* You will notice that Matthew gives an account of Jesus conception from the viewpoint of Joseph, while Luke gives this from Mary’s view. In the Jewish culture it should be noted, that when they are engaged, it is considered that they are married, although they don’t live together until after the wedding. They had not had sexual relations at this point, and Mary had gone to be with her cousin Elizabeth for the previous 3 months (Luke 1:39-40), and when she returned, Joseph saw that she was pregnant, because she was showing. There is no indication that Mary told Joseph of the angel’s visit, and how the Holy Ghost impregnated her (Luke 1:35). Under the Old Testament law, it was prescribed that Mary should have been put to death (Leviticus 20:10), but Joseph chose not to have her pregnancy made public, but was going to divorce her privately. While Joseph was thinking on these things, an angel appeared to him in a dream, and told him about the fact that her child was from the Holy Ghost, and that they should name him Jesus (Matthew 1:20-21). As I imagine you already know, that Joseph went ahead and married Mary, and they had Jesus. This virgin birth of Mary’s was the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Old Testament (Isaiah 7:14), and it is the reason that Jesus was born without a sin nature. The blood of a child comes from the father, so Jesus had the very blood of God flowing through Him. That was necessary for Him to be able to be a sinless, perfect sacrifice for our redemption. Praise God for His plan of salvation. Devotional by Pastor Joe W. Green, www.infinite-faith.com