Grace is the heart of the Gospel.  Without God sacrificing Himself on a cross, we are left with a superior moral system, but with a religion unable to provide for our inability to live up to that moral system.  In other words, we are left with nothing.  Benjamin Franklin, not long before his death, was asked by Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University, to make a statement of faith.  He replied:  “Here is my creed.  I believe in one God, the creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence.  That he ought to be worshipped.  That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children.  That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.  These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you in whatever sect I meet them.  As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see.”

            That is a well crafted statement – excepting that it calls us all children of God without providing a means for our birth as such, and that it leaves us facing justice in the life to come – a burden none of us can bear.  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice we have new birth, and face not justice, but grace.

            It struck me the other day, reading afresh the first chapter of Matthew that even before Jesus is born, Grace is the necessary element to the Gospel story.

And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly.  Matthew 1.19

            The description of Joseph as “husband” although they are only yet betrothed reminds us how binding, how permanent a bond an engagement was then.  Her pregnancy has not been explained to him yet, when the verse above is written.  All he knows is that he has somehow been betrayed, been cuckolded.  Of all betrayals, this is the one that for most (all?) men is the worst  – it violates a man as a man.  When we read verse 19, all Joseph knows is the betrayal, the violation.

            Joseph is described as “righteous,” and as “not wanting to disgrace her.”  With our 21st century vocabulary and sensibilities we see these two statements as complimentary, appositive, even synonymous.  But they are in opposition, not apposition.  In the Bible “justice,” and “righteousness” are not separate concepts, they are the same – they are same word (TSADIQ in Hebrew, and DIKAIOS in Greek).  Joseph’s “righteousness,” places him in need of justice.  Justice, according to the Old Testament (See Deuteronomy 22.13-30) is that she should be stoned.  Justice according to male pride is that she should certainly suffer – at least humiliation.  But Joseph does not want to disgrace her.  According to the Old Law there is no way he can marry her, but according to his heart there is no way he can hurt her, and so he, without impulse of vengeance or male pride, decides to handle things quietly.

            At this point God explains to him what has happened – but before any explanation is given Joseph gives grace.  Amazing!

            This brief verse, this single sentence reminds us of so many things.  We are reminded that the parents God chose to rear his only-begotten Son were truly remarkable people.  We are reminded of the goodness that a desire to be righteous can produce in a loving heart.  But mostly we are reminded that from the beginning, even before Jesus is born, the central theme of His story is grace.  We are reminded that Jesus makes grace possible, that human failing (which is universal –Romans 3.23) makes grace necessary, and that inasmuch as none of us can bear up under justice, none of us should demand the satisfaction of it for ourselves.