24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
This is obedience. Joseph does what he is told. Oh how we wish our children would simply do what they are told, especially our teenagers. I remember when our daughter hit a rebellious patch when she was a teenager. She put a lot of energy into standing up against our simple rules. Finally she realized it was just easier to do what we said, rather than put up the big fight. Now, she might have been fighting on the inside, but at least she was saving her energy. From our perspective she had changed. She was now mature enough to get some of the privileges she had previously wanted. She demonstrated that she could handle the responsibility. As we obey, like Joseph did, the Lord knows we can be trusted with ever greater responsibility. If we are not faithful in the little things, God is not going to trust us with the big things. Joseph is entrusted with a big task. He fulfills that task. He even restrains from sexual intercourse during her pregnancy. Some people hang a complicated theology around the world “until” in this verse. I don’t think we should stretch the context beyond what it deserves. Despite being a married couple, Joseph does not consummate his marriage during this timeframe. That is what the text says. It does not say anything about what happened between them after Jesus was born. Joseph was obedient, even in naming him Jesus, savior. We need to be obedient right now, in the present moment. That is the timeframe of obedience. We are responsible for being obedient now. Future obedience cannot be guaranteed. We can only obey now.
The Arnold Journey 