But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20 ESV)
Joseph obviously was afraid. In his society, marrying a pregnant woman would lower his status. Particularly if one absolutely knew that he was not the baby’s father. His carpenter business would suffer. He would lose friends, lose opportunities, and lose respect. The obviously safe choice for Joseph would be to her. But Joseph’s love and affection for Mary caused him to be afraid of what would happen to her if he abandoned her. She would be shunned by her community. She would be outcast. She would be alone.
And God sends Joseph what Joseph needs. He sends an angel. A being of spirit, usually invisible, that has a direct connection with Joseph’s almighty God Himself. Most likely a seraphim, because this angel speaks instead of acts.
And the message of that angel to the worrying and concerned and afraid Joseph is, “Fear Not!” But not just a general “don’t be afraid.” It’s a very specific, “Don’t be afraid to aid, assist, work for, and DO what is towards the Messiah.” That is the subtext of, “from the Holy Spirit.”
The angel’s “Fear Not” says nothing about Joseph’s emotion. The angel’s “Fear Not” says everything about Joseph’s actions. This is shown in what ends up happening. “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife.” (Matthew 1:24 ESV)
Joseph faced down his fear by doing. But not just doing “something.” He did what took him closer to the Messiah and the Messiah’s work. He did what focused Joseph’s life on God. He did what advanced the Kingdom of God. His actions were, “Step towards Jesus.”
When we are afraid, maybe that should influence our steps, too. We are often afraid because we worry about the effects of our decisions. But like Joseph, our answer to fear can be “do what takes us into Jesus’ orbit.”
Our good answer to fear has less to do with our reputation, financial situation, or calming our emotional fears… our good answer to fear has everything to do with Jesus.
Fear Not because the angel said so.