Show Don't Tell: Matthew 1:18-25

Instead of saying "Joseph learned Mary was pregnant," feel his world collapse. They're pledged to be married. She's pregnant. The math doesn't work. Watch Joseph lie awake, staring at the ceiling, calculating. He knows what people will say. He knows what the law allows—public disgrace, even stoning. But he loves her, so he plans a quiet divorce. Then the dream. An angel doesn't whisper; an angel announces. "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." Feel the impossibility settle over him. He wakes. He marries her. He names the boy Jesus—"he will save his people from their sins." A carpenter becomes the legal father of God. He had every reason to walk away. He stayed.