Sermon Central
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Could Mary Have Been Stoned For Adultery?
Contributed by Jim Butcher on Nov 3, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: The title question leads us into a deeper appreciation of the sacrifice that Joseph made in standing with Mary.
A QUESTION: Could Mary have been stoned for adultery?
- This is a question that has bugged me for a while. If Mary is presumed to be an adulteress, could she have been stoned?
WERE THEY MARRIED? Betrothal was more like marriage than engagement.
- Unlike today’s engagements, betrothal back in Jesus’ day was a more serious thing.
- During the betrothal, the couple did not live together, but yet to break a betrothal you had to get a divorce (v. 19). Verse 18 says that they were pledged to be married and yet verse 19 says Joseph was going to divorce her.
JOSEPH'S BETROTHED IS PREGNANT: Marrying her would mean that he would be presumed to be the father.
- Matthew 1:19.
- It’s not entirely clear what “expose her to public disgrace” means. Does it mean stoning – that he would say, “The baby isn’t mine” and the community would bring justice? Does it simply mean a quiet divorce with two witnesses rather than a public spectacle? The scholars are divided on the specifics of a situation like this during that time period.
- What is clear is that marrying her meant that everyone would presume that he was the father.
- Joseph receives “inside information” from the angel, but the rest of the town didn’t receive that.
- It’s worth noting that adultery was punishable in the Law, but premarital fornication was not. If a couple was betrothed and found to be pregnant, they didn’t stone them. It certainly wasn’t right, but it wasn’t a stoning offense.
- In marrying Mary, everyone in town would presume that they had fooled around before marriage and gotten pregnant.
- The genealogy clues us into what Mary had to go through to be obedient. These verses point us to the price that Joseph had to pay.
WHAT JOSEPH DID: He could have walked away and saved himself but instead he stood with her in her guilt.
- It’s worth noting that she did not have actual guilt because she had not sinned. Nonetheless, she was perceived to be a sinner – an adulteress.
- Joseph chose to stand with her.
WHAT JESUS DID: He could have walked away and saved Himself but instead He stood with us in our guilt.
- Matthew 1:21; Matthew 26:36-46; Matthew 26:52-54; Matthew 27:41-43.
- Look up each of the three passages and unpack how they relate to Jesus standing with us instead of saving Himself. Do the three later verses first and then come back to Matthew 1:21.
