Luke 1:39-40 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.
Luke tells us that shortly after she became pregnant Mary went to spend some time with her relative, Elizabeth. Surely we might have expected this. Think how many untimely teenage pregnancies have resulted in timely vacations. It would soon be obvious to everyone in Nazareth that a miracle was happening to Mary, but they must have assumed it was a miracle of the usual kind. She was betrothed to Joseph and, in the absence of a strenuous disclaimer, they must certainly have concluded that he was the father. This was more than an embarrassment in Mary’s culture, it was a shameful thing, but time would still the wagging tongues.
Luke says almost nothing about Joseph, but we can well imagine that the situation was hard for him too. And Matthew tells us that, assuming what any normal person would assume, Joseph was working out how to break off his betrothal when, in a dream, an angel let him in on the holy secret. (Matthew 1:18-20) Did Joseph immediately believe, once and for all? I doubt it; that’s not how belief usually works. But he did take Mary as his wife, in effect confirming what everyone already “knew” about him.
So, how can we explain this? Perhaps he was a man of unusual faith and courage. Perhaps he was a man of unusual insight and compassion. Or, perhaps, he was just a usual man, but much in love. Love does make even the most usual people do the most unusual things.
Even God so loved the world that he sent his only son, and all that that entailed. Mary so loved God that she received him, and all that that entailed. And Joseph so loved Mary he received them both, and all that that entailed. So what if the world rejects Joseph, and Mary, and Jesus, and even God; this is a love story and, as the Apostle Paul will eventually observe, “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things". 1 Corinthians 13:7
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