Precious said, “This lab is a mess!” It was true, the ancestors of Jesus who had come to the lab in the time machine had made quite a mess. A couple of wooden chairs and a table were broken, there were papers and other trash all over the floor, and the place could hardly be made any messier! They should have taken time to clean the lab, but the Professor was in a hurry to meet the next ancestor of Jesus. The next name on the dial was Joseph!
MJ said, “I’m ready for another visitor if he does not bring a sword or a hammer! I never guessed that we would have so much violence from the ancestors of Jesus!” The Professor was sure that Joseph would not be violent, so they turned the dial to the name Joesph and the Professor pushed the button.
Nothing happened for about 30 seconds, then the booth began to shake like a mosquito who had too much caffeine, there was the sound of thunder, and the air was filled with large pieces of wood! MJ and Precious were quick, and they were dodging the pieces of wood that were flying around the lab. The Professor tripped over a large piece of wood and another piece of wood hit his knee. The Professor said, “Ooops!”
The door of the booth opened, and a man came out carrying a…. hammer! MJ and Precious screamed and ran away from the Joseph and hid behind the Professor. The Professor snatched up a long piece of wood so that he could protect MJ and Precious, but he used too much force and smacked himself in the head with the piece of wood! The Professor screamed, “Ooops!” as he fell to the floor.
Joseph ignored all of them and yelled, “I am a carpenter! I can fix anything that needs to be fixed!” He saw the broken chairs and table and immediately began to fix them! The Professor tried to get up, but he slipped on a round piece of wood and fell again! Precious jumped over the Professor and went to Joseph and asked, “Please quit pounding on that wood, and tell us your story.”
Joseph and MJ picked the Professor up off the floor, and they all sat in chairs that were not broken, and Joseph began his story:
Joseph told them that he was a carpenter, and that he took his hammer everywhere he went because he always wanted to be ready to do any job that needed to be done. Joseph had always liked to help people, but now it was even more important that he do as much work as possible. Joseph was going to be married and have a family! Joseph still could not believe the incredible things that had happened to him.
Joseph had gotten engaged to a young woman named Mary, and they were so much in love with each other! They were counting the days until their wedding, but then something strange happened. Mary had suddenly left and gone to visit her much older cousin Elizabeth. Joseph thought that this was very strange, Mary left so suddenly and did not even tell him how long she was going to be gone! It turned out that Mary was gone for three months. Finally, Mary came home, but things just got worse!
It was obvious that Mary was going to have a baby! Joseph was very mad! He thought that Mary had got another boyfriend, so he was going to get rid of Mary! Joseph still loved Mary, so he was not going to publicly embarrass her, he kept everything very quiet. Mary said that she still loved Joseph and that there was not any other man in her life! She said that God had put that baby inside her and that the baby was going to be the promised Son of God!
Joseph could not believe that story! How could Mary tell lies like that to him? These lies hurt him even more than he had been hurt before! Joseph went to bed that night and he tossed and turned and could not fall asleep! The lies that Mary had told kept tormenting him! How could Mary have done this to him? Finally, Joseph fell asleep, and then it happened…an angel exploded into his dreams! The angel told him that Mary was telling him the truth! God’s Holy Spirit had put that baby into Mary! This baby was going to be the promised Son of God who was fully God and also fully human, he was going to save the people from their sins!
Joseph could hardly believe it! Everyone knew the promises that God had made, that He would send His Son into the world to save the people, but Joseph never thought that he would see the fulfillment of the promise happen in his family! Now he had to get busy because he had to provide for his new wife and the Son of God that would be born soon!
The Professor turn to the kids and told them that God had chosen Joseph to be the earthly father of Jesus long before Joseph was even born. God had promised that His Son would be born at just the right time.
In the Bible in Romans 5:6-11 it says:
When we were utterly helpless, Christ (Jesus) came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
God had planned at the beginning of time that Jesus would be born as God and human so that He could die on the cross and rise from the dead, to pay for the sins of all humans. Forgiveness is available to all people if they believe and pray and ask Jesus to forgive them.
Joseph thanked the Professor for his words of encouragement, then he picked up his hammer and said that it was time to go home. The Professor walked Joseph to the booth of the time machine and said goodbye to Joseph. Precious tried to interrupt and said, “Professor…” The Professor kindly told Precious not to interrupt. The Professor then shut the door and pushed the button.
Nothing happened for about 30 seconds, then the booth began to shake like a mosquito who had too much caffeine, there was the sound of thunder, and Joseph was gone! The Professor turned around and noticed that the broken chairs and tables were missing, and he asked, “Where are the chairs and table that were broken? I need to fix them!”
Precious said, “I was trying to tell you, that when you were talking to us about God’s plan and reading the Bible verses to us, you had your back turned toward Joseph, and he put the broken chairs and the broken table in the booth! He has taken them back to his time to fix them in his workshop! We will never see them again!”
The Professor said, “Ooops!”