Mary and Joseph were tested by a miracle. An angel saved them.
Although the couple was engaged to be married, the conception of Jesus nearly drove them apart—until the divine intervened.
In Nazareth, a city in the northern region of Galilee, a young girl named Mary was betrothed to Joseph, of the house of David. Before their marriage, an angel named Gabriel was sent to Mary and said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”
The angel continued, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:30-31). The name “Jesus,” or “Yeshua” in Aramaic, is like “Joshua” or “Hosea,” a contraction of Yehoshuah, meaning “yhwh is salvation,” and a common name in ancient Judea and Galilee.
Mary said to the angel,
