Who is Joseph?

Who is Joseph?

He was a man of integrity. A descendant of David. Jesus’ legal and earthly father. A man willing to do God’s will no matter what the consequences. Husband of Mary. A righteous man. The list is long. The strength of what we believe is measured by how much we are willing to suffer for those beliefs. Joseph was a man with strong beliefs. He always tried to do what was right and do it in the right way. One of the highest compliments the King James Bible bestows on mortals is being “just.” To be characterized a just man in the Bible is more than to be called a person who follows the letter of the law; the word meant to describe a person whose openness to the will of God is absolute, especially in uncertain, questionable times and impossible situations. Joseph, a bachelor in Judea at this time, was betrothed to a young virgin as stipulated by his faith. Her name was Mary. We know that this much is at least is perfectly normal for the time period and proves nothing about Joseph’s “just” nature. But add to that his wife-to-be came to him before their wedding announcement herself and stated that she was already with child. What was in Joseph’s mind? He already knew her character to be honorable and trustworthy. Perhaps, he might have thought that someone had hurt her, maybe raped her, molested her in some manner?

When Mary told Joseph about her pregnancy, Joseph knew that the child was not his. This might have posed a new set of issues and problems for almost any man. However, his respect for Mary’s character and explanation she gave him, as well as her attitude toward the expected child, must have made it hard to think his bride had done something wrong. Still, someone else was the father—and it was mind-boggling to accept that the “someone else” was God. Wrap your mind around that. The King James version of Matthew 1:19 says Joseph as being “Minded to put [Mary] away privily,” and the New International Version is slightly less kind to Joseph saying he “was of a mind to divorce her quietly.” Joseph decided he had to break off the engagement, but he was determined to do it in a way that would not cause public shame to Mary. He intended to act with justice and love. This was Joseph’s character. But a sign from heaven is more than enough to alleviate Joseph of his rational hesitation. According to Matthew, “After he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’”

 

Ask yourself, just what was it that made this simple Nazarene carpenter into a man so faithful that he could treat Mary as his wife even when she was pregnant out of wedlock, a most grievous offense? The “just” nature described in the Gospels offer the only clue—it must have been pure blind faith to this man to take Jesus as his son. After the enterprise is sanctioned by a messenger of God, Joseph dedicates his life to raising and caring for a child entrusted to him by the Lord. It seems Mary was given little choice in the matter of her immaculate conception, Joseph is shown as a man who follows through during the process of coming to terms with God’s plan. Jesus’ true father may have been divine, but his earthly father was as important to Jesus the man as he was to Jesus the Son of God and as Jesus referred to himself many times The Son of Man.

We do not know how long Joseph lived his role as Jesus’ earthly father—he is last mentioned when Jesus was 12 years old. But Joseph trained his son in the trade of carpentry, made sure he had good spiritual training in Nazareth, and took the whole family on the yearly trip to Jerusalem for the Passover, which Jesus continued to observe during his adult years. Joseph knew Jesus was someone very special from the moment he heard the angel’s words. His strong belief in that fact, and his willingness to follow God’s leading, empowered him to be Jesus’ chosen father. Joseph, a loving, humble, tender, compassionate, believing Nazarene—one in a trillion.