Christmas Treasures {Joseph}

Joseph is so often a background character in the Christmas story.  Certainly Jesus is in the forefront, and Mary deserves our attention, but Joseph seems to quietly stand back a step.  Today I read a little more about him, and it was as if he stepped into the light a bit more in my mind’s eye.  May I share a glimpse with you?

Matthew 1: 18-21 {New Living Translation}

“Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born.  His mother, Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph.  But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.  Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as to not disgrace her publicly.  As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary.  For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit.  And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ “ 

Verses 24-25 go on to say, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded.  He brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born.  And Joseph named him Jesus.”

Verse 19 tells us that Joseph was a just man.  The kind of guy who does the right thing – whether anyone is watching or not.  His honor and integrity shine brightest in his worst moment of personal crisis.  To his thinking, Mary has betrayed him and been immoral, but his response is to quietly and kindly release her from their marriage contract.  I took a minute to picture Joseph “considering” this situation. Raking his fingers through his hair as he tried to make sense of it all.  Mary?  Pregnant?  How he must have agonized on a variety of levels.  I imagine he was so worn out with “considering” it all, that giving in to sleep was a matter of physical and emotional exhaustion.  All his hopes and dreams for a beautiful future and family with Mary had just died with her shocking news.

Even more startling? An angel waking Joseph up to announce the most radical plan the world has ever heard.  Then and still today.  And my heart was challenged by Joseph’s response.  He woke up and obeyed God – bringing Mary home as his wife that very day.  Respecting and honoring God’s work within Mary, and  assuming nothing for himself except the responsibility of being her husband.

And yet I have to wonder about this just man for whom goodness was obviously his mode of operating.  Of course others assumed and believed the worst.  I’ve understood that about Mary, but today I realized how that must have felt to Joseph too.  He’d  spent his life building a reputation for integrity.  He was likely well-respected in his circles.  And now he knew that behind the all snickers or averted eyes of his neighbors and friends was doubt.  Judgment for something he never did.  Criticism for something he never was.  It wasn’t just aimed at Mary.  Did anyone at the time believe him?  Did Joseph even tell others that Mary’s pregnancy was conceived by the Holy Spirit? Or was it enough that he knew the truth?  Joseph knew what God had called him to, and he knew what really happened.  Or didn’t happen.  And that was more than enough for him.

Joseph’s story makes me hunger to say YES and AMEN to the call of God, and let go of the trap of “what will others think.”  Joseph was invited into a plan that no one else who ever walked the planet would get to experience.  He and Mary held the Christ child throughout countless days and nights.  They alone nurtured him, fed him, listened to him giggle, taught him what he needed to know.  Luke 2:40 {New Living Translation} says, “There the child grew up healthy and strong.  He was filled with wisdom beyond his years, and God placed His special favor upon him.”  What in the world would that have been like?  To be in the home watching the Son of God grow up?  Only Joseph knew how to be an earthly daddy to Jesus.  And only because Joseph dared to reject the rejection of others and follow God’s remarkable story.

May it be so with us! May we be brave, honorable and unafraid of all God is calling us to as He is writing our own stories. We do not want to miss the remarkable!

Georges de La Tour (1593–1652)