This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But 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,[c] because he will save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:18-21 (find this or any other passage at www.Biblegateway.org)
During the recent election season we heard a lot about 'ordinary Joes'. The Christmas season seems to be the only time we talk about the Gospels' ordinary Joe. Who was this man, Joseph? He is such an integral part of the Christmas story, and yet we know so little about him. His name is mentioned a mere sixteen times in only eight passages. But we can know what God intended us to know:
He was a carpenter. (Matt. 13:55)
He lived in Nazareth. (Luke 2:39)
Like the Old Testament Joseph, his father's name was Jacob. (Matt. 1:16)
And from the house of David. (Luke 2:4)
As we first meet him, he is engaged to Mary. (Matt 1:18)
Angels appeared to him in dreams. (Matt. 1:20; 2:13&19)
He was a righteous man. (Matt. 1:19)
He was obedient to God... (Matt. 1:24)
...and to God's Law. (Luke 2:22 & 39)
Much has been said and written about the lack of Biblical information concerning Joseph. But he is not to be a forgotten character in the Christmas story, or in the life of our Savior. This is the man God entrusted with the raising and protection of His Son. Along with Mary, Joseph carried the Infant, taught the, Toddler to walk, and fed the Child.
He was a man of courage, who took God at His Word, and a pregnant teen as his wife.
He was a man of action, safely leading his family to Egypt, no easy task, to protect them from Herod's wrath.
He was God's chosen. Among all the men of Israel, of all the men in history, Joseph was the one God selected for this remarkable task. If this little bit of information is all God chose to tell us, then it is all we need to know.
But knowing that Joseph was a righteous, obedient man, appointed to raise the Child King, is, in fact, knowing a lot.
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Questions:
1. Why do you think there is so little information about Joseph?
2. Is it really so little? How much more do we know about Mary?
3. What an we know about Joseph, from the few times he is written about?
INTERESTING THOUGHTS:
"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters."
George Herbert
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