A Meditation on Joseph

As Christmas approaches my thoughts turn afresh to the story of Christ’s birth and the various people we encounter in the story of the Nativity.  One of those people is Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster-father of Jesus.  I suppose my thoughts about Joseph stem from the common bond of fatherhood and maleness I share with him.  I admire Joseph.

Mary, we can all admit, gets her due.  So highly regarded is she that, in some quarters, she is practically worshipped.  Artists have immortalized their ideas of her visage with canvas and stone.  Visionaries have seen her in places unexpected and unbelievable, on taco shells and toast.

Joseph, on the other hand, remains largely forgotten except within the brief readings of the Christmas story.  It is understandable.  After the brief birth narrative records and the even more concise mention within that story of a journey to Jerusalem when Jesus was 12, disappears.

We can assume that he died sometime in the 18 years between that Jerusalem visit and the appearance of Jesus at the Jordan River.  When Jesus appears on the scene of history again, emerging from the obscurity of the Nazarene life, it isn’t long before we also encounter his mother again as well.  Even his siblings get an occasional mention.  We know they are around, though they are not key figures in the Gospels, even though some of them take on major roles later when we discover they have become believers themselves.

Joseph, conversely, is conspicuous by his absence.  Having passed from the land of the living his body is interned in a forgotten tomb somewhere in Palestine.

Jesus, in gospel records, speaks often of His Father, but the Father of which he speaks is God and not Joseph.  The gospel writers give no evidence that Jesus ever spoke of the man who reared him.  That is not to say that he never did, but if he did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John didn’t find it significant enough to give us an accounting of what he said.

So why do I find Joseph so admirable when so little is known about him?  What is it in Joseph’s character I want to emulate?  Joseph was a man who did the right thing. He did the right thing when it wasn’t the easy thing.  It wasn’t easy to take Mary as his wife.  It would have been much easier to walk away from her.  Why take on the responsibility of raising a child that is not your own?  Why invite the public scorn and ridicule that is certain to accompany the circumstances of this boy’s birth?  Why not do the easier path and wash your hands of the whole thing?  Most of his family and friends would have understood.  Some might have applauded that decision.  Even the Law of God seemed to push Joseph toward that choice.  

Joseph’s actions tell us he wasn’t as much concerned about doing the easy thing as he was doing the right thing.  I see that in the way he took some time to think things through.  He didn’t react rashly.  He prayed and gave serious thought to the situation. Now, it wasn’t as if Joseph was an aged man with years of experience and learning.  He was young, poor, and in many ways alone.  Still, he had a disposition, a leaning toward, doing the right thing.  I admire that.

Of course, we know from Matthew’s gospel that the deciding factor, the one thing that settled the issue for Joseph is the word of God. He received, believed, and acted on God’s word. He did not merely hear the word, but he obeyed it. It is not enough to just hear the word. That is never enough. One must obey.  What good is hearing without doing?  Joseph did what was asked of him.  I admire that.

Then there is his untimely and early death and the lack of recognition he receives.  After all, he took on the responsibility of becoming the foster father to the Son of God and at a young age found himself fleeing to a foreign land to protect the child’s life.  He eked out a living as a carpenter, raised his family, trained Jesus in the carpenter’s trade, and was seemingly faithful in his devotion to God and taught his family to be likewise faithful. 

I can’t be sure, but I suspect that Joseph didn’t live the life he lived for the praise of man.  He didn’t take care of his family’s needs, walk with God and live with character and dignity so that he could gain this world’s applause.  I doubt if thoughts like that ever crossed his mind.  I don’t think he cared if his adult children spent much time talking about dad.  I think if he saw them walking with God, if they lived in an honorable way, and if they were men and women of integrity he would be satisfied. I admire that.

I admire him because, if I am right about him, I think was what a father and a man ought to be.  The man I see in Joseph is the man I hope I have been and the man I am becoming.