The Nature of the Nativity: Day 5 - Joseph

Well, we are a third of the way through after today. 10 whole days left until Christmas; have you bought my present yet? Just kidding!  Day 5 of our journey through the nativity will center around Joseph. He's a stringy little feller isn't he? Big guys like me don't do well as carpenters up on roofs.

We spent time yesterday in Luke; now it's time to head back to the Gospel of Matthew. In Matthew 1:18-25, we read Joseph's story:

"18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.20 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. 21 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.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus." New International Version

Other than Luke's account of the Nativity, and Luke's account of Jesus' visit to Jerusalem at 12 years old, there is no other mention of Joseph. Most of what we know about Joseph is found in these 8 verses. However, there is still a lot we can glean about Joseph.

In verse 19, he is described as being faithful to the law. It would appear that Joseph took his faith seriously. Other Bible translations use words like "righteous", "just", "honorable"' or "good" when translating this verse. Looking through these words, I get a picture of an honest man who does his best to live by the rules God has set for him. 

If we keep reading through verse 19, we see that Joseph didn't want to expose Mary by divorcing her publicly. From my limited understanding of Jewish law, she could have been stoned over the matter, since she "broke" the betrothal contract. I don't know Joseph's reasoning, but I can imagine the war that would be going on in my heart and mind. On one hand I would want to maintain my faith and keep it as best I could, which means following the letter of the law. On the other hand, I would likely wanted to believe that Mary wouldn't intentionally break the betrothal contract. The angel told Mary that she had found favor with God. She wasn't perfect, but she was a devout Jewish young lady. Joseph had to know this, know that this was out of character. Now all of that is pure conjecture, but it helps to show what Joseph might have been thinking. Whatever he was thinking, he had decided that he would divorce Mary in private so that she would be safe as he went to bed. Joseph found a compromise that would satisfy his faith in the law and the desires of his heart.

"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream."

As much as verse 18 shook Joseph's world, verses 20-21 turned everything on it's head. If you don't believe me, then look at verse 24. When Joseph woke up he immediately took Mary as his wife. No more waiting for the betrothal time to end. He wakes up, goes to the home of Mary's father and requests to marry her. The day before, Joseph couldn't marry Mary because it violated the rules of his faith. Today, he is marrying his fiancé that is pregnant by someone else. What changed? God showed up. Look at the angel's words in verse 20. He tells Joseph, "do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife." If you read it quickly, you might misinterpret what the angel is saying. He isn't telling Joseph, "Don't be afraid." He says don't be afraid to marry Mary. Because of Jewish religious law, Joseph had to feel that he would be sinning if he married Mary instead of divorcing her as the Torah said. He was already skating the line because the law says to stone her and he was searching for loopholes. The way I read it, the angel's message was that Joseph would not commit a sin by marrying Mary; God would not be displeased with him. Beyond that, this was God's will. This is what God wanted, and He wanted Joseph to be a part of it. A dream was enough for Joseph. It makes me think that is what his heart longed to do, he just needed to know that God would find it acceptable.

There's two things about Joseph that I admire. The first is his adherence to his faith. No matter what Joseph wanted to do, or didn't want to do, he was determined to do what he felt his Lord instructed him to do. There was a line he couldn't cross. I think that is something that is missing in many Christians today. All too often, there are no hard lines that we will not cross. We bow to societal norms. We reinterpret scripture; we take things out of context. We make our faith something that is acceptable to other people. We try not to offend, even though Jesus said in Matthew 10:

21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn“‘a man against his father,    a daughter against her mother,a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[c]37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." NIV

This is the faith I see in Joseph, even though he was probably gone by the time Jesus said these words. This is what I want my faith to be like; I want to stand boldly for Christ though the whole world stand against me. I want to stand boldly on His commandments no matter what my heart may want to do.

"took Mary home as his wife..."

The other second thing I admire about Joseph is similar to the first, but it takes it a step further. It is his willingness to do what God asks, even though it cost him his reputation. You see, when Joseph went to Mary's father's house and requested to marry her immediately after she came back from an extended vacation visibly pregnant, what was everyone in Nazareth going to think? As they had their wedding ceremony and feast, what were the attendees going to be whispering when the bride and groom had their backs turned? As Joseph took Mary into his home that first night, what jokes would be made at his expense? You see, by following God's instructions from the angel in his dream, Joseph shared in Mary's "shame". Everyone in that town, possibly including his parents and Mary's parents, would have thought the worst of him. Following God's command was more important than Joseph's status or his worldly honor. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:18:

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. " NIV

If the cross is seen as foolishness to the world, what will we appear to be that look to the cross? Once again, Joseph embraced a truth the many Christians need to embrace today; what God thinks about you is more important than what other people think about you. When you have time, look through your Bible at all of the heroes of the faith. How many times were they ridiculed? How many times did people think they were crazy because of what God asked them to do? Look at Noah building his ark. Look at Joseph's dreams as a boy. Look at Moses and his staff before Pharaoh. Look at the Israelites walking around Jericho. Look at Ruth leaving her homeland. Look at David glaring at the giant. Look at Elijah and Elisha standing for God. Look at Jesus on the cross, naked and laughed at. How strange are you willing to be for your Lord? What's too much for Him to ask of you? For some of us, it's too much for Him to ask of us to share our faith with a friend. It's ok for us to read stories in our Bible and see how God worked wonders in people's lives if they followed Him without reservation, but don't ask us to put it into practice for ourselves. I know this sounds harsh, but sometimes harshness is needed. Sometimes we need blunt to wake us from our heavenly stupor and be about the work of the Kingdom of which we are heirs. We are princes and princess of God's Kingdom. It's about time we acted like it.

So, let's take our Joseph and place him next to Mary. Consider in your own heart, "How willing am I to do whatever God may ask of me?"

Day 5 - Joseph

*All scripture taken from the New International Version