Christmas Story(ies): Joseph

"Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah" - Matthew 1:16

Not much is known of Joseph. Well, I don't know much, maybe others know more. But Scripture does not mention him much. By my counts he is only mentioned some 15 or 16 times, and that's it. Of those less than 20 mentions, not once are any of his words recorded.

And yet, for a man hardly mentioned in Scripture, whose words are not brought to our attention, we actually see a lot about him; we get quite a glimpse into his character.

The very first thing we see directly regarding his character is that he is referred to as a "righteous man". It is the reason given, in fact, as to why he decides to quietly divorce Mary instead of shaming her publicly and potentially having her stoned, the likely and legal response to someone unfaithful under the O.T. law. Given the circumstances, many likely assumed that she had been unfaithful to Joseph, or that they had been sinful in their own relationship, so stoning was a very real possibility. But because he was a righteous man, he decided instead to have mercy on her and not disgrace her.

His righteousness didn't end there however. After receiving the message from an angel in a dream, he responded with immediate action and took Mary as his wife as he was commanded.

His obedience to God's direction in these early days of the New Testament, as well as his faithfulness to keep the O.T. commands by presenting Jesus at the temple (Luke 2:22-39), we see that Joseph was a man who loved and honored God, that he was a man declared righteous just like Abraham before him (Genesis 15:6).

Joseph was also a man who put others before himself; who exemplified what Paul would later say in Philippians 2:3:

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;"

It would not have been an easy thing to take Mary as his wife. Not only the issue of trust itself, that from a human standpoint she would have appeared to be unfaithful t o him; but also that, while Joseph trusted God and Mary, others may not have been so gracious. The contempt and scorn he possibly faced in light of his decision would have been a very hard situation to handle. But out of love for God, and for the woman he loved, he chose to take her as his wife and care for her, in spite of all the difficulties.

Had he put her away, she would have been easily mistreated, uncared for, and vulnerable. Her reputation would have been marred, and it is doubtful that any other "righteous" man would look at her as a potential spouse. Her and her baby to come would have been in a horrible scenario.

Joseph instead took her as his wife and cared for her.

But he also shows this self-sacrifice in his protection of his family over the years following. Taking a very pregnant Mary to Bethlehem for the census (Luke 2:1) would have made a difficult trip even harder. Having to up and move at the drop of a hat at the command of God through an angel certainly was not Joseph's idea of what life would be like. To know this child who wasn't even his own would be in so much danger by Herod had to weigh heavily on Joseph's mind (Matthew 2:16-18).

I look at Joseph and his example and know just how far I fall short as a man at times. I'm reminded of something I heard from Paul Washer recently that he spoke towards men, urging them to spend themselves on others and then to die and be forgotten. Mr. Washer certainly has a way with words to be sure, but it seems that Joseph lived with that mindset.

We know so little of Joseph. We only see a window into his life. We know none of his words. Yet, his actions speak volumes on Christian character and Biblical manhood.

May we all learn valuable lessons from the quiet, simple, yet God-honoring life of Joseph.

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