Over the last few weeks many have spoken eloquently about Mary and her part in the Christmas story, her acceptance, her surrender, how she gave birth and in what conditions. And we all feel for this woman who went from joy to hardship in a matter of months. But, during all this we forget the man who stood by her side throughout, who took on a young pregnant girl, trying hard to believe she hadn’t been unfaithful, trying to believe this was all God’s infinite plan until he had his own visitation from the angel who convinced him to take Mary for his wife.
If you jump forward to today, Mary’s predicament wouldn’t surprise many – perhaps the angel bit might come as a shock! But the actual situation she found herself in - not so much. These days Joseph would probably not be worried about taking Mary on and life would continue as normal.
But then we leap back and we see that this was no ordinary time. The stars began to align, wise men came from foreign lands, shepherds nearly have a heart attack in a field when a bright light containing one of those angels came calling with another message.
Watching all this is Joseph. Bewildered, perhaps a little frightened about the future, wondering what would happen when a dream became reality, wondering how to look after such a precious child and its mother. The Bible says surprisingly very little about Joseph except that he was a carpenter, not a good one or an excellent one, just a carpenter. He would have been skilled in woodcraft - he would know which was the best wood, he would know the names of trees, yet little did he know that 30 years later, and long after Joseph had died, the boy he nurtured through his early years would be hung up on wood, wood from a tree he probably knew the name of. But importantly it does demonstrate Joseph’s faith, his trust in God, his hope that all would work out well. How do we know this when we’re told very little?
Well during the year of betrothal (that was the ritual in those days), he would have known that Mary was of good character, faithful to God, her parents and him. When she became pregnant, imagine his shock and horror, and by law Joseph was within his rights to end the betrothal period and divorce Mary. To do so publicly would expose her and her family to shame, yet he did not do this. This very act shows him to be a caring man. He took Mary to be his wife, despite the stares and gossip which would have been rife, he cared for her during their life together, responding to the angel’s warning to rise up and go to Egypt, when Herod was determined to kill the newborn king. Listening yet again to an angel telling him it was safe to return home 12 years later.
So during this time of Advent when we wait for Mary to give birth, let us pause and think of this brave man, who in a time where he could have rightly rejected Mary and the whole scenario, took it all on his shoulders to care for her and nurture the child. He would never see what Jesus would become, he would never see Mary’s sorrow. He would never see Jesus give his mother Mary to his disciple John as he took his last breath on the cross.
But he was and is as important to this whole story as Mary; for without Joseph there is no trek to Bethlehem, there is no frantic dash looking for a room to allow the birth to happen, there would not have even been this story. He had an integral part to play and he played it to the fullest. God made him stepfather to this boy who would one day be king. As we give thankful praise for Mary and what she did, let us also do the same for Joseph, a brave, kind and wise man, who withstood all that life threw at him and remained steadfast and faithful to the end.
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