Posted on 12/12/2021 2:50:26 AM PST by Kaslin
Author’s Note: Interested readers can find all previous volumes of this series here. News Flash: The first 56 volumes are compiled into a book titled “Bible Study For Those Who Don’t Read The Bible.”
Thanks for joining us as we continue discussing topics relevant to the Advent Season culminating in the “advent” (arrival) of Yeshua — a Jewish infant with the anglicized name of Jesus. Last week we examined the conception and birth story of John the Baptist (Vol. 90), and today, we study Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, who many believe is under-appreciated.
Since there are no direct Biblical quotes attributed to Joseph, we don’t know his personality, which helps explain why he is often overlooked. Primarily, Joseph is known as Mary’s husband and Jesus’s earthly father. However, he should always be commended and remembered for his obedience to God’s instructions via an “angel of the Lord” at four critical junctures in the life of Jesus.
In the New Testament, we first read Joseph’s name in the first chapter of Matthew — the NT’s first book named for its author — one of Jesus’s 12 apostles. According to my NIV Study Bible (and widely accepted) was that “Matthew’s main purpose is to prove to his Jewish readers that Jesus is their Messiah.”
To “prove” his case, Matthew begins his book detailing “The Genealogy of Jesus” —starting with “Abraham was the father of Issac….” (Matthew 1:2). Fourteen verses later, Matthew writes, “..and Jacob [not the patriarch Jacob] the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ ” (Matthew 1:16).
That genealogy speaks volumes about who Joseph was and why he was chosen to be the earthly father of Jesus.
Descended from King David, Joseph was Jewish “royalty” — as was Jesus through Mary. However, Joseph was the only male in Matthew’s genealogy who did not “father” the next generation. Instead, Joseph is recorded as “the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born...” In ancient times, men were never referred to as the “husband” of their wife, proving Joseph was unique and anointed for a greater mission.
And what was that mission? The Lord chose Joseph to protect Mary and Jesus. Let’s review the famous story:
“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 ” (Matthew 1:18).
Oy vey! Thought Joseph after learning that baffling news and contemplating his next move:
“Joseph was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her [Mary] to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:19).
At that time, Jesus could not be raised in shame by a divorced, single mother and why Joseph’s plan triggered a Divine intervention:
“But after he had considered this [divorce], 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, because he will save his people from their sins ’ ” (Matthew 1: 20-21).
Note that during and after Joseph’s first dream, he does not respond but chooses to be obedient to the Lord’s commands:
“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus” (Matthew 1: 24-25).
We turn now to the gospel of Luke, where the Christmas story’s most familiar narrative is recorded. I paraphrase:
About the time Mary was nearing her due date, the Roman emperor issued a census decree for everyone to report to their hometown to be registered (assuming for taxation purposes.) That explains why Joseph and Mary went “to Bethlehem, the town of David because he belonged to the house and line of David” (Luke 2:1-4).
All that action converged to fulfill a Messianic prophecy recorded in the Hebrew Bible book of Micah written seven centuries earlier:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).
Although we never “hear” Joseph’s voice, his presence was integral to the prophesied birthplace and how he protected Baby Jesus against a life threat that warranted a second angelic Divine intervention. Again, Joseph had a dream:
“When they [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ So he [Joseph] got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’ ” (Matthew 2:13-15).
The third time “an angel of the Lord” (Gabriel, we assume since his first assignment was Mary) came to Joseph in a dream was when it was time to leave Egypt after King Herod had died. The angel said:
“ ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel” (Matthew 2:19-21).
Shortly after, Joseph was warned in dream number four that Herod’s son Archelaus was dangerous. Thus, Joseph “withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene” (Matthew 2:22-23).
Interestingly, in the time of Jesus, Nazarene was a synonym for “despised.” And why in John’s gospel, when Philip was trying to recruit Nathanael to meet Jesus, Nathanael said, “ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip” (John 1:45-46).
Today, we learned that the Lord’s plan for Joseph was missions of vital importance. He was commanded to protect Mary and Baby Jesus while locating the Messiah exactly where He had to be when He had to be there.
St. Joseph, we appreciate you!
Amen.
I tried research Joseph a couple months ago. I find it interesting that he’s rarely mentioned and assumed died before the crucifixion due to Christ’s telling Mary and John about mother/son.
It’s intriguing that the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel is clearly told from St. Joseph’s perspective.
Makes me wonder how Matthew learned that information.
I have always personally wondered why there were not more sermons on the obedience of Joseph. Everyone else,from Zachariah to Mary asked questions of the angels and were answered or rebuked as needed.
Joseph obeyed. He immediately took Mary into his house, he immediately got up in the middle of the night and left for Egypt, he immediately changed their route of march to Nazareth. Joseph obeyed, and God gave him the greatest gift of being that person that could be depended on.
Joseph could be depended on by God.
His mother is certainly under appreciated in Protestant circles, except this one time of the year.
Yeah, because nobody ever talks about Mary on Mother’s Day in Protestant churches, and she is certainly ignored totally during Easter ruminations from the pulpit. What a great point you made. (/s)
At that time, Jesus could not be raised in shame by a divorced, single mother and why Joseph’s plan triggered a Divine intervention...
Oftentimes you'll hear someone refer to Mary as an "unwed mother." As the above passage indicates. Mary was not "unwed" at the time or Joseph could not have divorced her. They were, in fact, "betrothed" (Luke 1:27) which at that time and place meant Joseph and Mary had officially been married but were not yet living together. Usually there was an interval of about a year between betrothal during which the husband prepared a home for his bride while she still lived with her parents. Then at the appropriate time he would bring her from her parents home to their new home at which time also the wedding feast would occur and they would begin their lives together as man and wife.
Note that Jesus told His disciples that He was going Home to prepare a place for His bride. The Jewish marriage customs represent Jesus’ marriage to His Church. By accepting Jesus, the ‘betrothal’ takes place.
(John 14:2 ESV) In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
The ‘marriage’ and ‘ marriage feast’ are described in Revelation 9.
Wow… three times a year. Excellent point you make.
How so or what makes you say/think that? Thank you.
This short film entitled Joseph the film has won many awards.
https://www.facebook.com/JosephFilm-113051406046662/
His mother is certainly under appreciated in Protestant circles, except this one time of the year.
************************************************************
When some of us “protestants” come to the realization of the “Good News of the Gospels” and understand that the Spirit of God dwells in us to teach, protect, guide, and comfort us, we find little need for anything else.
Ephesian 1 tells us “In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
Once we come to this understanding of the position we have been given, through the love of God, many of us don’t see it beneficial to spend time on the veneration of the earthly Mother of Jesus.
According to scripture the “Kingdom of God” dwells within me. When I have direct access to God, why would I seek an intermediary to plead my case?
As for Joseph: If we are to take scripture as the truth, Joseph has no higher a position in the Kingdom of God than you do. Why would the writers choose to give us details about him, or the earthly brothers Jesus
This is not a slam at Catholicism, it merely addresses your question on the differences between the two theologies and the interpretations of the scriptures.
That being said; I was educated in Catholic schools so I really don’t want or need an understanding of either side’s views. I can understand both
L’alam al-meid Amen
“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.” — Maximilian Kolbe.
"Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. "It's all from Joseph's perspective...his thoughts, his frame of mind about Mary, his vision of the angel. Doesn't it sound like Matthew was told this story by Joseph...or someone so intimately connected to Joseph that he heard all of this from Joseph himself?
And then chapter 2 again:
"And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him. [14] Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod"Then another dream to Joseph in Egypt and then another warning in sleep not to return to Judea.
I'm not a Scripture scholar or anything, but as a writer, I am very sensitive to perspectives in a story. These whole two chapters seem to preserve Joseph's account of what happened. So then I wonder how that account got into the hands of Matthew.
Very interesting and thanks for sharing. It is appreciated.
Since she isn’t the Savior, I think it is quite fair. Moses gets talked about a couple of times a year, John the Baptist probably gets talked about only twice a year. Paul gets talked about a lot, but he helped write most of the books.
However, Jesus gets most of the top billing and mentions. Or do you have a problem with that?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.