Joseph, The Father Of Jesus

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:18-22

Priests and pastors often have much to say about Mary, the mother of Jesus. A virgin, she conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit, giving birth to the Son of God in human form.

This is the central narrative arc in the Nativity story. For this alone, Mary is an important figure within Christian religious traditions.

But what about Joseph? What shall we say about the man God selected to be the human father to the Son of God, the man who would raise Jesus from boy to man? With Mary, his parenting surely plays a part in setting the stage for Jesus’ ministry here on earth.

We are told in Matthew that Joseph was a “just man.” We do well to take note of that, for while we can look back on the circumstances of Jesus’ birth knowing who He really is, the friends and family of Joseph and Mary would have had no such knowledge. Those who were prone to notice little details might easily have figured out that Mary's pregnancy preceded her marriage to Joseph.

In ancient Judea, that would have been scandalous.

Even now, for the Christian, the premise that Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and is thus the human form of the only begotten Son of God is something we necessarily take on faith. In early Christian creeds such as the Apostle’s Creed, this is one of the central declarations of faith. This is what we explicitly say we believe.

How much faith must Joseph have had? He did not have the benefit of millennia of Christian traditions and history to bolster his faith. He had only a visitation by an angel, and that visitation came in the manner of a dream. That was the only assurance Joseph had that his raising the child Jesus was what God had planned.

Could any man in that time have faulted Joseph had he followed through with his initial plan of quietly divorcing Mary? Would he not have been seen as well within his rights according to Jewish custom and Jewish law?

There is no doubt here. Joseph absolutely would have been seen as justified in divorcing Mary. Jewish society would indisputably have supported him in that decision. As we can see in Deuteronomy 22, Jewish law was quite clear on the matter.

Yet Joseph did not divorce Mary. He accepted her and Jesus. He took her with him to Bethlehem when summoned by the Roman census. He took her and the infant Jesus into Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous rampage. He took them eventually to Nazareth, where Jesus would grow to manhood.

We may fairly surmise that Joseph remained a key figure in Jesus early life, for when the people marveled at Jesus and His teachings, they spoke of Him as Joseph's son. Despite knowing that Jesus was not his child, Joseph willingly raised Jesus, presenting Him to the world as his child.

Joseph did all this with only the assurance of a visitation during a dream that he was following God's plan for him.

How much faith must Joseph have had to do all this?

The Nativity story is for obvious reasons centered on Jesus. The Son of God is the figure animating the entire Nativity story.

Yet just as with the Old Testament prophecies, within the Nativity story we see also number of important human figures: Elizabeth, Zechari'ah, Mary, even John the Baptist. From the prophecies in Isaiah to the moment of Jesus’ birth, the narrative is populated by important human figures who help shape and advance the narrative.

One quality uniting all these individuals is their faith. Even Zechari'ah, who was rebuked by the Angel Gabriel for questioning God's ability to make his previously barren wife fertile, found favor with God because of his faith.

David became “the stump of Jesse” from which would blossom the Messiah because of his faith.

Joseph became the human father to the Son of God because of his faith.

Joseph was not merely a “just man”. Joseph was indisputably a righteous man, and one who had found favor with God.

Yet Joseph was also indisputably just a man. We do not know what sins he may have committed, but we would not be unreasonable in presuming he was guilty of at least a few sins. We do not know what imperfections he may have had, but we would not be unreasonable in presuming he was imperfect.

Joseph is a striking figure of a man precisely because so little is said about him. Joseph is simply there, supporting Mary, supporting Jesus, doing all that a husband and father should do. Joseph advanced God’s plan simply by being a man—being a husband, and a father. We can see that from all that is not said about him within Scripture.

Ponder that: Joseph fulfilled God’s plan for him simply by being a man. Being a man and doing what men do was what God needed from Joseph to bring Jesus’ ministry to life here on Earth.

Jesus, Emmanuel, the Son of God, came down to Earth to be the salvation of all mankind. That was His ministry, and that is His mission. As part of that mission and that ministry, Jesus surrounded Himself with ordinary men—sinful, flawed, imperfect men. Jesus elected to communicate His message of redemption and salvation to the entire world through those sinful, flawed, imperfect men.

God could have used angels to communicate His message—but He did not.

God could have sent signs to inspire the people of Israel—but He did not.

God chose to use men. God chose to send His only begotten Son Jesus down to Earth as a man, to live as a man, grow as a man, and ultimately die as a man on the Cross at Calvary.

God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus. God chose Joseph to be the Father of Jesus.

God chooses men to work His plans here on Earth. That is what God does.

This has been the theme of my Advent sermons this year—that God chooses men, that God empowers men, that God works His will through men.

Men are fallen, corrupt, and sinful. God is still with us.

Men make mistakes, time and again. God does not measure our righteousness by our deeds, but by our faith.

Men are not angels. God chooses men and not angels to carry His message to the world.

Joseph, standing firm as husband to Mary and father to Jesus, was called by God to shepherd Jesus into this world. Joseph, guided by nothing but faith, thus played his crucial role in fulfilling Jesus’ ministry here on Earth.

This is how God’s plan invariably unfolds. God, who is capable of working any miracle He desires, reveals His greatest plans through men. God, who can imbue men with great strength and superior wisdom, calls men to simply be just and righteous men.

On this the final Sunday of Advent, I pray we can all draw inspiration from Joseph, the Father of Jesus. On this, the final Sunday of Advent, I pray we can see in Joseph how each of us, by standing firm in justice and righteousness, fulfills God’s plan not just for ourselves but for the entire world. On this, the final Sunday of Advent, I pray we realize from the example of Joseph that when we are guided by faith, out of our ordinary lives can come extraordinary things.

Joseph fulfilled God’s plan for him simply by being a man. Being a man and doing what men do was what God needed from Joseph to bring Jesus’ ministry to life here on Earth.

This is how God’s plan invariably unfolds. God, who is capable of working any miracle He desires, reveals His greatest plans through men. God, who can imbue men with great strength and superior wisdom, calls men to simply be just and righteous men.