Joseph, A Good and Humble Man

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost”.  Matthew 1:18

What would a man do today if he found out that his fiancé was pregnant?  First of all, he would likely think that it was his baby because many couples are not celibate before marriage these days.  But in the event that the two of them had not had sexual relations before their nuptials, he would know that this baby was not his.  He would know that his fiancé had been unfaithful to him because, after all, to be engaged to be married calls for faithfulness just as marriage does.  What would he do?  In most cases, he would break off the engagement unless his fiancé begged for forgiveness, and he was, like Joseph, a good, humble, and forgiving man, he might continue their relationship.  However, that would be something that would likely cause some distrust in their marriage.

We wonder just how Mary approached Joseph, her betrothed husband, with the news that she was going to have a baby.  I am sure that he was shocked.  She seemed like such a sweet and honorable young woman.  How could she do this to him?  However, because Joseph was a good and honorable man, he did not want to make a spectacle of her publicly.  The marriage contract between the two of them indicated that they were already married but had not been intimate with each other, thus a woman in her status as a wife would have been guilty of adultery which was punishable according to Jewish law by death (Leviticus 20:10).  Think about that for a minute.  Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, could have been put to death as an adulteress.  However, God would not let that happen.  Nothing can thwart God’s plans.  How did Joseph find out that Mary’s Baby was no ordinary baby?

Upon hearing the news of this pregnancy, Joseph had to decide how he was going to handle this.  This was quite a dilemma for him.  I think that he really loved Mary, although this could have been an arranged marriage, but scripture does not tell us that.  Joseph had to think things through and make a decision.  The best solution was to quietly divorce her.  He went to sleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.  This angel was likely Gabriel, the same angel who had appeared to Mary and given her the news of bearing the Son of God, but scripture doesn’t name him as he spoke to Joseph in this dream.  The angel told Joseph to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife into his home because the baby that she conceived was by the Holy Spirit.  She would have a Son who would be named Jesus, and He would save His people from their sins for the name “Jesus” means “Savior”.  This was to fulfill the prophecy by Isaiah (7:14):  “a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” which means “God with us”.

Joseph obeyed the words of the Lord as delivered by the angel.  He took Mary into his home, and she remained a virgin until after Jesus was born.  Some people believe that she remained a virgin throughout her life, but scripture tells us that Joseph “knew her not” until after Jesus was born (Matthew 1:25).  “Knew her not” means that he did not know her intimately, that is, did not have sexual relations with her until after Jesus’ birth.  Joseph and Mary went on to have four more sons and some daughters (Matthew 13:55-56).  Also, Jesus is referred to as Mary’s “firstborn” son (Luke 2:7) which indicates that she had other children after Jesus.

Joseph was certainly a good, humble, forgiving, and courageous man who became the earthly father of Jesus whom some believe that he passed away before Jesus began His ministry.  However, in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, there were Jews who murmured about Jesus, asking if He wasn’t the same Jesus, the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother they knew.  Thus, Joseph still could have been living at that time, but is not prominently mentioned in scripture.  We know that he was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55) and taught likely all of his sons how to build things out of wood.  The main thing that we do know about him is that God gave him the privilege and responsibility of rearing the Son of God along with Mary, the highly favored and blessed mother of Jesus.

Next time: The Blessed Event in Bethlehem