Not Your Average Joe

One guy that doesn’t get enough credit is Joseph. He like Mary isn’t mentioned much in the Gospel, but unlike Mary he doesn’t get much attention in our culture. All those old Roman paintings you see are of Mary, songs about Christmas mention Mary, and we preach sermons on Mary but where is Joseph? It’s easy to miss him, he’s only mentioned in Matthew and Luke, and from then on we can infer that he may have died as Jesus grew up. Joseph may not be mentioned much but he did play a big part in our savior’s birth. First off Joseph is descendent of King David, Jesus was referred to as the “Son of David” in the Old Testament and there it is right there in the genealogy. Second Joseph was responsible, imagine his surprise when Mary came back from Elizabeth with the visible signs of pregnancy, put yourself in his shoes, you’re going to be married soon and your fiancée shows up pregnant, according to Old Testament laws Joseph had every right to stone Mary. Yet he didn’t, we are told that “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly” Matthew 1:19. Joseph even before knowing that this was the Messiah being born didn’t want Mary to be publicly disgraced, he didn’t want her to be in trouble, and instead he took some of the shame. Imagine the looks he may have gotten before his marriage as Mary’s stomach slowly grew, and we are told in verse 20 that “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…’” Not only did Joseph take some of the shame from Mary he also believed what God told him and followed his command. I wrote in a post earlier how Mary did what God commanded and here Joseph does as well. We have no idea what kind of father Joseph was to Jesus, all we know is that obeyed God’s command. Joseph continued his faithfulness as he packed up his family and moved to Egypt, another example of his willingness to serve the Lord. Joseph was just a man like anybody else, he was righteous and responsible and the same with Mary, she was an ordinary girl who was about to be married and obeyed the Lord’s command, and when God planned out how Jesus was going to come to earth He knew exactly who to call.