Tonight I wanted to take a look at a man we do not know much about, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. We do not know much about Joseph. The Bible does not cover him in to much detail. We know Joseph was living in Nazareth at the time of Jesus conception. We know Joseph was from the line of David and that is why Jesus ended up being born in the stable in Bethlehem. We know Joseph was a carpenter and used his hands to make his family money. And we know Joseph does not seem present at the death of his son 30 years later. But that is about all we know of Joseph the father on earth of God.
So knowing all this and not really at the same time knowing anything I began to think so what can I take away from Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, from the Bible? What can I learn from the life of Jesus earthly father? As I was pondering this and in turn thinking about Jesus birth and the celebration of Christmas I found 3 small truths and important examples that Joseph can show me and inspire me to be like him. All 3 of these examples comes from Joseph's few verses in the book of Matthew particularly chapter 1 verses 19-25.
1) Joseph was a "righteous man". What does that mean? Well first it means he is a follower and a man that lives for the One True God, Yahweh. It means he does what is right in the eyes of God. He followed the Torah, His Bible< our Old Testament>, and let the Torah dictate his life. Joseph did right business practices. He loved his fellow Jews and took care of the poor. Joseph looked out for those around him and was generous with his time, treasures, and talents. He was a worshiper of God and devoted his whole life to following what God commanded him to obey. He was faithful in going to synagogue, church, and gave a tithe to the church. He was a good employee and would someday be able to take care of his family. He was a good son and looked out for his parents and other family members that needed help. Joseph was a mans man. He might not have been the strongest, smartest, or fastest but he was right in the sight of God and that is all that matters. Joseph was a righteous man which should be the description that ever man, husband, and father of God should strive to be. Which then leads to the other 2 things I noticed about Joseph.
2) Joseph was a man of true, unconditional, no matter what, love. Joseph was full of what I would call agape love. Mary, his fiance is pregnant. Joseph could have hauled her before the town and disgraced her and made a fool of her but even in spite of not understanding what Mary is up to he loves her to the point he wants to hide her and let her go quietly so that she will not be humiliated. And that is when the Angel intervenes. Then Joseph takes that love to the next level. In human thinking Joseph must have still been confused and not understood what he was seeing and hearing about Mary and this baby. But Joseph loved Mary so much that he obeyed and took Mary home and did not have sex with her until Jesus came. Joseph's love for Mary caused him to not only not publicly humiliate Mary but instead be humiliated with her as others in the town now ridiculed them both. Imagine how the town of Nazareth for 9 months would ridicule both Mary and Joseph as they stood for what they were told and took the public laughter. No one but Mary and Joseph understood what God was doing. So Joseph loved Mary so much he stood beside her and even protected her with all the shame they felt together. Every man who loves Jesus should strive for this same type of love to all others just like Joseph. This leads me to the 3rd thing I noticed about Joseph.
3)Joseph was a many of obedience. He listened and followed God to the exact command no matter what happened to him. First Joseph obeyed God to the point where He did not have sex with his wife so has to defile her and the baby. Just thinking about that one act of obedience make me stand in awe a little of Joseph. Then Joseph obeyed God in his love for Mary, taking her in, protected her and doing all that the angel asked without ever seeming to doubt what all this was to mean. Joseph stood for his God and took Him at His words and followed. Joseph followed God against the cultural norms of his day. He obeyed God when everyone else around him was saying the exact opposite. Joseph stood for what God said and did it when he was the only one and was even feeling the pull in the opposite directions. O how every man after the heart of God should be just as obedient to God's commands.
Just looking at these 3 traits of Joseph, the father of Jesus, makes me realize he was a great man to lead the earthly family of God. Joseph shows me what a leader in the home looks and acts like. It also makes me realize how far I am of being like Joseph and being a "righteous man". I pray that this coming year I can grow to be more like Joseph as I ever try and be more and more like my Savior Jesus. That is all that Joseph was trying to do also, be more like his Savior, his Son. But I think Joseph gives us a great example and place to start as we chase after the image of Jesus, the baby in the manger.
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