He was a simple carpenter, he wasn’t Jesus’ real dad, and he isn’t mentioned more than 15 times (mostly in Matt. 1.18-25, 2.13-15, 19-23). So why remember Mary’s husband Joseph?
A Just Man
That’s what Matthew calls him. God ordained for a virgin to conceive and bear a son” and for him to be “called Immanuel.” But Joseph was nervous when Mary came with news of her pregnancy. Not knowing it was of God, he could have made her a disgrace and publicly shamed her “promiscuity”, but instead he resolved to divorce her quietly. However, God had a greater purpose for Joseph: “get married and adopt Jesus as your own.” An angel came with that message and Joseph obeyed.
A Protector
Two years after Jesus was born there was a price on his head. This righteous man named Joseph had to protect Jesus from a murderous king. Again an angel appeared to him and told him to flee to Egypt. Joseph fled, and a prophecy was made true: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
A Fearful Man
When Herod died, Joseph was commanded back to Israel. But he was scared, Herod’s son was in charge, and he wouldn’t like the promised Messiah in Judea. So Joseph moved to Nazareth where he would raise the King of the Jews, and Jesus would “be called a Nazarene.”
Three times the angel appeared with a command from God. Three times Joseph listened and promises regarding the Messiah were fulfilled.
He could have…
Would you blame Joseph if he had rejected God’s plan and said, “this isn’t my fight.” His virgin girlfriend gets pregnant: “No thanks,” he could have said, “I didn’t sign up for this, I’m a carpenter. God, you made her pregnant, you protect her from disgrace!” The life of the new-born is threated: “Nope! Not doing this. I can’t risk my life for a baby that isn’t mine!” He is called to move to a new home, Nazareth: “God, I got Mary to Bethlehem, I brought them to safety in Egypt, I’m done!”
But he didn’t. Joseph remained willing through it all, and our savior grew to be the man he was born to be, growing in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and men (Lk. 2.52). Joseph is almost never again mentioned after this story, but his legacy as a man of God lives on whenever we remember the true story of our savior’s incarnation.
Are you listening to what God would have you do? Has God asked you to do something you would rather not? Joseph’s story should encourage us to live according to what God called us to (Eph. 4.1).
Photo by: davidking / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Didn't he have four dreams? I was reading it again this morning before reading this blog. Dream #1: Joseph do not be afraid to take Mary (Matt. 1:20); Dream #2: Get up and take the child … to Egypt (Matt. 2:13); Dream #3: Get up and take the child and his mother to Israel (Matt. 2:20); and Dream #4: Having been warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galiee (Matt. 2:22). Either way, how would we have reacted to having recieving a dream from the Lord? Joseph was in tune with the Lord and able to hear what the Lord had to say with clarity.
I love how God sent Jesus so we could be adopted, and then God gave Jesus up for adoption. Joe was a faithful man who listened to God's voice, even if it did not go along with the "current" train of thought.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Josh Cousineau, Atmosphere Church. Atmosphere Church said: New Blog Post | Joseph- Not My Fight – He was a simple carpenter, he wasn't Jesus' real dad, and he isn't mentione… http://ow.ly/16cPoE [...]
To answer Kathy's question: yes, he had 4 dreams, but I lumped the third and fourth ones together because they both worked together to fulfill the prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene. #3 was to tell him to go back to Israel, and #4 was more specific about where to go.
And anyone who humbles himself before God as Joseph did would be open to hearing from God through His Word, as we all must. Joseph's lesson is a great one to learn!