Understanding Joseph’s role in the first Christmas can be the first step in approaching Jesus—and learning what it means to be a person of faith.
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Behold, the Lord’s angel came to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary as your wife: for she has conceived by the Holy Spirit. She will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-22)
Despite the warm, peaceful feelings Christmas evokes, the story of Christ’s birth could have ended in tragedy—cut off before it had barely begun.
It was one man’s calling to lift it out of tragedy—and through his actions, to allow the warmth and sweetness of Christmas to prevail. That man was Joseph: the husband of Mary, and the earthly father who raised and instructed Jesus.
Joseph the Carpenter is an indistinct figure in three of the four gospels. He doesn’t appear at all in Mark. In John he’s only present in the “family name” of our Lord: “Jesus son of Joseph.” In Luke he’s cast as a witness: a pious bystander standing off to the side, who “marvels” as divine revelations unfold before him. That is certainly the image reinforced in our traditional picture of the Nativity.
But in Matthew’s gospel we truly get to meet Joseph, and even to listen in on his thoughts. His is the story that actually begins the New Testament. And this tells us something about the way the earliest Christians regarded Joseph. To them, understanding his role was the first step in approaching Jesus.
With evident respect, Matthew assures us that Joseph was “a righteous man.” At the same time, he gives indications that Joseph’s nature tended towards caution and timidity. But three visionary dreams from “the angel of the Lord” effect an amazing turn in his personality. Joseph becomes a man of action, undertaking swift, daring measures to protect his wife, rescue the infant Jesus, and defy the malignant powers arrayed against the Holy Family.
At three critical junctures—standing by Mary in her time of pregnancy (Mt 1:20-24); preemptively stealing away from Bethlehem to escape King Herod’s wrath (Mt 2:13-15); and returning from Egypt to take up a new life in Nazareth (Mt 2:19-23)—Joseph’s actions turn the tide of the story, allowing it to move forward.
But what impels him to act? Not some native cunning or energy, but rather his trust, his confidence, in the messenger of God. In this way, Joseph is revealed as the quintessential man of faith.
Reading Joseph’s story as Armenian Christians, one can hardly overlook the arresting parallels with our own forebears: Armenian parents who lived near the turn of the last century. They, too, were roused from slumber due to some premonition of danger. They, too, gathered up their children, and left hearth and home seeking refuge in a strange land. All of them were trying to escape death on a mass scale, just as the infant Jesus was. Many of our ancestors did not survive. But we today are the living testament of those who did: who found salvation and a new life. This parallel is a reminder of how people living centuries apart found courage within their hearts, because of their faith.
A Tender Father
After his dramatic role in Jesus’ youth, Joseph as a character recedes from the gospels. But not before he leaves an indelible impression on the rest of the narrative. It would have been Joseph who taught Jesus how to practice his trade, how to manage a household and the affairs of commerce, how to perform the pious offices of the Hebrew religion. The gospels testify to Jesus’ profound familiarity with these things later in life; they are the inheritance Joseph left to his son.
Yet this influence may have had another aspect. Joseph probably did not live to an old age of 80 or 90. Indeed, tradition has it that he died while Jesus was still relatively young. The Gospel leaves tantalizing clues about the way this emotional passage may have had a meaningful effect on our Lord’s later ministry.
A recurring theme in Jesus’ teaching concerns the tenderness of a father: often a father who has been separated from his child in some way, but whose love never dies. We see it in parables like the Prodigal Son, and especially in Jesus’ beautiful descriptions of God’s loving concern for mankind.
This theme in Scripture seems to originate with Jesus: search the Old Testament and you will find nothing quite like it. Of course, God was always the Father of Creation (as Jesus would teach in the Lord’s Prayer). But God never knew the experience of having a father until, incarnate as man, He came under the tutelage of Joseph. So perhaps this touching emphasis in the adult Jesus’ message owes something to the gentle, fatherly ministry he received as a boy from Joseph the Carpenter.
One could hardly imagine a more consequential effect of one man’s humble ministry to Jesus Christ.
And for us today, Joseph’s example can inform our own efforts to be faithful to Jesus, and take up his ministry in the world.
We have already noted that while Joseph himself is absent from most of the Gospel, his influence re-emerges every time someone refers to “Jesus, the son of Joseph.” It is as if people in those early days first encountered Jesus by knowing his relationship to Joseph. Surely the father’s reputation for justice and righteousness persuaded doubters to listen to Jesus, and consider his words.
The lesson for us is profound. For to the world at large, we—Christ’s modern followers—are an entry point for getting to know Jesus. Our own faithful ministry, humble though it may be, has the potential to open the door for others to come to our Lord.
Be mindful of that role as we proclaim Christ’s birth to the world. And as we rejoice in the birth of Jesus, in the devotion of Mary, and in the blessing of God’s love for mankind, find inspiration in the man of faith, Joseph, whose tender ministry allowed the first Christmas, and every Christmas, to ring with joy and peace.
By Christopher H. Zakian
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