A Christmas Thought

One of the people who gets eclipsed during Christmas is
Joseph. This man is the person God chose
to be the earthly father of Jesus. Admittedly
there is very little that the Bible tells us about Joseph, but what God’s Word
does say might give us a bit of insight into the people God wants us to be.

“This is how the
birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to
Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through
the Holy Spirit. 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 1:18-19)

The Bible tells us that Joseph was a “just” or “righteous”
man. Noah is said by God to have been a
“just” man who was perfect in comparison to the wicked people of his
generation, and he also walked with God in close fellowship as Enoch had done
(See Gen. 6:9). In other words Matthew
is saying that Joseph was a true believer in God and would have been careful to
obey the law of God.

In a predominantly religious culture, such as Israel was
at this time, it was very important to look like a righteous person, to follow
the Law. For Joseph to be called a
righteous man means that he was zealous for God’s Law. While he may not have had in-depth theological
training a Pharisee like the Apostle Paul would have, he would know what the
law said and would follow it to the best of his ability.

I also think it’s important to have an understanding
about first-century Jewish marriages which may help clarify these verses. Various texts translate the key words of this
passage differently. The NIV describes
them as “pledged” to be married, the NASB uses the term “betrothed,” while the
KJV says Joseph was “espoused” to Mary.

No matter how you translate it, it’s important to note
that the bond between Mary and Joseph at this time was contractual, not merely
social, as would be the case when talking about “engagement” in our day. That
is, espousal/betrothal/pledged constituted the legal contract and commitment of
marriage. What we call the wedding was
the time when the bride and groom were accompanied by friends and feasting to
celebrate the occasion of actually joining their households.

So, to put it simply, what we call engagement was more
like their marriage, and what we call the wedding was the time when they
actually moved in with each other. For
all intents and purposes, then, Mary and Joseph were married but had not yet
moved in with each other or consummated their union. Therefore the great distress of finding that
Mary was already pregnant.

And the Old Testament Law is very clear on what is to
happen to a person caught in adultery, they were to be stoned. The evidence of a pregnant Mary told Joseph
that she had been unfaithful, and a righteous man would want to make sure the
Law was obeyed.

On this side of Jesus we have a different understanding
of what it means to be righteous, therefore, it is hard for us to picture a
righteous man as one who would allow such an inhumane act to take place. The reality is that the early readers of the
Gospel would have understood very well what the Law required and what it meant
to be righteous. This is exactly the
place I think we can catch the best glimpse of why God chose Joseph to be the
father of Jesus, the person who would have the greatest responsibility in
teaching Him about the Law.

Joseph knew the Law and the penalty which it demanded,
but he also had compassion. He was not
going to subject the woman he loved to public ridicule, but neither could he
accept her infidelity. He would allow
her to going on living, but Joseph would not let her become his wife. Joseph’s compassion was greater than the immediate
satisfaction of the legal requirements.

What can we learn from Joseph’s dilemma or Mary’s
dilemma? Certainly it is that God can
and sometimes does place us in difficult situations that are not the result of
our own doing. However, as we will later
see, He does so within His will and not without providing us with a choice that
will honor Him.

I do think it’s important to imagine the distress that
would have consumed Joseph (and Mary if he made his intentions known to
her). We’re accustomed to thinking about
the beauty and wonder of the birth of Jesus, and that’s appropriate. But let’s not forget the upset, sense of
betrayal, disappointment, and a host of other emotions that Joseph must have
experienced, or the fear and hurt that Mary would likely have also felt as they
sorted out their divinely complex relationship.

How do you respond to tough decisions? Will you sort out the options and choose that which
honors and glorifies God even if it doesn’t make sense to you or turn the event
in your favor? Joseph is a wonderful and
often overlooked example of such a response.

God also sees our infidelity, which is real, unlike
Mary’s, and He has compassion on us. He
doesn’t want to see us publicly disgraced and go through the agony of
Hell. Instead God suspends the immediate
requirements for justice and allows us to go on living.

We deserve death, but God allows us to live through Jesus Christ!