Mary’s Joseph
Disruptions & Joys
What joys did Joseph experience? What joys gave him strength and carried him through the difficulties, disruptions, and disgraces he faced?
I see Joseph as a young boy, hearing the stories of the Torah, learning about his people and how God chose them, and spoke to them, and rescued them. I picture him listening to the chapters about another Joseph, also a son of Jacob, with a multicolored coat and mysterious dreams. Perhaps as a young boy Mary’s Joseph imagined himself sent off to Egypt by older brothers who wanted to kill him but ending up as a ruler and rescuer instead.
What little boy doesn’t long to be a hero, especially when he is named after one? Did Joseph pray for spiritually significant dreams? Did he ask God for a special role in the salvation of His people? Did he long to be worthy of the name Joseph, being remembered for his wisdom, his leadership, or his connection to God?
We don’t know. We do remember Mary’s Joseph, not for his rescue of God’s people, but his protection and provision for God’s Son and His mother.
“…and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, Who is called Christ.”
Matthew 1:16 ESV
“Joseph the husband of Mary,” not the usual designation for a man in a Jewish genealogy, but that’s how Matthew describes him. This would have been a glaring statement to Matthew’s original readers. Clearly, he is making the point that Joseph is NOT the father of Jesus.
Mary’s Joseph doesn’t get many verses in scripture, and he doesn’t speak a single word in the Bible. But he had a front-row seat to Jesus’ early life and played an influential part in Jesus’ upbringing. God called on Joseph to step up and take on a role bigger than he could manage. To exercise his faith and his strength in significant ways by protecting both Mary and Jesus while allowing himself to suffer in the process.
Mary’s Joseph sacrificed his desires, his rights, his reputation, and his work, in order to submit to God’s plan for salvation.
Think about all the disruptions Mary’s Joseph experienced in his life:
He finds out his fiancé is pregnant. Good-bye dreams of love and faithfulness, good-bye reputation, and good standing in the community.
He has to adjust, mentally and emotionally, to the idea of a divorce and all that it means, as well as deciding what to do afterwards.
Just as he’s settled on what to do, God speaks and he has to adjust back to his original plan to wed Mary, but immediately rather than later.
He has to begin his new family with a scandal hanging over their heads.
He has to face his family’s rejection and misunderstanding.
He has to move to a new town because of an order from an oppressive government.
He has to set up shop, find a home, and build a new life in Bethlehem.
Just a few years later, probably just as Bethlehem is starting to feel like home, God speaks in a dream again. Now Joseph has to pack up his house and family, and leave the country in the middle of the night because his wife’s child is in danger. (During a time when traveling at night was very dangerous itself!)
He has to find a place to live and work in Egypt. He and his family are foreigners in a foreign land, with no connections at all, as far as we know.
Sometime later he has to move back from Egypt and start over yet again—new home, new work, new neighbors—this time in Nazareth.
How did he do it?
Certainly, he was a man of faith and character. Matthew calls him righteous or just. He is obviously level-headed, kind, and considerate of Mary, even though he has apparently been wronged by her. Joseph doesn’t lash out or make a hasty decision. And God allowed Joseph think through all this and make a plan. Only when Joseph had come to a decision and was near to acting did God intervene by sending an angel to Joseph in a dream.
Here, we have a hint of a joy that could fortify him: a dream. Like Joseph in the Old Testament, Mary’s Joseph is granted communication from God in a dream. In fact, Mary’s Joseph has clearer dreams than the original Joseph. No wondering about their meaning. Who among us hasn’t wanted the joy of an unambiguous assignment from God?
Mary’s Joseph also experienced the joy of welcoming a new baby into the world, as many of us have. And as a Jewish man living under the rule of Rome, what joy and hope he must have felt knowing the long-awaited Messiah was finally here! Not just here in general, but right here, in his arms!
The joy of extraordinary events unfolding right in front of him was also granted to Joseph.
At Jesus’ birth, shepherds show up and talk of a sky filled with angels, announcing the Savior who brings joy to the world! If Joseph was doubting his earlier dream, this was a reminder and confirmation of who this Baby really was.
A few weeks later, Simeon and Anna, both tuned into the Holy Spirit, recognize Jesus in the Temple, and speak of salvation and redemption for Israel. Yet another encouragement and refreshment of joy.
A couple years pass, and Magi come knocking on the door with expensive gifts for this little boy, Jesus. Gifts that likely financed the flight to Egypt and their new life there. Mary’s Joseph must’ve felt the joy of seeing God’s provision in the middle of the upheaval.
I think Joseph also had joy in exercising his strength and faith on behalf of Mary and Jesus, knowing that his contribution was eternally meaningful and went far beyond his own life and family.
Joseph the husband of Mary had a life echoing with joy.
Questions to Consider and Comment Below
What have you dreamed of doing in God’s Kingdom?
How has God disrupted your plans?
What joy has God brought to you in the midst of the disruptions?