Heroes of Christmas: Joseph
In this series, the Heroes of Christmas, we’re looking a little closer at some of the people who are sometimes overlooked or misunderstood, showing why they matter for our proper understanding of the Christmas story.
Of all the characters in the Christmas story, Joseph is probably the most overlooked. He’s even difficult to tell apart from the shepherds in your Christmas nativity set. Although he’s often portrayed as a background character, let’s remember that God chose him to be Jesus’ earthly father. That should make him worth a second look.
We don’t know much about Joseph, since there are only a few verses that even mention him, but I want to present what we do know and reflect on a few lessons we can learn from him.
What We Know About Joseph
He is from David’s lineage: Luke 2:4 explains that Joseph and Mary went to Nazareth to register for the census since Joseph’s family was from the line of David, in the tribe of Judah. As the legal son of Joseph, this also became Jesus’ genealogy. The Lord promised that Israel’s messiah-king would be from David’s line according to the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7).
Joseph and Mary were engaged: They weren’t yet married, but engagement in Jewish culture was more formal than it is today. To be engaged and then to separate required a divorce certificate – and “no-fault divorce” didn’t exist. They were considered husband and wife during this yearlong engagement, but the marriage would not be consummated through sexual intimacy until after the wedding.
Joseph was a godly man: Mary’s pregnancy would normally be considered adultery, which could lead to significant public shame – even public execution, if Joseph so chose. After all, who would believe their fiancee’s defense, “No! I promise I didn’t have an affair, I’m still a virgin. This pregnancy is a miracle by God!” Despite the shame it heaped upon him, Joseph sought to quietly divorce Marcy to spare her the severe punishment she could have received.
He likely died before Jesus’ public ministry: Jesus was 12 years old when he got lost in the Temple, and Luke 2:43 says, “when his parents were returning home,” which implies both parents were alive and present. And Luke 3:23 says, “Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his ministry,” and we never hear any mention about Joseph. This strongly implies that Joseph died sometime between Jesus’ twelfth and thirtieth birthday. We don’t know anything about Joseph’s age or the way he may have died.
Joseph’s Dreams
The gospel of Matthew tells us about three dreams, or visions, where the Lord spoke to Joseph. We tend to think about Mary as the one with “special status” with God, but it’s worth noting that these dreams were given to Joseph.
In the first dream (Matthew 1:20-21), the Lord appears to Joseph to tell him that Mary’s pregnancy is indeed from the Lord. God says, “do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.” We don’t know how exactly this dream happened, but we do know that Joseph knew this was a dream from God. When Joseph awoke, he obeyed everything God said in the dream. Surely, there was much “whispering” among the community about Mary’s indiscretion. This is evident when Jesus returns to his hometown only to be called, “Jesus, son of Mary” in Mark 6:3, implying that he was Mary’s son but not Joseph’s. And yet, Joseph believed God and took Mary as his wife and the baby (Jesus) as his son.
In the second dream (Matthew 2:13), God told Joseph, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” This was after the Magi’s visit, when Herod was alerted to the Messiah’s birth. Joseph and Mary had no reason to suspect they were in danger. Surely, when they packed everything up to flee to Egypt some of their neighbors thought they were crazy. But Joseph believed God’s message and obeyed. And it’s a good thing, because in Herod’s attempt to get to Jesus he kills the young children in the area around Bethlehem.
In the third dream (Matthew 2:19-20), God tells Joseph, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” King Herod is dead and the threat is gone. Now it’s time for Joseph and Mary and Jesus to make their own “exodus” out of Egypt, returning to the promised land. Again, Joseph believes God’s message and obeys.
What can we Learn from Joseph
Obedience
Joseph obeyed God. It’s easy for us today to read these stories and think, “Well, if I had a dream from God then I’d obey too!” Let’s be honest, most of us would probably chalk these dreams up to indigestion. We’d find some way to overcomplicate and overthink God’s message. We don’t know what we don’t know about Joseph’s immediate response to the dreams, but we do know that he woke up from the dreams, told Mary, they discussed it, and then they obeyed.
Humble Godliness
Joseph could have divorced Mary upon biblical grounds. He could have even had her publicly stoned for adultery. He could have been so personally offended by her apparent sin that he even refused to believe God’s dream because it’s so far-fetched. Joseph didn’t respond in a way that defended his honor, and he didn’t seek Mary’s public repentance for sexual sin. Instead, he responded with humility and gentleness while pursuing a quiet divorce. Even before God assured him of Mary’s purity, Joseph’s response wasn’t one of righteous anger, but of humble godliness. This shows us what kind of man Joseph was, and what kind of man God chose to raise the Son of God. I can’t help wondering if Jesus saw something of his mother in the adulterous woman, and if he learned from Joseph’s example about how to be merciful towards her.
God’s Faithfulness
Joseph wasn’t included in Hebrews 11’s “hall of faith,” but he belongs among those godly saints who believed God when they had every reason not to. He obeyed God, protected Mary and Jesus when they were in danger, and then disappeared from the Bible. He likely never got to see Jesus’ miracles or heard Jesus preach. He didn’t witness Jesus’ baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, or anything else. Joseph loved Jesus, raised Jesus, and then died.
He is the epitome of hidden faithfulness. Overlooked. Forgotten. The disposable figure in the nativity scene. But without Joseph’s humble godliness and bold obedience, none of it would’ve happened. We don’t often think about the humanity of Jesus when it pertains to his earthly father, but I wonder how much he learned about the Scriptures and godliness and mercy from Joseph.
Some of us may feel like Joseph. We’ve been faithful to God’s calling but we feel insignificant, forgotten, and easily overlooked. But God routinely uses people like Joseph (and like you and me) as important characters in a much bigger story.
Teaching about Joseph leads to a very simple message. Obey God, and trust that God will honor your legacy, even if you never see what God does through your faithful obedience.
