The faith of JosephWhile putting together my Bible Study lesson for this morning, I began to think about one person who often gets lost in the "Christmas shuffle". Sure, we hear stories about how Gabriel appeared to the shepherds, how he shut Zacharia's mouth for not believing God's news that his wife, Elizabeth would have a son, we especially hear about the faith of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and rightfully so, but there's one person who gets lost in the whole story, and yet is a crucial part.That person is JOSEPH! nobody stops to consider the poor guy and what HE had to deal with during this miraculous time.Imagine how YOU would feel if the love of your life, your future bride, the one you had looked forward to being with the best of your life, suddenly told YOU that she was pregnant!You KNOW the kid isn't yours, and that's bad enough! but for her to tell you that the child she's carrying is God's son, well, that's a LOT to swallow.Joseph must have thought, gee, at LEAST have the decency to tell me a better LIE than THAT! Based on his reaction, the man didn't really believe Mary, and under the law he could have exercised his right to have her stoned or at least publicly humiliated. Instead, we see the grace and heart of compassion the man had, because even though he "had been wronged" by Mary, he clearly didn't want her to suffer any hurt, thus he made plans to put her away privatelyHow relieved he must have been to receive the news in a dream that all his bride to be said about her conception was true, and how strong he must have been to go through with his wedding plans. A man of lesser faith may have discounted the dream as a hallucination, or just run away outright from the awesome responsibility, Can you imagine the mental and emotional pressure of being the surrogate father of GOD'S SON?But Joseph did it, and in doing so, supported his wife through a very difficult time. It's not said specifically in scripture, but Mary undoubtedly needed her husband's support and got it.We dont hear much about Joseph after this, and can only speculate what happened to him,but one thing we do know,is that he stepped up to the plate and did his part when God called him. We in this season of celebration need not forget him but follow his example.
You need to be a member of CCAS - Christian Comic Arts Society to add comments!
My worst fear has come upon me! LOL! Never volunteer anything.. It always becomes,YOUR JOB! My pastor is already requesting I put together a creative monologue around this
Well Elgin, you did bring it up...in the storytelling/writing dept.
SO...yes, it could be an explosive tale - but if you put a caveat at the front: This is is a fictional speculation of the life of Joseph, Jesus 'step-dad' you might be able to get away with it.
A Joseph back story would be interesting, but people seem to not want to touch this topic because of the potential explosive nature of it, and for fear, maybe of being offensive. Still, you can almost hear the dialogue of what the guy might say, or think at certain points. He probably never regarded Mary in the same way after that, but thank God he did get over the possible (I'm speculating)awe of her, since the bible records that Jesus had brothers and sisters.
As for them being in Egypt, we know they had to flee there because of the death warrant Herod put on Jesus head, which resulted in the mass murder of babies. It's also interesting how God, in his foreknowledge, just happened to have the wise men come from the east, bringing expensive gifts, that obviously financed their trip, and allowed them to live there until things blew over. Again, I am speculating, but in this case, I think it's a reasonable assumption.
Wow, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! I totally agree, and I like how he was portrayed in the Nativity Story. It's interesting, because Mark Schultz (a Christian artist) has a song called "It's My Son," and it's about a father seemingly going to God with his concerns for his son. When I first heard the song, I thought it was about Joseph's concerns for baby Jesus. It got me thinking about what Joseph may have thought about Jesus, and how he balanced being his father, and knowing/believing that Jesus would be the one to save humanity.
Oh, and something I'm super-interested in finding out is what Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were doing while in Egypt. What I wouldn't give to find that out, lol....
Replies
Well Elgin, you did bring it up...in the storytelling/writing dept.
SO...yes, it could be an explosive tale - but if you put a caveat at the front: This is is a fictional speculation of the life of Joseph, Jesus 'step-dad' you might be able to get away with it.
Martin.
As for them being in Egypt, we know they had to flee there because of the death warrant Herod put on Jesus head, which resulted in the mass murder of babies. It's also interesting how God, in his foreknowledge, just happened to have the wise men come from the east, bringing expensive gifts, that obviously financed their trip, and allowed them to live there until things blew over. Again, I am speculating, but in this case, I think it's a reasonable assumption.
Wow, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! I totally agree, and I like how he was portrayed in the Nativity Story. It's interesting, because Mark Schultz (a Christian artist) has a song called "It's My Son," and it's about a father seemingly going to God with his concerns for his son. When I first heard the song, I thought it was about Joseph's concerns for baby Jesus. It got me thinking about what Joseph may have thought about Jesus, and how he balanced being his father, and knowing/believing that Jesus would be the one to save humanity.
Oh, and something I'm super-interested in finding out is what Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were doing while in Egypt. What I wouldn't give to find that out, lol....
Would be a cool story to see everything from his perspective - even his "potential view" of what happened when he lost Jesus at the temple.