If you were going to write a play based on the Christmas story you would notice that Mary would have a lot of lines, but Joseph wouldn’t have any. In fact, when you read through the gospels and look at the whole Christmas story, none of his words are written down. Joseph is completely silent. Since we can’t read his words, what can we learn from his actions?
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:18 (ESV)
So Joseph and Mary were engaged. And engagement was a much bigger deal back then. You actually entered into a legal contract. The parents would work this out and you usually had to wait one year before the actual wedding. For most girls this happened at age 12 or 13. So imagine that Mary was a middle school student and that will put things in perspective!
They were all set to be married. But Joseph found out that Mary was going to have a baby. As you know, it’s important to do things in the right order. Even kids on the playground sing, “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.” In their culture love (in the way we think about it) usually came after marriage. But in Joseph’s case the order is all mixed up. But this child growing inside of her was Jesus. And it was God who miraculously began to knit Jesus together inside of her womb. This was a miracle, but most people wouldn’t believe that. They would probably think that Mary and Joseph are having this baby out of wedlock. But there’s one person who knows that’s not the case… Joseph. So his option at that time would have been to call off the marriage. And even though they were not married yet, they were already in a marriage contract. So he technically would have to divorce her and she would be accused of adultery and punished. The punishment was death.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
Matthew 1:19 (ESV)
Joseph was a good man. He was just. That means he did what was right and he followed the law. According to the law he could not marry her if she had committed adultery. He also didn’t want to leave her with a baby and no husband and see her put to shame, or even killed. So Joseph decided that he would divorce her quietly. He would be obedient to the law, but not in a way that would publicly shame her.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20 (ESV)
He was thinking about all of this. He didn’t rush to make a rash decision. An angel came and gave him the information that he needed to make the right decision. He wanted to do the right thing, but he didn’t know the best way to do that because he didn’t have all of the information. He needed to know that the baby inside of Mary was from the Holy Spirit. He needed to know that this was a miracle that God was doing. The power of the Holy Spirit is life giving, and in the case, the Spirit was creating this life inside of Mary. So he was told to go ahead and marry her.
Notice that Joseph is referred to here as the son of David. This is the only time in the gospels that someone other than Jesus is called that. Why is that important? Because, if Joseph gets married to Mary he will be the legal father of Jesus, even though he’s not the biological father. And for Jesus to sit on the throne of David he needed the legal standing. If Joseph had walked away then Jesus would be considered an illegitimate child and not eligible to be the king of Israel. Praise God for Joseph’s faithfulness!
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21 (ESV)
The baby’s name will be Jesus. The name Jesus (yeshua) in Hebrew means God saves.
But the angel said that Jesus would save his people from their sin. His name means God saves and the angel said that Jesus saves. What does that mean? Jesus is God! It’s write there in what the angel said. Did Joseph put two and two together? We don’t know, but he had all of the information. Jesus left the glories of heaven and became a baby who would grow up to be the Savior. The Jewish people longed for the Messiah to save them from their circumstances, but God sent Jesus to save them (and us) from something much more important… our sin.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Matthew 1:22-23 (ESV)
Previously God had dwelt with his people in the tabernacle, later in the temple, and now in the flesh. John actually writes that he “tabernacled” among us in John 1:14. God with us! Jesus when he left said, “I am with you always.” He has not ceased to dwell with us, now through the Holy Spirit
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1:24 (ESV)
Joseph heard what God said and he responded with obedience. Joseph trusted God’s Word and he followed him. He did not consummate the marriage until after Jesus was born. Again, Matthew is trying to emphasize this point, that Mary was a virgin. To understand the significance of that see the post below.
HOW CAN WE BE LIKE JOSEPH THIS CHRISTMAS?
Be kind. Follow God’s law in a way that is filled with love and grace towards others.
Be thoughtful. Take time to slow down and consider others and your actions before you do anything.
Be obedient. God has given us his Word. We are called to faithfully live it out.
Be present. With the exception of Mary, Joseph probably spent more time with Jesus than anyone else who was alive at that time. Joseph spent more time with Jesus than the disciples. And yet, we don’t have stories of what took place during those thirty years. I can only imagine that Joseph just treasured and enjoyed being in the presence of God in this very special way.
CONCLUSION
He didn’t say a word in the Bible, but we see from his actions that he’s the kind of person all of us should want to be. Perhaps the greatest lesson we learn from Joseph is that the story is not about him. Maybe the reason his words aren’t recorded is that Matthew understood that the story was not about Joseph, it’s not even about the birth itself, but the Child who was born. May your Christmas season be all about Jesus! As a popular Christmas Carol says, “born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.” Have you been born again?
