4^th Sunday, December 23

JOSEPH

Matthew 1:18-25

As we look at the nobodies of the Christmas story, one figure that certainly fits that category is Joseph. I guess, in today’s terms, he would not be what we consider a “Type A” personality—strong, assertive, sure of himself, knows what he wants and how to get it. We don’t know a lot about his background, other than he was in the line of David, he was a righteous man (Luke 1:19), and he chose Mary as his wife. All this makes him a prime candidate for the earthly father of Christ.

Up to this point in his life, he was probably in charge and going on with his plans. Then God stepped in, and his life took a turn from self-control to God’s-control. First, his pretty young bride-to-be turns up pregnant, but not by him. After a plan to divorce her, an angel says not to. Then they had to go to Bethlehem and stay in a stable, and, take an unplanned trip to Egypt for a couple of years. All this wasn’t in Joseph’s plans. He might have protested, if he had been a “Type A,” instead of a nobody.

After their return to Nazareth, things evidently settle down, at least for a while. The next time we hear of Jesus is at age 12, when he goes with His family to Jerusalem for the Passover. On the way home, they realized that Jesus wasn’t in their company. Joseph again has to change his plans and go looking for Him, and, after three days, finds Him in the temple where they tell him how much grief He has caused them. Then Jesus says something that Joseph could have just flipped out over (Luke 2:49) “Why were you searching for me, didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” Joseph could think—What? My Father’s house?—who have I been for 12 years? Today’s “Type A” would not have stood for this.

You know that there are all kinds of definitions of a “Type A” personality, but one of the best is found in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Let’s look at the highlights—lover’s of self and money, boastful, proud, abusive, ungrateful, unholy, unforgiving, slanderous, brutal, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than God. Sound familiar? And don’t think this is talking about unchurched people—vs. 5, tells us that they have a form of Godliness—people who go to church.

If Joseph had been this kind of “Type A” father, he could have thrown this boy out. But he wasn’t; he was a nobody. Joseph’s right of fatherhood was relinquished to God—the Father. This is the last time we hear of Joseph, though we know he took Jesus home and continued in his role as the servant of God, given the job of earthly father to the savior of all the earth.

~ Jim Frantz