There's a whole lot of hoop-la this time of year. It's all about Jesus. There's also a lot of attention directed toward Mary. She is, afterall, the mother of God. Bears some attention I think. Like all pregnant women, she gets LOTS of attention.
However, do you ever think of dads? I'm sure you do. Especially if you have "been there, done that" and recall with a modicum of clarity how fuzzy the world was when you were first expecting a child and when your infant was born. The world was changed for you, wasn't it? It changes for moms and dads alike. Many of us have personal experience to draw upon when reading the Christmas Story. But do you ever think much about Joseph?
I can't remember where I heard it but somewhere someone commented... (like that?... I'm trying to give the credit but that old memory of mine is failing) Someone on some show or in some book remarked that Jesus came as a baby to draw attention to his humanity. It strikes me that he didn't come as a King. He didn't come as a Political Power. He didn't come as a Warrior. He didn't come as a great artist or aritocrat. No, he came as a baby. Same as you and me. He came in human form and among the most helpless of humans, an infant. He was a baby who needed an earthly father... and Joseph got picked!
Why Joseph? What do you think or believe was so notable that God chose Joseph to be the father of this child? Or do you think there is nothing noteworthy about Joseph at all? What does the Bible say?
This is one of my favorite passages about Joseph -
Matthew 1: 19-20 says: Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
This is one of my favorite passages because I can't help but to dwell on the fact that he had to consider what to do. Can you imagine? How long did he consider? What did he consider? How many choices did he have? How many nights did he lay awake? I gotta look it up in Greek. Maybe the original language will help.
What do you think about Joseph? Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to have been him? Joseph didn't lead a great army, win great battles, or fell any giants. But he is a giant of the Christmas Story and I wonder what he was like. Do you?
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Joseph
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3 comments:
I think that the beautiful thing about Joseph, even before the Lord spoke to him, was that he was righteous....but not self righteous. He could have had Mary stoned, but first he CONSIDERED her. He must have loved her...even if at first he thought he would divorce her. He was righteous, but did not want to shame her, as it APPEARED she could/should be shamed. He was compassionate, caring. He went against the social structure of the time. Actually....in many ways, he and Jesus had much in common. I can see why God chose this man.
Also.....have you ever noticed how much Catey looks like Mary in The Nativity Story? :)
Golly gee wiz yes! We said it last year and this year I could barely watch the movie because I was thinking about Catey the ENTIRE time!
I think about Joseph in terms of after Jesus started growing up.
He must have looked at him thinking this isn't my son, but man is he a great kid!
It must have been difficult to know that he was God's son, and his son too. Wow.
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