The Christmas Story

We all know the story of the first Christmas, the birth of Jesus.  We know about the shepherds, the angels, Jesus’ mother Mary, the wise men, and King Herod.  But what do we know about Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father?  He seems to be an almost forgotten man at Christmas time.  We can be certain that God carefully examined the character of the man who was chosen to become Jesus’ earthly father.

In Matthew’s long genealogy of Jesus we see that he followed Jesus’ line from Abraham through King David all of the way to Jacob, the father of Joseph.  Joseph is to be the husband of Mary which gave him a legal relationship and parental status of Jesus and giving Jesus legal rights as Joseph’s heir.

Joseph plays an important role in Jesus’ early life, but is rarely mentioned in the Bible.  Why?  The son of God still needed a human father because He was also truly human.  Normally Mary and Joseph would have a formal engagement and even a ceremony, but would not have lived together or consummated their marriage.  They would be on a long hiatus before the honeymoon. 

In the meantime Mary became pregnant with the Son of God through the Holy Spirit.  She could have been stoned or publicly shamed, but Joseph didn’t let that happen.  He decided to stay married to her because an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream in (Matt. 1:20-23).  He was willing to take Mary in and ignore the gossip from others.  This shows his selflessness and willingness to listen the Lord.  We find that he always obeyed the Lord without question.  When the birth happens, he also obeys in naming the baby Jesus.

Joseph isn’t mentioned as being around when Jesus began His public ministry.  Almost everyone agrees that he had died before the time Jesus was revealed Himself to the world.  However, we know nothing about his death.

Mary was present all through Jesus’ life and even through His death, resurrection and ascension.  After Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room, we hear nothing again about Mary and know nothing about her death.

The character of Joseph:

Joseph was an upright man (Matt. 1:18-19).

Joseph was a considerate husband (Matt. 1:20-23).

Joseph was an obedient servant of God (Matt. 1:24-25).

Joseph was a good citizen of his country (Luke 2:1-5).

Joseph was a protector of his family (Matt. 2:13-23).

Joseph was a concerned father (Luke 2:41-50).

These are the goals which all of us should seek to remember.

What kind of parent will others say you are?

Have a wonderful Christmas and join me here next time -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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