Eric Reece
The annual community Christmas children’s pageant was about to begin. Everyone was rushing around – when the director noticed the boy playing Joseph was nowhere to be found.
Just then, the mother of the boy called to say he was sick and could not come. The director decided it was too late to replace him, because it was time to start.
Hardly anyone noticed Joseph wasn’t represented. Did it matter?
During the Christmas season, we concentrate on Mary – and rightfully so: she was the God bearer, the one who believed God’s promise and said to Gabriel, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
Yet, we cannot overlook the important part Joseph – the husband of Mary – played in the Christmas story.
The Gospel says Joseph and Mary were betrothed (engaged). In their culture, this was considered to be legally married. They were not yet living together as husband and wife when he found out she was with child. Mary knew the child was of the Holy Spirit, but Joseph was in the dark. What was he to do?
Joseph is described as a righteous man. This means his life was lived according to God’s law. He was a man of kindness and justice.
But what was he to do in this complex situation? His faith had a response to this situation. The law of Moses gave him the right to reject Mary, hand her a writ of divorce and publicly humiliate her. This would end the marriage. Joseph decided to divorce her, but do so quietly so as to not cause Mary any more embarrassment. This seemed the best way out.
Like Mary, he too received a visit in a dream from an angel to bring him good news. The angel addressed him as a “son of David.” In the Gospel, Jesus’ family tree is traced through Joseph back to King David and all the way to Abraham. God made a covenant with David – one of Abraham’s descendants – that the Messiah would establish his kingdom forever.
The news was unbelievable. The angel told him to not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, for the child conceived in her was from the Holy Spirit. The child was to be a son, and His name would be Jesus (“God saves”), because “He will save the people from their sin.”
Joseph trusted God and followed the angel’s word. He did the right thing, kept his promise to Mary and trusted the promise of God.
It was because of Joseph they ended up in the city of David (Bethlehem), where Mary gave birth to a son. What did Joseph name him? Jesus, as the angel had said.
We are faced with so many difficult decisions. Joseph could have trusted his own plans and the world would have been lost.
But he did the right thing: he believed God and became the one to care, teach and raise up Jesus to know a lovely father on Earth and in heaven.
Merry Christmas!
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.