It Took Two
What can we know about Jesus’ Daddy?
Ignored by the gospels of John and Mark, relegated to the background on Christmas cards and in stained glass windows, Joseph is almost eclipsed by Mary’s enjoys high profile. Even sheep and oxen are more likely to be noticed. The Magi (Kings, astrologers, or whoever they were), enjoy a prominence that up stages Jesus’ Dad, who surely had a key role in that awesome drama.
Would Joseph have complained? I think not. Had Bill Moyers interviewed Jesus’ Daddy, I suspect Joseph would have little to say except a simple: “It took two of us!”
How we wish we knew more about Jesus’ Dad. The lack of information fires the imagination and tempts those who write soliloquies to fill in the gaps.
This much can be said with confidence: Joseph was an honored name, he was a descendant of King David, a carpenter by trade (Matt. 13:55), and the legal or foster father of Jesus (Matt. 1:16, 20; Luke 2:4; 3:23; 4:22; John 1:45; 6:42).
Joseph, appears to have been gentle and considerate. Scripture calls him “a righteous man”. Upon learning Mary was pregnant he wanted to put her away without public disgrace.
Clearly, he was in touch with his dreams. His response to God’s assurances in dreams demonstrates his piety and character (Matt. 1:18-25). After Jesus was born, another dream warned him to flee Herod’s wrath, so he took his family to Egypt until a final dream announced it was safe to return to Nazareth (Matt. 2:13-23).
Obviously Joseph was a very caring father: he took Mary to his ancestral home, Bethlehem. He was present at Jesus’ birth, shared in the naming, circumcision, and dedication of the child (Luke 2:8-33). He too was anxious when the young Jesus became separated on a trip to Jerusalem and could not be found (Luke 2:41-48).
The Nativity stories are the first and last references to Joseph, but I suspect the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is a clue to what Jesus thought of his Father. Tradition says Joseph was significantly older than Mary, so it’s likely he died prior to Jesus’ public ministry. Mary, then , would have been a very young widow. She is alone at the Cross.
Some think of my soliloquies as meditations, and indeed they are. I prefer thinking of them as ushers, wanting to escort you down into your soul to a place you have not yet been. Hopefully my meditation on Sunday, December 22, uses imagination and historical probability to set the record straight.
A blessed Christmas to you!
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