My latest Monday school lesson.
I would like to introduce you to a man named Joseph. Some people might call Joseph a fool. Some a saint.
“The test results are in; you ARE NOT the father!”
Where would Jesus be without Joseph? Most likely DEAD! Let that sink in for a minute. DEAD. Had Joseph not been a man of character and principles, quite possibly Jesus would never have been born. Not to Mary. Not in this time. The story of the virgin birth could have been very different.
Keep in mind, as you read that things were very different in Joseph’s day.
Joseph has asked Mary’s parents to have her hand in marriage. This process is very different from getting engaged today. For all intents, they were married. Joseph when off to secure a home for he and Mary. Usually about a year. You know he’s been dreaming. A year dreaming about being with his wife, holding each other. The sound of her voice filling their home. The family they will have.
When Joseph goes to collect his wife, she smacks him in the face with “honey I’m pregnant. Now don’t get upset. I’m still a virgin. This is God’s child.”
How would this statement make you feel?
Joseph was a just man.
Broken hearted, angry, sad, yes. Love? It is obvious Joseph loved Mary. “Matt 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. KJV” You may be asking yourself, how is this love?
Leviticus 20:10 the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife … the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death’. In John 8, Jesus saved a woman who was accused of adultery and was seconds away from being stoned. KJV
Joseph loves Mary enough that he doesn’t want to cause her shame or know that she’s going to suffer the horrible death of being stoned. It’s his legal right. He choose not to act on it.
Joseph is a Godly man.
Matt 1:20, But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. KJV Joseph was a Godly man. He is a Jew. He knows the storys about a messiah. In his dream, the angel goes on to say Matt 1:22-23 that this birth will fulfill the words spoken by the prophets.
Joseph taught his son the family trade. Mark 6:3 is not this the carpenter..? KJV If Joseph hadn’t loved Jesus and accepted him as his son, why teach him the family business? Why make sure he knew how to do something to support himself and any possible family?
Luke 2: 41-50 is the last we read of Joseph in the gospels. Why is speculation. It could be because Jesus says in v 49 I must be about my father’s business. Maybe he knew his roll in Jesus’ life was fulfilled. Or maybe he passed away. Some Bible scholars believe Joseph was much older than Mary.
Even broken, God choose his characters very well. He knew when he chose Joseph to be Jesus’ Earthly father that Joseph would stand up. Joseph didn’t need test results to know he wasn’t the father. Joseph had character, principles, great love, compassion, and was a Godly man.
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