holy days: Joseph the guardian of Jesus
a righteous man
March 19 is the Feast of Joseph, Husband of the Virgin Mary and Guardian of Jesus.
Most Christians are fairly familiar with Joseph’s role in the Gospels. We meet him as Mary’s betrothed, who decides to quietly and honorably call off the marriage when he finds out she’s pregnant. Matthew calls him a just man.1 An angel appears to him in a dream, however, and tells him to go forward with the marriage, because the child is from the Holy Spirit. Joseph does so.2
Joseph also leads his family to Egypt to escape Herod, again after an angel appears to him in a dream.3 A third angelic dream tells him that it is safe for them to return, but yet another dream leads him to move not back to Bethlehem, but to Nazareth in Galilee.4
The only other story where Joseph is present in the Gospels is when a twelve-year-old Jesus is left behind in Jerusalem and is found in the Temple among the teachers. Here, though, Joseph is not explicitly mentioned; the text only says “his parents.”5
Later, when Jesus teaches in Nazareth, it is noted that he is the “carpenter’s son,”6 indicating Joseph’s trade, though the Greek word here may have meant craftsman more generically, rather than a carpenter specifically.
Those are all the mentions of Joseph in Scripture. He isn’t said to be present at any point during Jesus’ ministry, crucifixion, or resurrection, leading biblical scholars to conclude that he died sometime before. Especially considering that Jesus charges his disciple John to care for his mother,7 it is clear that Joseph is gone.
This doesn’t give us much information on Joseph. We know from the Scriptural account of Jesus’ presentation that he was poor, which would have meant that he must have been a hard worker to be able to support a family. Despite this, we know that he was descended from King David, since both Matthew and Luke give us genealogies that trace back from Jesus to David (and earlier).
what can we learn from Joseph?
I believe that Joseph’s importance in the biblical narrative far outweighs his “screen time.” And there’s a lot we can learn from his example.
Joseph was righteous
Joseph was a righteous man, and even when he believed he had been wronged by his betrothed wife, he sought to be as honorable as he could. We can only imagine what it must have been like to be the male role model for the perfect Son of God, but Joseph must have been a good choice. He worked hard to support his family, and he taught his divine son his trade, as well as raising him in the faith of the Jewish people.
Joseph was faithful
Joseph was true to his Jewish faith and to God. The Gospels record three or four occasions where he heard from an angel in a dream, and Joseph was always obedient. He cared for his family faithfully, even in the face of serious danger.
Let’s honor Joseph for his role in our Lord’s life and for the example he is to us even today.
A good reminder to be faithful to a faithful God.