Who was Joseph, really?

Joseph was a carpenter from Nazareth who pledged to be married to Mary, mother of

Jesus. He was to become Jesus’ legal father but was not His biological father. God

chose Mary and Joseph to be the parents of Jesus for a reason - they were a faithful

couple of high moral character.

When an angel of the Lord appeared to Joesph in a dream. The angel told him to not be

afraid and to take Mary as his wife, that she was to give birth to a son to be named

Jesus who would later save His people from their sins. The woman he loved was going

to give birth to a baby that was not biologically his. By law, Joseph was within his right to

end the betrothal period, which is similar to an engagement period in today’s world.

Joseph could’ve easily chosen to divorce Mary, publicly shaming her and her family. But

admirably, Joseph chose to obey the God’s command to still take Mary as his wife

(Matthew 1:18-25). Joseph’s obedience was also evident in Matthew 2:19-33 where

another angel appeared in his dreams, warning him to flee to Egypt to escape King

Herod’s plot to kill Jesus. Joseph’s obedience aided in the protection of Jesus, our Lord

and Savior.

Joseph’s tender love and care for Mary was admirable not only to those around him and

to us as we read about him, but surely in the eyes of God. It would’ve been so easy for

Joesph to divorce Mary. According to Matthew 1, he had thought to divorce her quietly

but not long after considering this, the angel appeared in his dream, and he knew he

needed to obey God’s command. We can apply this same obedience and discipline to

our own lives - choosing to follow God, even when it’s harder than the choice we would

rather make. We are called to live in this world but not for it (Romans 12:2). God never

promised us an easy life. John 16:33 tells us that in this world we will have trouble, but

to take heart, that Jesus has already overcome the world. Jesus tells us that if the world

hates you, remember that it hated Him first (John 15:18-25). God doesn’t promise us

an easy life here on earth, but we have something far greater to put our hope and faith

in - HEAVEN.