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Sermons In Time
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In Luke's Gospel, the account of the birth of Jesus centers entirely on Mary. It is her son, her relatives, her visitation by the Angel, her ponderings of the heart that are important. Joseph is mentioned only twice, and then in a cursory way as the husband of Mary.
By contrast, the account of Matthew has Joseph as a central figure in the story of the birth of Jesus. Before the first chapter is completed, following a long statement of the linage, Joseph emerges as a key person.
It is unfortunate that he so often becomes "just an auxiliary" in a drama where his role is not insignificant at all. We have focused so long on the Virgin (or young lady) Mary, that we have missed a rather dramatic unfolding in Joseph's role in the coming birth of the Christ. One of the reasons has to be Theological. We have not know what to do with Joseph since the birth focus is on the Holy Spirit impregnating Mary. Then, the Church has for centuries elevated the role of Mary as the Mother of God, until it has been difficult, if not impossible, to deal with the human experience of Jesus' birth.
Matthew, by contrast deal with Joseph because he is dealing with a very Jewish problem - the primary role of the father in the birth of a child. Actually, there are some significant problems Matthew had to deal with, and he dodges none of them:
The first is the problem of Mary's betrothal to Joseph. As Barclay reminds us, there are three issues in a Jewish marriage dealt with here: engagement, marriage and divorce. The critical period was engagement. This may have taken place when the couple were very young and the young maiden was to remain faithful until her marriage. If she was not faithful, and became pregnant, the Jewish Law provided that she was an adulteress, and called for her to be stoned to death.
Matthew then goes on to deal with the way in which Joseph intended to work it out: He found out Mary was pregnant and decided rather than to have her stoned, to divorce her quietly.
This may seem a gentle - even easy gesture. But you have to remember that Joseph has been violated. It makes no difference who - even God- the parent is, Joseph's manhood and linage has been threatened. It was the man who had power - the seed to have children. The woman was his possession. For someone else to get her pregnant was the worst adulteration. His seed was polluted and Jewish law was very strict on this account.
Now, for him to hear "The child is of the Holy Spirit" is important. At the risk of being grossly misunderstood, both by those who would insist the Spirit's implanting the seed and the Right to Life group, it is a keen understanding to see that the child is of the Holy Spirit. How many children have been conceived in marriage and out of marriage for whom the opposite has been said.
There is a play called "Harry and the Angel." Harry is waiting to be born and he wishes for a great birth. Lo, he is born of a prostitute. But Harry is the child, not the perpetrator of the deed! So, apart from our Theological understanding, or perhaps at the heart of it, it is important to hear, "The child is of the Holy Spirit."
Jesus himself reminded the Pharisees that he was a child of Abraham - (was he saying, as Isaac, a spared child?). He reminded those who would stone another woman, "You who are without sin, let him cast the first stone". And to His Disciples He said, "God is able to raise up children unto Abraham."
So, Joseph sees the life of the child and takes Mary as his wife. It is a way of saying also that male power is not the only power of God. "Exalting the lowly and bringing down the haughty" has powerful implication in this drama of birth. For in early social life, as we have said, the man was everything. It was not until the 18th century it was known that a woman contributed anything to the birth of a child. Here, 2000 years ago, that was an issue to reckon with.
That a woman should be exalted - even more - that a man should be "brought to humility" was unheard of. Yet, is this not how God often works: Bringing to nothing those very items, ideas, that we hold onto with such cherishing. That God could do His work through people who are not like us, or that He would let us run out of fossil fuel or money or power, and bring us to the place of the disenfranchised Jew and in that way do his work seems so improbable! - but it happens.- Again, the child is born and becomes an integral member of Joseph's family.
For him to grow in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man - I'd like to feel that he grew up in a Mother and Father established home. Joseph may have died early. It may have been a one parent home (although Jewish life was careful to take into the family a dead man's wife and children). There certainly are a lot of one parent homes and it is no easy task. Our hats need to be off to those who do it. But is it not possible that in this case for the growing up years, Joseph was present as father.
However conception took place, parenting was done in a very wholesome manner by this just (righteous) man. Once again, God has a way of using his people in the manner they are capable. For one to "take on" a child - whether his own seed or not - is a great challenge and to do it well is the highest grace. There is no bitterness or complaining or even hint of question or disgrace.
What I am trying to say is that to attribute this graciousness just to the Spirit's conception of Mary is not enough. It is also a gift of the Holy Spirit to Joseph as well. It is, in fact, a most Holy Spirit to be the man Joseph chose to be. And so my heart is open to Joseph. For in his response to the drama of the birth of Jesus, I see, in these troubled changing times off sexual mores and sexual confusion, a guiding spirit which adds to the beauty of the Christmas story. Amen
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