Joseph, her fiance’, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly…. Matthew 1:19a
When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord commanded…. Matthew 1:24a
Through the centuries the church has tended to make a great deal of Mary, more of her than is merited in the Bible. But what about the man whom God chose to be his earthly father? I suggest that Joseph was as worthy of our imitation as Mary was.
Joseph’s remarkable qualities are seen in the first two chapters of Matthew. The first statement is that Joseph was a good man. That is, his life choices were beneficial and helpful to those around him. That quality is immediately exampled in the following words. He did not want to disgrace Mary. Really? She was legally his wife although the marriage had not yet been consummated, and here she had already committed adultery with another man. She had betrayed Joseph. He had every right to disgrace her, to set her up for public shame at least, and possibly much more. He had a right! But he thought that her well-being was more important than his rights. A good man indeed.
Then he believed God when God said something incredible. It came to him in a dream, something that reminds us of the earlier Joseph. Surely it is not accidental that the man who made possible the continued existence of the nation of Israel and the man who made possible Israel’s blessing of the nations were both named Joseph and both associated with dreams. This latter Joseph heard in a dream that Mary had not committed adultery but that the baby growing in her was God’s child. What? Not possible! A crazy dream. Yet it was an angel, a messenger of God, speaking, and Joseph was just foolish enough to believe God is not limited by our conceptions of the possible.
Questions for us: Am I a good person, more concerned for the well-being of others than for whatever I conceive of as my rights? Do I believe that God is not limited by what I believe is possible?
Called To Be Transformed 