Monday, December 20, 2010

Changing the world anonymously

Ah, let's talk about Joseph's role in all this theater.

We know so little about him, yet he was descended from Jacob, who traced his lineage back to David and then back to Abraham. That should have made him fairly important, but there is no writing that suggest that.

We know that he was protective of Jesus, but little else.

This is the whole of the mention of Joseph, who was at the least the step-father of our Lord, Jesus.

Matthew 1: 18-23 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[d]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[ because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[g] (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. ... Then later in the second chapter of Matthew, Joseph leads the family to Egypt. ... 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.


Then...

In Luke's gospel: 26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ...In the second chapter, 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  ... In the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. ...


And there you have it. Joseph was a role player in the greatest of tales. He protected the child, led him to learn a craft possibly (carpentry or stone masonry) and led him to Temple when he was 12.

Then he disappeared into history's pages.

Oh, what tales he could tell us.

But the point I want to make is this: Joseph heard from God (albeit through dreams) and he answered. He took the gossip and the people's whispers as he walked by them when Mary was pregnant though they had not been together. He did what he was told. And he said what needed to be said in this instance: Yes.

Notice what we don't have of Joseph. A single word. The shepherds were there that night and we have no names. The wise men came and we have no names. With Joseph we have one name and little else.

Saying yes to God does not make us special. It makes us His. That's enough. That changes the world.







Footnotes:

No comments: