By the time Joseph arrives in the New Testament birth narrative, he’s already at a bit of a disadvantage. The Gospel of Luke depicts an angel appearing to Mary (a scene of shock, followed by acceptance, then the Magnificat, an incredible declaration of praise).
Luke contains no comment on how Joseph metabolized Mary’s announcement. In fact, Joseph’s part in the story is barely given a passing glance.
We see Joseph as an accessory to Jesus’ birth.
We see Joseph’s influence on Jesus’ career path (he seems to have apprenticed to Joseph as a carpenter).
But by the time of Jesus’ baptism, even (to say nothing of his ministry, death and resurrection) Joseph has faded into obscurity, by cause of either anonymity or death.
The Gospel of Matthew is hardly a repository of stories about Joseph’s influence on Jesus’ ministry. Matthew does, however, offer readers a peek behind the curtain of Joseph’s inner life. Matthew 1 narrates Joseph’s perspective on Mary’s announcement, saying that “because Joseph was a righteous man, he decided to divorce her quietly, to avoid exposing her to public shame.”
That first reaction is (itself) a practice of faithfulness.
Joseph could have taken a different approach, going around to get the town people’s opinions … whispering to his friends and neighbors, “Have you heard about Mary? What do you think I ought to do about Mary?”
Maybe he has some friends fresh out of synagogue who say, “Just do what the Bible says …” you can’t go wrong if you do what the Bible says. Many of us have heard that before.
Here’s what the Bible says, from Deuteronomy 22:
“She is to be taken out and stoned to death in front of all the people.”[1]
The Bible also says if a man finds something displeasing in his wife, let him write “her a certificate of divorce” and send “her from his house” (Deut. 24:1).
So often, we’re tempted to believe that whenever we have an intractable problem, we can open up to a Bible verse that clears everything up. But the fact is: it’s possible to read the Bible before you kill someone to justify the killing: an “eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” the Scripture says (Matt. 5:38). A bad heart makes for a bad reading.
Joseph had every biblical right to wash his hands of his attachment to Mary.
But God had another plan. The book of Matthew takes pains to introduce us to Joseph as a good man, a righteous man … and (as Fred Craddock says): “He rises to a point that is absolutely remarkable for his day and time . . . he loves his bible and he knows his bible, but he reads his bible through a certain kind of lens: the lens of a God who is loving and kind. And so he says, even before the angel appears to him, ‘I will not harm her, abuse her, expose her, shame her, ridicule her, or demean her value, her dignity, or her worth . . . I will protect her.’”[2]
That’s written not only in the Bible, but also in God’s very character and heart.
I think it’s absolutely amazing that Joseph is the first person in the New Testament who has learned how to read the Bible.
Joseph shows us that if we ever use the Bible as a method for hurting, harming, judging, abusing or disgracing another person, we have never understood it. The Bible isn’t to be looked at and used. It’s to be looked through in order to see the heart of a God who is most fully present in the person of Jesus Christ, known as Joseph’s son.
If you trace Jesus’ ministry, you won’t find many (any, really) mentions of Joseph, but you won’t have to look far to see the resemblance.
Jesus knew more Scripture than anybody else and held that knowledge in tandem with God’s heart. He carried out a ministry that included countless lepers, drunkards and people who were objects of public shame, because instead of finding condemnation in Christ’s teaching, they found grace at his table. I’d bet if you asked Jesus why he lived this way, he might well have said (with a twinkle in his eyes): “I learned that from my dad.” It would be true of both his Father and his adoptive dad.
What Joseph shows us in part; Jesus shows us in full: that the best interpretation of Scripture is a truly loving life. I think we still need people who (like Joseph) live out a deep commitment to Scripture, demonstrated by a truly loving life of quiet service.
Rev. Ethan Linder is the pastor of discipleship at College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana, and contributing editor at The Wesleyan Church’s Education and Clergy Development Division.
[1] Paraphrase.
[2] Fred B. Craddock, “The Cherry Log Sermons” (Chalice Press, 2001), 5.
