Little is known about Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that he was a just man of the line of David and the tribe of Judah. He demonstrated his compassion upon learning of Mary's pregnancy by deciding to divorce her quietly rather than publicly stoning her as was his right under the Law of Moses.
It is usually thought that he was an aged widower at the time of his betrothal to Mary. (Some even claimed that he was 80 years old at the time.) Legends relate that their engagement came about when the elders of Jerusalem found themselves in a strange dilemma. They had on their hands a young girl who had dedicated her virginity to the Lord at a time when it was not the custom for a virgin to remain in the Temple after puberty. While the elders were praying over this matter, an angel spoke from the Ark of the Covenant instructing them to gather the unmarried men of the house of David, each bearing his own staff, before the altar of the Lord. The angel said, "The staff of the man destined to be Mary's husband will blossom with lilies and the Holy Spirit will perch upon it in the form of a dove. In this way shall the prophecies be fulfilled which declare 'A branch will grow from the stock of Jesse, and a shoot will spring from his roots'" (Is 11:1). Legend says that when Joseph's staff blossomed the rest of Mary's suitors broke their staffs and trampled upon them in jealous anger. During the Counter-Reformation, Joseph began to be portrayed as a middle-aged man more typical of the role of fatherhood.
Joseph obeyed without question the angels of the Lord who spoke to him in at least 4 dreams following the discovery of Mary's pregnancy. In the first dream, he was told to take Mary into his home and name her son Jesus because He had indeed been conceived through the Holy Spirit and was destined to be the Savior of His people (Mt 1:20-23). The second dream sparked the flight into Egypt which saved the young Child from the wrath of Herod the Great (Mt 2:13). The third dream announced the death of Herod and told Joseph to take his family back to Israel (Mt 2:19-20). On the way home the family became afraid of Herod's successor and a final dream instructed Joseph to settle in Nazareth (Mt 2:22-23).
Every year Joseph took his family to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. When Jesus was 12 years old He was accidentally left behind in the city. For 3 days Joseph and Mary searched frantically for the Child. Finally, they discovered Him in the Temple which He cryptically called His "Father's house." This is the last that the Bible records about Joseph who was the guardian of his God and taught his Messiah the carpenter's trade. It is assumed that he died before Jesus began His public ministry.
Mt 1-2; Lk 2
All scripture quotes are from the REB Bible unless otherwise indicated.
Comments© 1998 by Suzetta Tucker
To cite this page:
Tucker, Suzetta. "Jesse Tree Advent Calendar - December 24
- Joseph of Nazareth." ChristStory Christian Bestiary.
1998. http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/24joseph.htm ().