Joseph, Earthly Father of Jesus

“And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. …Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”—Matthew 1:16; 20b-21 (NKJV)

In this month leading up to Easter, I am examining briefly the lives of some of the people close to Jesus while He lived and moved, walked and taught, suffered and died upon earth, and was resurrected. Today, we look at Joseph, earthly father of Jesus.

The Bible does not teach us much about Joseph, husband of Mary of Nazareth. As to his genealogy, Matthew states the lineage in 1:1-17. Genealogy was important to the Jewish people and was normally listed according to the father’s lineage in Jewish accounting. To go back to Abraham the patriarch from whom Joseph was descended, was very important to know in ancestry. Through Joseph, Jesus was “somebody,” for he had the ancestry to prove it. Compare Matthew’s genealogy to that given by Luke in 3:23-38. Listed in reverse, that is from Jesus to Joseph and all the way back to Adam and to God.

But the truth is, Joseph knew that the babe known as the first-born son of Mary and Joseph was really the son of God, for his beloved wife, Mary, was “ found with child of the Holy Spirit,” and Joseph followed God’s directions to take as his wife the young girl to whom he was already betrothed. Joseph was honorable.

Joseph was a carpenter by trade. When Jesus taught later in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth the people asked, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas?” (Mt. 13:55). Extra-biblical accounts from ancient times about Joseph tell of how he was able, wherever they went to protect Jesus and to find work as a carpenter to support his family. Joseph was an honest worker and head-of-the household, the family provider.

Joseph was a devout man. In dreams he heard and heeded the messages God sent him by angels. “Fear not to take Mary as your wife. She is pregnant of the Holy Spirit.” And Joseph, a righteous man and not wanting her to come to public disgrace, married Mary. They were already engaged, promised to each other, betrothed. He took Mary, according to decree of the government for census-taking, to Bethlehem, his ancestral home. But this action, though mandated by law, was God’s way of working out the ancient prophecy: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been from of old, From everlasting” (Micah 5:2, NKJV).

Joseph participated in the naming, circumcision and dedication of the Baby Jesus. Read this wonderful account, and God’s blessing upon it, in Luke 2: 21-38. Joseph obeyed the voice of the angel and took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to prevent Jesus’ death in the terrible decree of Herod to kill all the young male children (read about this in Matthew 2:13-23).

Joseph was a concerned father. It is evident that he brought Jesus up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, for the young Jesus “grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40, NKJV). Furthermore, “the parents went every year to Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover” (Luke 2:41). It was when Jesus was twelve that He got lost from his parents—that is, they lost him. Jesus was still in the Temple being questioned by the “doctors of the law” and confounding them with His understanding. Read this beautiful story of Joseph as a concerned father in Luke 2:41-52).

The account of Joseph, earthly father of Jesus, ends with this account of him helping Mary find Jesus in the Temple. Scholars believe Joseph died before the time of Jesus’ public ministry, for we have only Mary appearing from time to time throughout the earthly ministry of her son, Jesus.

Joseph had done an honorable work and set an example as an earthly father.God had this purpose for Joseph of Nazareth, son of Jacob, descendant of Abraham. He was important and necessary in the earthly life of Jesus, Son of God, whom God entrusted to Mary and Joseph to rear. “For with God, nothing will be impossible,” the angel had told Mary (Luke 1:37). With what we know about him, Joseph lived true to this belief.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, March 2, 2010