“This is how the birth of Jesus came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. . . . Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace he had in mind to divorce her quietly” Matthew 1:18, 19.
“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’” Matthew 2:13.
His name is surely known 1o all who know the Bible, and the events connected with the birth of Jesus Christ. Joseph had a big place in this history. We read very little about him later. Only one indirect mention is made of him in subsequent history. Jesus was considered by the Nazarenes to be the son of Joseph the carpenter. This implies that during our Lord’s adolescent years, perhaps until He began His ministry, Joseph must still have been living. Possibly Joseph died before the Lord began His public work.
We first read of him when he was living in Nazareth. Bethlehem was his home town and he was not yet considered to be citizen of Nazareth since he had not yet lived there for one year. In Nazareth he became engaged to a pious young girl named Mary. Engagement in those days meant more than it does today. With the engagement people were virtually married. The marriage was consummated when at any set time later the couple began living together.
Joseph was shocked by learning that his engaged bride was pregnant. What a disappointment this must have been for him! He could draw only one conclusion, that she had been unfaithful to him. Evidently Mary had not given him any explanation. Perhaps she felt that when God works so miraculously the best thing she could do was wait for God to act.
Joseph was a godly man. Des iring to do what was rig ht before the Lord and being kind to Mary, he decided to quietly put her away, as his engaged bride. He could have charged her with adultery and left the matter to the officials. He could also have used the lax divorce laws of the Jews, giving her a divorce without any charge of a crime. He decided not to marry her, but to put her away quietly, divorcing her. However, it soon became clear to him that he was dealing with the God of mercy and miracles. In a dream God told Joseph what had happened. How could one believe that a woman can become pregnant without having had sexual relations with a man? But Joseph believed what the Lord had told him. This experience was the first of many lessons he was to learn about this miraculous Savior. In the wisdom and love of the Lord this child must have an earthly father, at least one who was considered to be His father. Before the law Jesus must not be recorded as the child of an unmarried woman and his father would present him in the temple according to the law. The Lord wanted Him to be like other children, with brothers and sisters, brought up in the home of parent(s).
Caesar Augustus was emperor of Rome at this time. The land of Israel was a part of his domain. Caesar wanted to know the number of people living in each country and city. Therefore, all people had to go to their own country for this registration. Luke tells us that while they were living in Bethlehem the baby was born. Thus it happened, the wonder of wonders, the incarnation of the Son of God. Deep impressions no doubt were made on the mind and heart of Joseph. He, with Mary perhaps, knew better than anybody else at this time the great truth that the Savior was born by the grace and miraculous power of God alone. It was only the work of God, not of God and man. Man (Joseph) was not involved. Details of Jesus’ birth are not given, perhaps because the Lord does not want “incidentals” to obscure the great event itself, the birth of Immanuel (God with us). He was born in conditions of abject poverty and in the humblest of surroundings. Although we may understand better than Joseph what its theological purpose was, no one else experienced the event as intimately as Joseph and Mary did . More memorable experiences followed . The first visitors, as far as we know, were the shepherds. They related what they had experienced and learned about this child whom they acknowledged as the ir Savior. Later came the visit of the wisemen from the east. Could they have heard something of the prophecies of Daniel, a prime minister of long ago? The trip of the wisemen seems to have been a long one, guided by a wondrous star. They were called Magi. What must have impressed Joseph was that these people, from a distant land, knew something about their baby and what He was going to be and do. Their keen interest, long journey, worship of the child, and the presents they gave must have overwhelmed Joseph and Mary. Centuries before, God had instructed the Israelites that all baby boys had to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. Jesus, who would fulfill the law, also had to submit to it. On this day He was also named Jesus. That name for Him had a special meaning because He would be and do what the name means, “save His people from their sins.” On the forty-first day Joseph and Mary took Him to the temple to be redeemed from the law of service in the temple. Jerusalem was only four or five miles from Bethlehem.
As poor people Joseph and Mary bought two turtle doves as their offering. As the father of the child, Joseph likely took Him into the sacrificial section of the temple. The presentation ceremony was really a buying back of a son. The first–born son under the law was reserved for God, for service in the temple. But through this presentation and ceremony he was redeemed from this work and the Levites would take his place. At this presentation suddenly an old man came to them out of the crowd. By a special revelation he was told that this baby was the One promised to Israel. Again Joseph must have been impressed. This strange man knew about “their” son and spoke prophetically about Him as he took Him into his arms. There also appeared another person, an old widow named Anna, to acknowledge and speak of this child.
The history that followed was an indication of the kind of life the baby Jesus was to live. In a dream God told Joseph as the head of the home to rise quickly and flee into far away Egypt; and to remain there until the Lord would tell them to come back. Regardless of questions about and the difficulties of such a journey Joseph in faith obeyed. To Egypt they went. Did they “finance” this trip perhaps with the gifts received from the wise-men? Nothing more is told us about their stay in Egypt. They stayed and waited in obedient faith. So too, they did return, this time to Nazareth. Joseph returned to his former trade, that of a carpenter. Thus Jesus was known as the son of Joseph the carpenter.
What a unique experience it must have been for Joseph and Mary to raise this wonder child. The Bible tells us almost nothing about this long period of Jesus life, from infancy until He was thirty years old and began His public ministry. Obviously this is not important for us to know. Actually we read of only one thing, that he grew in wisdom and stature (physical growth) and in favor with God and men. What an unusual student He must have been, astounding teachers (Luke 2:46, 47). In body and soul, untouched by sin, unchecked and unretarded by any results of sin, His mind and soul must have absorbed the riches of God‘s Word.
Later Joseph disappeared from the scene. We do not read of him when Jesus was in His active ministry. Perhaps he died before this time. One thing he surely learned from his experiences with the birth and life of Jesus. He and Mary were among the first to learn something of the great truth: “Great is this mystery of godliness.” Christmas celebrates the birth of our Savior, and as believers we celebrate it because it means that our salvation through Him is all a wonder of His grace.