Joseph, The Stepdad

Mathew 1 & 2, Luke 1 & 2

Yesterday I attended Bethany Baptist Church in Schofield, WI.  Pastor Joe talked about Joseph quite a bit in his sermon.  You can watch the sermon livestream at   https://bethanyschofield.org/

I got to thinking I wanted to tell the Christmas story and I felt led to tell it from Joseph’s perspective.  Here is Joseph’s story.

A Carpenter

My dad was a carpenter and taught me everything he knew.  I loved the feel of wood in my hands.  I loved building beautiful furniture with my hands.  Many of the homes in Nazareth have furniture made by me or my father.  It is a wonderful trade and I hope to pass it on to my sons.

Mary

When I was sixteen years old a new family moved in next door.  The family had an eight-year-old daughter named Mary.  She was a beautiful child.  My heart leap the minute I saw her, and I knew she was the one for me.  I just needed to wait until she was old enough for me to tell her how I feel.  Waiting will be awful!

I watched Mary grow.  She was always obedient to her parents.  She helped her mother with all the duties of the household and often took care of her younger siblings.  Mary is going to be a great wife and mother.  I cannot wait! 

Finally, Mary is old enough!  A couple of years ago Mary and I started to have conversations.  I would say “hi” and she would say “hi” back.  I think she likes me.  I am going to her father to ask for her hand in marriage.  Oh, I hope he says yes!

Her father agreed.  Mary and I had a real conversation.  She said she liked me the first time she saw me.  In a couple of months, we will be betrothed to be married.  It is going to be wonderful.

The Betrothal

Mary and I said our vows surrounded by our friends and family.  There was a feast.  Mary looked lovely!  I wanted to take her home, but our Jewish custom is to wait a year before we start living together as husband and wife.  It is a year of getting to know each other better but we are keeping our hands to ourselves.  We love each other so much!

Pregnant?

How could she do this to me?  How could she be with another man when she is betrothed to me?  Oh, why?  She came to me with some story about an angel visiting her and the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, and she is carrying the Son of God.  How dumb does she think I am?  My heart is broken in two.  I love her so much, but she has betrayed me in the worst way.  Yet, I do not want to put her to shame and have her stoned.  That would kill me!  I will divorce her.  I am flooding my pillow with tears tonight.

The Dream

Wow, that was weird.  I just had the strangest dream.  Angel appeared to me and said “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”   So, it is true!  Mary is pregnant with the Son of God!  And then it hit me!  I am going to raise the Son of God!  Good thing I am still laying down because I would have fallen over from the impact of that realization.  I am going to raise the Son of God!  The Messiah has come!  I cannot wait to tell Mary I believe her.  It is still night, but I cannot go back to sleep.

I got up and lit a candle.  Even though I am a carpenter I love pouring over scripture.  So, I asked God to guide me to scripture about His Son.  My search led me to the book written by Isaiah.  I found this verse. 14All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

Then I found more from Isaiah.  2The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.  For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.  6For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.  The government will rest on his shoulders.  And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  7His government and its peace will never end.  He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity.

As I continued to search the book of Isaiah, I found more references to the Messiah.  This one I did not understand.  I pleaded with God for it not to be true, but I knew in my heart God’s Son would somehow suffer for our sins.

2My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground.  There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.  3He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.  He was despised, and we did not care.  4Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!  5But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.  6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

I could not go on.  I laid back down and thought and prayed.  I felt my responsibility was too great.  Yet somehow a sense of peace came over me.  God would lead me to be a great stepdad to His Son.  I feel asleep.  I awoke and it was morning.  I must talk to Mary!

Mary and I had a long talk that day.  We decided she would move in with me, but we would sleep separately until after the baby was born.  I wanted to take care of her, but I also wanted her to remain a virgin.  It was hard but the Lord helped me.  I worked hard each day to take my mind off Mary and our upcoming responsibilities of raising the Son of God.  As Mary grew larger, she became more beautiful.  Her face shown as she carried out her household duties.  I loved her so much.

The Trip to Bethlehem

The Roman soldiers came to our town and posted a notice for all to read.  Each man must go to their hometown to register for a census.  I told Mary we would have to travel to Bethlehem because I was of the lineage of David.  Mary was in her ninth month, but she agreed to go with me. 

The journey was hard, and it took some time to get there.  There were lots of people in Bethlehem when we got there.  We went to the only inn in town in hopes to get a room.  Mary was starting to have pain, so I needed to get a place for her to lie down and soon.  However, the innkeeper said he was full.  I pleaded with him for a room.  My wife is great with child and she needs to rest.  The innkeeper was understanding but he only had a large stable left.  I said we would take it.  I could make a bed of hay for Mary.  We would have a roof over us and hay to keep warm.  We did not mind sharing the stable with a few donkeys and a cow.  At least it was private from other people.

The Birth of Jesus

Mary’s pains were getting closer together.  The innkeeper’s wife came to check on us.  She said she asked every room if they would be willing to give up their room for us, but no one would.  The innkeeper’s wife saw Mary and said it would not be long now before the baby was born.  She stayed to help with the birth.  I was so relieved.  Being a carpenter, I had little experience with animals giving birth and none with humans.

Finally, Mary cried out and Jesus was born.  He was perfect!  Mary wrapped Jesus up in cloth and nursed him until he fell asleep.  She laid him in a manager.  I told her to go lay down, but she insisted she wanted to sit by Jesus in the manager and watch him sleep.  He was so precious.  I was so proud even though I was the baby’s stepdad. 

The Shepherd’s Visit

Suddenly there was a commotion outside of the stable.  I got up to look and see what was going on.  It was shepherds and they wanted to see the Christ child.  They told me of their angel’s visit.  I asked Mary if it would be okay and she said yes.  The shepherds were quiet as they came in the stable.  They all fell to their knees and worshipped the baby.  Later, when they left, I could hear them in the streets shouting and praising God.  Others came to visit that night and next day.  We did not get much sleep, but we did not mind.

Later that day the innkeeper came and told us of a furnished house he knew of for rent.  We could move in right away.  There was a retiring carpenter next door who said I could rent his shop.  I felt God leading us to stay awhile in Bethlehem.

The Visit of the Magi

When Jesus was about a year old, we had more visitors.  This visit was from Magi from the east.  They saw Jesus’ star which had shown over our home ever since Jesus was born.  They said they saw the star a far off and believed it was a sign a new king was born.  They followed the star to Bethlehem to see the new king.  They brought us expensive gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh.  They bowed down to Jesus and worshipped him.  When they left, we just sat there in amazement.

The Escape to Egypt

That night I had another dream shortly after I fell asleep.  An angel appeared to me and said “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  I woke up immediately and woke Mary up.  I told her about my dream and we both agreed to take what we could carry and go right away during the night.

Mary and Jesus rode the donkey and we traveled at night as much as possible.  We hid during the day and slept a little.  God gave us both strength and safety for the journey.  When we got to Egypt, we found a place to stay and waited. 

One night I had another dream of an angel appearing to me.  He said, “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”  We packed up what we could carry and headed back to Israel.  But when we heard Herod’s son Archelaus was on the throne we head back to Nazareth where Jesus would be safe.

The Visit to the Temple

When Jesus was twelve, we made our annual visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.  When the feast was over, we started to head back to Nazareth.  We had told Jesus we were leaving with a large group of relatives and friends.  Jesus often would hang out with boys his age when we traveled so we thought Jesus was doing that.  However, the next day we were asking everyone in our group where Jesus was, and no one had seen him.  So back to Jerusalem we went.  We found him in the temple.  He was talking to the scholars and asking questions.  Mary said to Jesus “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”  And do you know what Jesus said?  He said 49“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  He was not disrespectful when he said it and he went back to Nazareth with us.  In fact, Jesus always obeyed us.  He was the perfect child.

Jesus is growing up and will soon be a man.  He has helped me in my workshop and learned all there is to being a carpenter.  I am getting older and been having trouble breathing lately.  I feel my time is almost up.

Looking back at Jesus birth and life so far, I cannot help but think of what is to come.  I think of the scripture about how Jesus will suffer for our sins.  I cannot bare to think of it.  I know Mary will live much longer than I.  Will she see him when he suffers?  Will she be alright?  Jesus is a good son, and I am sure he will take care of her.

My Thoughts on Joseph

As I write these stories, I never am sure how they will turn out.  We all know the story of Jesus’ birth.  Many of us know the rest of Jesus’ story.  We know how he suffered and went willing to the cross to die for our sins.  We know of his resurrection and how he is in Heaven getting a place ready for us.  We know he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us who believe.  Will you believe like Joseph did?  Jesus came to earth to save you and me from our sins, you only have to believe.