Joseph, the Care-giver

Year A + Advent IV

Thus far during this holy season of Advent, we have considered Isaiah, John the Baptist, and the Virgin Mary. Today, we look at the life of a much less well-known participant in the miraculous events that surrounding the coming of Immanuel – his earthly father, Joseph of Nazareth.

For Joseph’s story, we have very little Gospel witness. The humble carpenter appears twice in Matthew’s gospel, and in both appearances, as we hear today in Matthew 11:2-11, an angel in a dream tells Joseph what God wants him to do.

As often happens when people want to know more than the Gospels are willing to say, the Middle Ages provided a lot of mythology about this man, the earthly father of Our Lord. Around the year 1400, a group of traveling players sang this carol about St Joseph in Coventry, England:

Joseph was an old man, And an old man was he,
When he wedded Mary In the land of Galilee.

Joseph and Mary walked Through an orchard good,
Where was cherries and berries So red as any blood.

Joseph and Mary walked Through an orchard green,
Where was berries and cherries As thick as might be seen.

O then bespoke Mary, So meek and so mild,
Pluck me one cherry, Joseph, For I am with child.

O then bespoke Joseph With words most unkind,
Let him pluck thee a cherry That brought thee with child.

O then bespoke the Babe Within his Mother's womb --
Bow down then the tallest tree For my Mother to have some.

Then bowed down the highest tree Unto his Mother's hand;
Then she cried, See, Joseph, I have cherries at command!

O then bespake Joseph, I have done Mary wrong,
But cheer up, my dearest, And be not cast down.
[The Cherry Tree Carol, as printed by William Sandys, 1833]

In addition, some non-canonical gospels and other writings tell tales about him. We might wonder, “why this fascination with such a minor character in the story?”

On the one hand, our natural curiosity is drawn to this man who, engaged to a young woman, finds out to his shock and dismay that she is already pregnant. As you probably have been told, betrothal in that society carried a pledge of sexual fidelity. Sex outside marriage, or even outside engagement, was punishable by death, and a pregnancy was proof-certain of such infidelity. It is at this point that we are shown Joseph’s kinder side. He was a “righteous man” and “unwilling to expose her to public disgrace,” and he decided to “dismiss her quietly.”

We can only imagine his conflicted feelings: anger over an apparent betrayal, shame at being made a fool of in the town, fear of what may happen to Mary, and surely love for her – undaunted by her terrible news.

Then we see Joseph’s deep faith. Which of us, facing such a crisis, would take the word of a dream, telling us how to handle it?

It may occur to us that Joseph was probably happy to have the dream. It let him off the hook. He could still have Mary as his wife, he could still love her, he avoided his shame and her punishment, and if it was what God wanted, so much the better!

But we must not dismiss Joseph’s response so lightly. Like his betrothed, he was a person of deep faith. He believed in God so strongly that he was able to accept an angel in a dream as a true messenger of God’s will. He trusted God so deeply that he was willing to risk public embarrassment and even rejection by his family and neighbors. The angel’s message was not an easy way out for Joseph; it was a revelation that God had great things in mind for that little family.

You and I face tough choices today. Our world has “rules” that don’t take into account the real feelings of real people.

The easy path for Joseph would have been to let the law take its course, regardless of whether that particular law was just, humane, or even applicable in his situation.

Instead, he trusted the wisdom that God revealed to him. He actually broke the law that said that his fiancée should be punished with death. He refused to accept the validity of a system that placed laws above people.

Advent reminds us that we all are prophets, heralds, and humble servants. Today, it also brings to our attention the fact that we are also care-takers, responsible for our brothers and sisters, and ultimately responsible to do what we can to ensure that our social norms and laws are made consistent with God’s love for all. May we have the courage and self-confidence to stand up for all God’s children, even in the face of our neighbors and our laws. Amen!