The Inspiring Story of the Earthly Father of Jesus
Joseph's story is a shining example of what it's like to trust and obey God in all circumstances.
On this Christmas Day, I want to write about a person who had a posture that modern monastics such as myself hope to have. This person had a posture of listening to God and obeying Him. He had a deep desire to obey the Lord with His whole life. This is also the goal of any modern monastic—to please the Lord in everything (see 2 Cor. 5:9). The person I want to write about was Jesus' earthly father (and husband to Mary). His name was Joseph. We don't know much about Joseph's life since not much is recorded about Him in Scripture. However, the little that we do know about Joseph paints a wonderful picture of a godly man who really wanted to follow God well with His life.
The gospel of Matthew records one of the few instances where we find some details about Joseph's life. The first chapter of Matthew tells us that Mary was betrothed to Joseph (which has some similarity to our modern-day understanding of "engagement"). However, Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant (and Joseph obviously knew he wasn't the father). So, Joseph decided to divorce Mary. But he decided to do the divorce quietly. He was a righteous and honorable man who didn't want to publicly shame Mary. Joseph had a very commendable attitude in the midst of such a confusing situation he was in.
This is where God intervenes to help Mary and Joseph. God sent an angel to speak to Joseph in a dream with some instructions: Joseph was not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. And when Mary did bear a son, Joseph was to name him "Jesus" (see Matt. 1:18-25). Joseph didn't dismiss this dream that was given to him. He took it very seriously. He listened carefully to the words given to him by the angel. And more importantly, Joseph actually obeyed the instructions given to Him by God. He didn't go through with divorcing Mary. He took her as his wife, as was instructed. And when Mary gave birth to a son, Joseph named him "Jesus." Although we don't know much about Joseph's life, this simple story is enough for us to know his godly character and inspire us to emulate it.
Joseph's story is a shining example of what it's like to trust and obey God in all circumstances. We, too, can learn to hear from God. And we can hear from God today through our own times of prayer, Scripture reading, worship, and contemplation. May we constantly be in a posture of hearing from God with the intention of following whatever He tells us. May we also end up being shining examples of what it's like to simply trust and obey God every single day with our lives. On this Christmas day, may we be inspired by this story of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus the Christ.
Happy Christmas to everybody!
Peace and love,
Barnabas the Monastic
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
