December 18 (Mt. 1,18-24): The Loving Man That Was Joseph

The Gospel recounts a very endearing love story.

The seven verses center on Joseph’s role in the circumstances surrounding the conception of the human nature of Jesus. Mary was betrothed to Joseph. According to the custom of the Jews, a man and a woman are first engaged and are married only a year later when he brings her to his home and consummate the marriage. So Joseph and Mary were living in an espousal state, which would last a year. During this period, Mary was expected to act like Joseph’s wife. Any infidelity on her part would be counted as adultery, and an adulteress deserved nothing less than death.

Then Joseph found out that Mary was with child! She seemed to have broken the contract. She appeared to have slept with another man. She has thus disgraced his name. Therefore, she ought to be punished. Joseph must have been terribly hurt because he loved and adored Mary so much. And yet, despite her apparent unfaithfulness, in his love for her, he did not want to expose her. Instead, he wanted to save her from being shamed and the imminent death sentence. He was contemplating on divorcing her quietly. He would simply sign the divorce papers and give them to her in the presence of two witnesses. By doing this, he would be giving her her freedom. He would lose his “right” to cry foul against her and see her punished. He was a kind man, and he truly loved her.

And then the angel of the Lord appeared in his dream. Probably, it was Gabriel. The angel told Joseph not to worry and not to execute his plan to divorce Mary. Her pregnancy was not due to human action but was the fruit of divine intervention, the work of the Holy Spirit. Mary would not bear an ordinary child but would give birth to the Son the God. The child would save the people from their sins. The angel further intimated to Joseph that Mary’s conceiving was, in fact, the fulfillment of what God had foretold through the prophet Nathan in King David’s time: “The virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son, and they shall call him “Immanuel”, a name which means “God is with us.”

A just man, Joseph did everything that the angel told him. He forewent divorcing Mary and brought her to his home, and she became his wife. He accepted the holy role of being the foster father of the Son of God.

There are three things that we can immediately learn from the example of Joseph. First, trust in God. Joseph put his trust in God. God knows what is best, and Joseph believed that everything that God asked him to do was for the best. Joseph did as the angel commanded him. His trusting attitude, although he was a nobody to the world, living only in an obscure village, made him great in the eyes of God. He must have been a man of prayer, for only a person devoted to prayer would easily submit himself to God’s will.

Second, obedience. Joseph’s obedience was remarkable. His was immediate and unquestioning although it meant having to go through a lot of toil and suffering. As soon as Joseph got up from his bed, he accomplished the command of God. Obviously, Joseph and Mary had definite plans of settling down together and raising a family. But God intervened and wanted them to have room for his own plan instead. Joseph and Mary put far more premium on the will of God.

Third, justice and kindness. Joseph was a just man. In accordance with law, he had to let go of Mary, whom he loved. He had to divorce her. Yet out of kindness, he chose to divorce her quietly so as not to expose her to public ridicule and make her suffer the harsh death penalty. Of course, this never happened because of the Lord.

This Joseph, who is full of trust in and obedient to God, just and kind, protected Mary and the child Jesus while in Bethlehem and Egypt, and provided for their needs in Nazareth. This Joseph is the protector of the family and of the whole Church. Let us run to him for protection.

St. Joseph, pray for us!