On March 19, we remembered the life of Joseph of Nazareth. This is what the publication Exciting Holiness says about him.
“In the gospel of Matthew, Joseph is depicted as a good man, a working carpenter, who trusted in God. He received God’s messenger who shared with him God’s will for him and for Mary, to whom he was engaged to be married. Luke’s gospel describes how Joseph took the new-born child as if he were his own. He was with Mary when, on the fortieth day after the birth, Jesus was presented in the Temple, ‘where every first-born male is designated as holy to the Lord’. The adoption of Jesus by Joseph also established Jesus in the descent of David, to accord with the prophecy that Israel’s deliverer would be of the House and lineage of David.”
Apart from those mentions, we hear little more in the New Testament about Joseph. He disappears from the pages of history. The lack of any further reference to Joseph beyond the childhood of Jesus leads us to believe that he died before the ministry of Jesus began, and certainly before the crucifixion. Had he lived then surely he would have been with his wife Mary at the foot of the cross.
What we can discern, however, from the limited information we have about Joseph is that he was a good and kind man. We can only imagine the shock he experienced on discovering that the young girl to whom he was betrothed had become pregnant. Yet, his response is very telling.
Even before being spoken to by an angel of the Lord in a dream which explained what had taken place, Joseph had made the decision to shield Mary from the public disgrace which she would have faced and ‘dismiss her quietly’, as Matthew puts it. From that point of his dream, Joseph took Mary as his wife, caring for her through her pregnancy and raising Jesus as his own child.
He took Mary and Jesus away from the danger posed by Herod, returning to Nazareth only when it was safe to do so, and there he supported his family through his work in the carpenter’s shop. In many respects, Joseph’s life was both hidden and ordinary. A faithful and caring husband and father.
Joseph’s life is, I believe, a great encouragement to us all, not least because his example is one to which we can all aspire. He lived out his life faithfully in the midst of ordinary everyday things.
Few of us will ever make a mark on the world after the fashion of great saints like Peter and Paul, or Francis and Clare, or John Paul II and Teresa of Calcutta, but we all have the opportunity to live lives in ways that are good and kind; to make a difference to those around us in ways hidden to the world but which matter immensely to those we care for and love.
Joseph of Nazareth was a good and kind man. They are qualities that we can all exercise in ways great and small in the context of our families, our friendships, and our neighbourhoods. Qualities that will be needed more than ever in the days that lie ahead. So as we thank God for Joseph’s life, may he be an example for us all to follow.