The Bible is filled with stories of fathers and sons — Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, David and Solomon, Zechariah and John. But only in one story was the only begotten Son of God committed to the care of an earthly father. That story is the story of Joseph and Jesus.
Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. He was a foster father. Still by looking at who Joseph was we may be able to see those characteristics God valued enough to place Jesus under the earthly guidance of this man. We also may recognize those traits God values whether one guides children as a biological father, foster father, relative, friend or church worker.
Perhaps the most striking thing from a human perspective is that God did not choose a foster father for Jesus who was financially wealthy. He chose a working man. Matthew 13:55 identifies Joseph as a carpenter. The Greek word is “tekton,” which provides the root of our word “technology.” To be precise, the word means “builder.” Joseph may have worked with wood. He also may have worked with stone, which was the primary building material of that area. Regardless he was a person who worked with his hands.
Purification offering
Some have tried to argue that Joseph supervised a network of builders but that seems far-fetched. When Mary went to the temple to offer a purification offering following the birth of her Son her sacrifice was two turtle doves. Leviticus 12 specifies the purification offering is to be a year-old lamb. Only those who could not afford a lamb were allowed to offer two doves or pigeons. It seems more reasonable to conclude that Joseph was a man of modest means.
Joseph was known as a “righteous man” (Matt. 1:19). The implication is that he was trustworthy. It is hard to imagine one who did shoddy work or who was undependable or self-centered having a reputation in the community as a righteous man.
We also know that Joseph spent time with Jesus. Joseph must have spent long hours teaching Jesus his trade (Mark 6:3). We know that Jesus accompanied Joseph on the long walks from Nazareth to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. We are left to imagine how these two lovingly related to each other based on these biblical hints about their relationship.
The reference to Joseph as a “righteous man” implies more than a good reputation. It points to what may have been his most important characteristic. He loved God and loved God’s law. Joseph was a Jew and shared the faith and hope of his people. He longed for the Messiah promised in 2 Samuel 7:16 who would establish David’s throne forever. Because he was of the lineage of David, Joseph may have longed for the fulfillment of that promise more than most.
Evidently Joseph was sensitive to the voice of God. Four times Matthew’s Gospel records that God spoke to Joseph through dreams and each time Joseph recognized God speaking to him. More importantly, Joseph was obedient to God. There is a difference between knowing what God wants one to do and actually doing what God directs.
The Bible says Joseph trusted what he heard in his dreams enough to change his plans concerning Mary, abandon his homeland and later go back to Israel.
Joseph was sincere in his service to God as evidenced by the way he tried to keep the law and made the annual Passover pilgrimages. It is no stretch of the imagination to see Joseph regularly sitting in the Nazareth synagogue pondering the majesty of God’s Word. And one can imagine that most of the time Jesus was sitting by his side. Wouldn’t that be the way of a “righteous man”?
It is said that a crisis best reveals what one is really like. If that is so, in the greatest crisis of Joseph’s life we see him act in love and mercy. The crisis is the news that Mary is pregnant and Joseph knows the child is not his. One can only imagine his feeling of betrayal, his anger, his shattered dreams.
Many people would vent their anger in vengeance and Leviticus 20 provided that possibility. Mary could have been stoned under certain circumstances. But this was not who Joseph was. Instead of a public spectacle, he chose a private action. Instead of focusing on himself and his pain, Joseph’s foremost thought was for another.
Like God, whose own heart was broken by the unfaithfulness of humankind, Joseph demonstrated that love and mercy were at the core of his being. Romans 5:8 says God’s love and mercy is best seen in that “God demonstrated His own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us.”
With a life characterized by love and mercy it is no wonder that the Bible calls Joseph a “righteous man.”
Joseph was God’s choice for a father. It was to this man that God entrusted the earthly care of His Son. To fathers everywhere Joseph provides a wonderful example of the type of man God desires all to be.
It is not the size of the bank account that God values most. Nor is it one’s place in the social pecking order of a community. God still looks for the “righteous man” who lives faithfully before God and with his neighbors. God still looks for the man who loves Him and listens for His voice amid the confusing sounds of the day. God still looks for the man who obeys with sincerity and faithfulness.
Above all, God still looks for the man whose life is characterized by love and mercy toward others. That is the kind of man who is God’s choice.
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