Joseph — an Example for All Fathers

The Bible is clear that Mary was the mother of Jesus, but less is said about Joseph being Jesus’ father. 
  
If one thinks of fatherhood only in terms of performing a biological function, then Joseph was not Jesus’ father. In Luke 1:35, the angel tells Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Jesus was born to a woman who had never had sexual relations. And certainly not with Joseph. Matthew 1:18 makes that clear. 
  
But God knew Jesus needed an earthly father. All children do. Increasingly research affirms the wisdom of what God created. Children do best in homes with both a mother and a father. Children need a mother who nurtures and provides security. Children need a father who provides guidance and help as they grow in understanding of themselves and the world in which they live. 
  
Neither role is defined by a biological function, but both roles are defined by giving of one’s self for the benefit of the child. 
  
Joseph was Jesus’ earthly father in every way but biological. He was there to care, to touch, to guide. He was there to set an example before the One entrusted by God to his care. As with Joseph, God continues to entrust the welfare of children to the hands of men called fathers. 
  
It is hard to be a father unless one is present and involved in the life of the child. A simple matter it seems, but how many fathers who are physically present are, in reality, absent from the family? They may be absent because of emotional insensitivity. They may be absent because they are preoccupied with other matters. They may be absent because of their own needs.  
  
But one cannot be a father like Joseph unless one is physically and emotionally present with his family and with his child.
  
Presence is not enough. The example one sets helps determine what kind of child one raises. Research on father-child relationships has found that loving fathers who provide reasonable, firm guidance without arbitrarily imposing their will promote competence in their children. Unloving, punitive, authoritarian fathers tend to produce dependent, withdrawn, anxious and dejected children. 
  
Warm, accepting fathers tend to have children with high self-esteem. Alienated adolescents usually view their parents as hostile and nonaccepting. 
  
A father’s role impacts everything from a child’s generosity to his or her achievement level to his or her sex-role behavior. Generally a nurturing, caring approach to child rearing results in better social adjustment, research shows. Conversely a “military drill instructor” approach to parenting is closely related to less desirable traits in the life of a child. 
  
Joseph was present as a teacher. He taught Jesus how to be a carpenter. More importantly, Joseph taught Jesus about life in Nazareth and beyond. The Gospel of Luke affirms that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Every accomplishment of Jesus was a reflection of the guiding hand of his earthly father, Joseph, the one to whom God had entrusted the welfare of His Son. 
  
Joseph provided the financial resources that made it possible for Jesus and other family members to grow physically. Joseph provided the understandings that helped Jesus and other family members to grow in wisdom. Joseph provided the encouragement that helped Jesus grow in favor with men. 
  
All of this was possible because Joseph provided the example of a godly father. What he taught in word and deed was an expression of his heart. Matthew 1:19 describes Joseph as “a righteous man.” Three different times an angel gave him instructions in a dream, and three different times Joseph obeyed. 
  
Jesus was reared by an earthly father who loved God, and this earthly father helped prepare Jesus to serve His heavenly Father. 
  
What a legacy! 
  
Every child needs a father who will provide for him or her physically, but being a provider is not enough. 
 
Every child needs a father able to temper traditional male toughness with the tender touch of love. Every child needs a father he or she trusts enough to be a guide through the perils of establishing his or her own personhood. 
  
Every child also needs a father who models a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ that is at the core of his being, a father who prepares him or her to serve the heavenly Father. 
  
Joseph was that kind of father. For him, fatherhood was not about biology. It was about a trust from God. So today, each man blessed with an opportunity to be a father receives a precious life entrusted to him by God. 
  
May the love God demonstrated to humanity through sending His Son to die on Calvary’s cross for our sin be reflected in the love each father has for the child entrusted to his care.