CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS - Joseph

As Christmas approaches I am drawn to reflect on the characters in the birth narrative of Jesus. I wonder what must the events of the Christmas story have been like for the ones who lived it. What would the shepherds have felt seeing the sky fully illuminated by an angelic choir. The wise men from the east, whose reading of the stars told them a king was born, would have had a fascinating story. Mary gets a lot of attention this time of year, for obvious reasons - she carried God in her womb. But, I start by wondering about Joseph, Jesus' step-father.

There is one verse in Matthew's edition of the events that stands out: chapter 1 verse 19. 

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Joseph was a righteous man but can you imagine committing to marry a woman who had become pregnant with a child that was not yours?! He was a man who was conscientious about his faith and about God but can you imagine marrying a woman who was known to be unfaithful? If Joseph had married her he would have been tacitly admitting his own guilt, because if you marry a pregnant woman it is not because she is carrying someone else's child, it is because she is carrying yours. 

Mary brought shame and dishonor to Joseph and ruin to his reputation. In the middle eastern world of the first century, adultery was grounds for the woman to be stoned to death; a husband could have his wife executed for this. We are not immune to being talked bad about, or shamed in front of friends. Think about the headlines we have seen in the past year about someone who sought out revenge for one reason or another. We are not so far removed from the feelings that Joseph would have felt, betrayed by the one he loves. We've been stabbed in the back, we've been blindsided by harsh news that came from someone we were supposed to be able to trust. We have probably thought about giving that person or group of people a taste of there own medicine. "They hurt me this way, let's see how they like it when..." fill in the rest. The full weight of the law could have led to the stoning death of Jesus’ mother Mary, at the very least a public divorce would have shamed Mary and her family and she likely would have never married. We could not fault Joseph for taking that route if he chose to do so.  

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But Joseph was unwilling to expose her to the disgrace of public divorce, so he chose a quiet yet lawful way. I believe it is one of the reason's God chose Joseph to be a step-father to God the Son. Joseph finds a way to remain faithful to the rigidity of the law while expressing compassion towards Mary. I may have chosen to find some way to get back at the person who wronged me, who embarrassed me, who ruined my reputation - Joseph chooses to quietly divorce Mary and salvage her reputation. Ultimately he chooses to marry her, accepting the embarrassment and shame of a premarital pregnancy. He accepted the shame as his own even though he had nothing to do with it.

Can you imagine being a son, and hearing this story as you grow up? I seem to remember a story of a woman caught in the act of adultery, recorded in John's edition of the gospel. Jesus, just as his father, shows compassion and does not seek to embarrass her publicly. He stands with her in her shame and disgrace. Jesus looked beyond the circumstance to show a person is more than the sum of their choices, as did his father Joseph. 

Just a short time later Jesus would do it again... from a cross. The cross is where he remained faithful to the rigidity of the law while expressing compassion towards all humanity. He chose to accept the shame of death as a common criminal on charges that were not true to not just stand with us in our shame but to take our place. Jesus' journey to and sacrifice on the cross began with the courageous choice of a man named Joseph. A man who defied convention, who chose the harder road, and modeled compassion to a young wife and son who would go on to change world in the same way.

Just a meandering thought...