Every Christmas we face the same problem. We pull out the artificial Christmas tree (or, if you’re still old school, you go out and get a live tree), set it up, and decorate it. We put out our favorite Christmas decorations such as little statues of Santa and his elves. We start listening to Christmas music and drinking hot apple cider. Funny, if apple cider is that good, why don’t we don’t drink it at other times of the year?
And then, we get our nativity scene out, and that’s when we have a problem. The problem? What do we do with Joseph? Let’s face it. We never know what to do with Joseph when we set up our nativity scenes. Don’t get me wrong. We want him in the nativity scene. He must be in the nativity scene. After all, it’s through Joseph that Jesus becomes an heir to the throne of David. The royal bloodline runs through Joseph. So, he must be there.
We just don’t want him too close to Jesus, do we? We want Mary next to baby Jesus in the manger and then we carefully place Joseph just behind Mary–close to Jesus, but not too close. After all, we want everyone to know Joseph isn’t Jesus’ real father.
My guess is that Joseph wasn’t really comfortable being there either. Have you ever thought about what it must have been like to be Joseph? The only thing Joseph had was a baby he knew wasn’t his and a dream that God was up to something. Mary had an angel come to her. Not Joseph. Zachariah had Gabriel appear to him and the shepherds had an entire choir of angels. Joseph? The only thing Joseph had was a dream.
Have you ever tried to remember a dream? You get part of it, but you know there’s more. You know it has to mean something but you’re never sure exactly what it means.
That’s all Joseph had for nine months.
Matthew tells us Joseph was righteous and compassionate. He had decided in the beginning not to embarrass Mary. He would divorce her quietly. But after the dream, Joseph decided to marry Mary and become a father to Jesus. He would be there in the stable when Jesus was born. He would name Jesus and, in doing so, he would claim Jesus as his son. He would take them to Egypt and when they returned, Joseph would hide his family in Nazareth.
Later, Nathanial would complain that there was nothing in the Bible about the Messiah being from Nazareth. Don’t you think Joseph knew that? After all, the wisemen and Herod had found Jesus by looking at Old Testament prophecy. This time, when they looked, they wouldn’t find anything about Nazareth.
That was Joseph. He would have taught Jesus His trade. He would have taught Jesus His memory verses. When Jesus was pushed up against the wall in His ministry, He would quote Scripture. In the wilderness and on the cross, the words of His childhood would come back to Him. As a father, it would have been Joseph’s responsibility to train Jesus in His faith.
Joseph was the man God trusted to raise His child. I can’t imagine how scared Joseph must have been. Can you imagine the panic when Mary and Joseph realized they had lost Jesus when He was twelve?
No, Joseph didn’t understand all that God was doing, but he showed up anyway. He might not have ever figured it out, but that didn’t stop him from doing the best he could in the moment before him.
I have a new respect for Joseph. He is, after all, the one in the Christmas story who is most like me. I don’t have any angels appearing to me. All I have, like Joseph, is a child who isn’t mine and a dream that God is up to something.
That’s me. This Christmas I’ll show up like Joseph, with nothing but a dream that God is up to something and looking for a Child I can claim as my own.
Merry Christmas.
