Joseph

Joseph Knew

Posted on by Betsy

Ann Weems is the author of a marvelous book of poetry called Kneeling in Bethlehem. It is one of my favorite Christmas reading resources. She looks at things from an angle that is unique and thoughtful. Of all the poems in her book, I like “Getting to the Front of the Stable” the best.

To set the stage for today’s devotional, take a look at your nativity set if you have one in the house. If not, remember or imagine ones you have seen in the past. Where is Joseph, the father of the son of God? Where stands this man who made the extraordinary decision to stay with Mary when the culture and the world said to divorce her and send her and the baby off to a life of shame? Most likely your Joseph is stuck at the back of the stable, upstaged by wise strangers, smelly shepherds, glory-blinding angels, and even barn animals.

Who put Joseph in the back of the stable? 
Who dressed him in brown, put a staff in his hand, 
and told him to stand at the back of the crèche, 
background for the magnificent light of the Madonna? 
(Ann Weems, “Getting to the Front of the Stable,” Kneeling in Bethlehem, pp. 52-53.)

We only get to talk about Joseph every three years in the lectionary cycle when we delve into Matthew’s account of the nativity. Read this with intention, as you won’t see it again for another 36 months:

Matthew 1:18-25 (Common English Bible)

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. When Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, before they were married, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph her husband was a righteous man. Because he didn’t want to humiliate her, he decided to call off their engagement quietly. 20 As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit.21 She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 

Joseph had the right to outcast Mary and her unborn child. His decision to do so quietly speaks volumes of his integrity. The fact that he didn’t speaks to his faith in God.

One thing Joseph knew already was his own family lineage. Matthew gives us a neatly divided family tree from Joseph’s line, which includes women, of all things. Among those women listed were Rahab the prostitute and Bathsheba the adulteress. Perhaps Joseph knew that their inclusion in his family tree was evidence of God’s saving mercy and powerful forgiveness. Perhaps he knew that women hardly stood a chance in the patriarchal society that so easily cast them aside. Perhaps he knew God’s power and might in his own ordinary life and trusted that God would protect him and his little family if he just yielded this moment to the angel’s promise.

22 Now all of this took place so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:

23 Look! A virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son,
        And they will call him, Emmanuel.

(Emmanuel means “God with us.”)

24 When Joseph woke up, he did just as an angel from God commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he didn’t have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. Joseph called him Jesus.

One thing Joseph knew for sure was his Scriptures. So when the angel promised that this unborn child was the long-awaited messiah, he already had a vision of what that meant to the world. Was he startled to find himself at the center of the fulfillment of that prophecy? You betcha. But isn’t God always working in mysterious and startling ways?

It’s time to give Joseph the prominence he is due. Get up from your chair and move him to the front!

God-chosen, this man Joseph was faithful 
in spite of the gossip in Nazareth, 
in spite of the danger from Herod. 
This man, Joseph, listened to angels 
and it was he who named the Child 
Emmanuel. 

Is this a man to be stuck for centuries 
in the back of the stable? 
Actually, Joseph probably stood in the doorway 
guarding the mother and child 
or greeting shepherds or kings. 

When he wasn’t in the doorway, 
he was probably urging Mary to get some rest, 
gently covering her with his cloak, 
assuring her that he would watch the Child. 
Actually he probably picked the Child up in his arms 
and walked him in the night, 
patting him lovingly 
until he closed his eyes. 

This Christmas, let us give thanks to God 
for this man of incredible faith 
into whose care God placed the Christ Child. 
As a gesture of gratitude, 
let’s put Joseph in the front of the stable 
where he can guard and greet 
and cast an occasional glance 
at this Child 
who brought us life.

Joseph knew that his trust in God would be rewarded, reinforced, and protected. Do you trust God the same way? Maybe it’s time to yield.

Let Mum Rest available at Catholic Supply

Not Just Any Old Joe

Posted on by Betsy

As we have finally rounded the corner past Christmas and are heading into the new year, we have a moment to focus on Joseph. We remember him for many things. We remember his humility in receiving an unwed pregnant girl into his keeping when he could have easily dismissed Mary. We remember his sacrifice of reputation and freedom. We see his struggle to provide shelter for his newborn son and new wife. We admire his quiet and steadfast faith.

And we are amazed at his ability to think fast on his feet in the middle of the night when his sleep was interrupted. God appeared to him in a dream with the command, “Get up.”

Matthew 2 (Common English Bible)

13 When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him.” 14 Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.

I always wonder what happened to this little family during the Egypt years. As immigrants, they surely had a hard time finding shelter and work to sustain them. They lived under the threat of a tyrant who was hell-bent on killing their child. This awful man had no problem killing all the children in Bethlehem in hopes of eliminating Jesus. The fear and disorientation for these young parents must have been overwhelming.

Murder of the Bethlehem children

16 When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 This fulfilled the word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet:

18 A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and much grieving.
        Rachel weeping for her children,
            and she did not want to be comforted,
                because they were no more.

And finally, when King Herod died, Joseph is awakened in the middle of another night and told to “Get up” again:

19 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up,” the angel said, “and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 

Joseph was a sharp and quick thinker. He followed God’s instructions and allowed the Holy Spirit to guide him along the way. A third night of sleep was disrupted, and the angel sent them to Galilee to keep Jesus and Mary safe.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus ruled over Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee. 23 He settled in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.

This makes me wonder what God is telling me to “Get up” and do. Am I sleepwalking through my faith? Am I mush-headed and missing cues around me that the Holy Spirit is trying to guide me toward?

Are you?

Let us agree to be like Joseph and get up and go when called and sent by the Lord. I pray for clarity of direction for all of us.

Get up!

Get Up

Posted on by Betsy

A round of some type of viral respiratory infection that rolled straight into a sinus infection rendered me “Sleepless in Colington” last month. The minute I put my head on the pillow every night, that annoying tickle-cough-draining-into-my-chest thing seized me and kept me awake. Both my husband and the dog fled to the guest room for over a week, waiting it out.

If you’ve dealt with that kind of thing, or have a newborn in the house, or are kept awake at night with anxiety and fears that become larger at night, you know how begin sleep-deprived can rob you of all your critical thinking skills, cognitive powers, and even your ability to be polite. My head was mush for over two weeks and nothing got done … and the things that got done were poorly. My get up and go got up and left.

As we have finally rounded the corner past Christmas and are heading into the new year, we have a moment to focus on Joseph. We remember him for many things. We remember his humility in receiving an unwed pregnant girl into his keeping when he could have easily dismissed Mary. We remember his sacrifice of reputation and freedom. We see his struggle to provide shelter for his newborn son and new wife. We admire his quiet and steadfast faith.

And we are amazed at his ability to think fast on his feet in the middle of the night when his sleep was interrupted. God appeared to him in a dream with the command, “Get up.”

Matthew 2 (Common English Bible)

13 When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him.” 14 Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.

I always wonder what happened to this little family during the Egypt years. As immigrants, they surely had a hard time finding shelter and work to sustain them. They lived under the threat of a tyrant who was hell-bent on killing their child. This awful man had no problem killing all the children in Bethlehem in hopes of eliminating Jesus. The fear and disorientation for these young parents must have been overwhelming.

Murder of the Bethlehem children

16 When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 This fulfilled the word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet:

18 A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and much grieving.
        Rachel weeping for her children,
            and she did not want to be comforted,
                because they were no more.

And finally, when King Herod died, Joseph is awakened in the middle of another night and told to “Get up” again:

19 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up,” the angel said, “and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 

Joseph was a sharp and quick thinker. He followed God’s instructions and allowed the Holy Spirit to guide him along the way. A third night of sleep was disrupted, and the angel sent them to Galilee to keep Jesus and Mary safe.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus ruled over Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee. 23 He settled in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.

This makes me wonder what God is telling me to “Get up” and do. Am I sleepwalking through my faith? Am I mush-headed and missing cues around me that the Holy Spirit is trying to guide me toward?

Are you?

Let us agree to be like Joseph and get up and go when called and sent by the Lord. I pray for clarity of direction for all of us.

Get up!

Bleak Midwinter by Michelle Robertson