Joseph: A Just Man

They say that to understand a man, you must walk a mile in his shoes. The mile walked by the man Joseph in Matthew 1:18-25 was a long and windy path for sure, filled with questions the likes of which none of us have ever faced.

We first imagine him to be a man filled with the joys that a beautiful fiancée brings. We feel his anticipation as he looks forward to the blessings of marriage to a godly woman. We feel the emptiness and sadness he experiences as his bride's visit to her cousin Elizabeth grows ever longer. There is the exhilaration of her return followed quickly by the agony of soul upon the news... she's pregnant. His mind must have raced. Why? How? What would cause her to do such a thing? Thoughts of anguished betrayal are complicated by the love he had felt for her. God does not leave him in anguish for long, but it is during this time of anguish that God calls him a righteous (just) man. Joseph's righteousness can be seen in his decision to pursue a path of compassion. Though not yet married, Mary would have been considered an adulteress, and would be subject to the stiff penalties adulterers faced. He decides to divorce her quietly, to keep her pain to a minimum, all the while dealing with the deep sorrows of his own heart.

So God sends this just man an angelic visitor, who brings him relief of soul. Relief of soul yes, but with this relief come many other burning questions, some of which are wonderfully expressed by Michael Card in the lyrics of his ballad entitled "Joseph’s Song”:

How can it be, this baby in my arms, sleeping now, so peacefully,
The Son of God, the angel said, how can it be?

Lord, I know, he's not my own, not of my flesh, not of my bone,
Still Father let, this baby be, the son of my love.

Father, show me where I fit into this plan of yours,
How can a man be father to the Son of God?
Lord, for all my life I've been a simple carpenter,
How can I raise a King? How can I raise a King?

In actuality we know very little about the man Joseph. He lives out the rest of his life in near anonymity, but what we learn about him in Matthew 1 is enough. It is enough to know that this man was a man of courageous faith. It is enough to assure us that the only begotten Son of God, the one they named "Yahweh saves," yes the very King of Israel, was indeed raised by an earthly father who was... "a righteous man."

Scott Stengele