Seeking solace from the over-commercialization of the holiday season, I opened the Bible to refresh myself with the story of the homeless couple and the unwed mother giving birth to her child.
Instead of the traditional Christmas story in Luke, I read the book of Matthew and the character of Joseph, often cast as a hapless bystander, jumped out at me. In chapter one, Mary – a virgin – becomes pregnant through divine intervention. Let me quote:
“When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, being an upright man unwilling to expose her to the law, decided to divorce her quietly.”
“Being an upright man unwilling to expose her to the law.” It’s an interesting line. In that place and time, an unmarried woman found pregnant was likely to be stoned to death, the same punishment meted out these days in some precincts of Nigeria. But, Matthew writes, Joseph was an upright man – a stand-up guy – who was not content to let law enforcement authorities have their way. Later, an angel will come to Joseph in a dream and explain the divine conception issue, but at this point, all Joseph knows is that someone else got his fiancée pregnant. Still, he is willing to aid and abet a felon in avoiding the consequences of what looks like a clear violation of the law.
Is this any kind of role model for the Messiah? A free thinker who decides which laws he will obey and which laws he will ignore?
Later, after Jesus is born, Matthew tells us Herod – who was head of the Romans’ puppet government in Judea – killed all male children under the age of two, in an attempt to destroy Jesus. He was unsuccessful, because Joseph, again acting on a tip from an angel, took Mary and Jesus and fled to Egypt.
Again Joseph emerges as something of an outlaw figure, hiding from the authorities, taking it on the lam from an oppressive and illegitimate government. Who is this man to decide for himself that the government is right or wrong? Of course, he was getting advice from angels, but maybe we can too, if we consult what Abraham Lincoln called “the angels of our better nature.”
In the year ahead, I’m going to spend some time thinking about Joseph of Nazareth, a freethinker, willing to take on a corrupt government, willing to shield his friends from the law. An upright man.
An Upright Man
Seeking solace from the over-commercialization of the holiday season, I opened the Bible to refresh myself with the story of the homeless couple and the unwed mother giving birth to her child.
Instead of the traditional Christmas story in Luke, I read the book of Matthew and the character of Joseph, often cast as a hapless bystander, jumped out at me. In chapter one, Mary – a virgin – becomes pregnant through divine intervention. Let me quote:
“When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, being an upright man unwilling to expose her to the law, decided to divorce her quietly.”
“Being an upright man unwilling to expose her to the law.” It’s an interesting line. In that place and time, an unmarried woman found pregnant was likely to be stoned to death, the same punishment meted out these days in some precincts of Nigeria. But, Matthew writes, Joseph was an upright man – a stand-up guy – who was not content to let law enforcement authorities have their way. Later, an angel will come to Joseph in a dream and explain the divine conception issue, but at this point, all Joseph knows is that someone else got his fiancée pregnant. Still, he is willing to aid and abet a felon in avoiding the consequences of what looks like a clear violation of the law.
Is this any kind of role model for the Messiah? A free thinker who decides which laws he will obey and which laws he will ignore?
Later, after Jesus is born, Matthew tells us Herod – who was head of the Romans’ puppet government in Judea – killed all male children under the age of two, in an attempt to destroy Jesus. He was unsuccessful, because Joseph, again acting on a tip from an angel, took Mary and Jesus and fled to Egypt.
Again Joseph emerges as something of an outlaw figure, hiding from the authorities, taking it on the lam from an oppressive and illegitimate government. Who is this man to decide for himself that the government is right or wrong? Of course, he was getting advice from angels, but maybe we can too, if we consult what Abraham Lincoln called “the angels of our better nature.”
In the year ahead, I’m going to spend some time thinking about Joseph of Nazareth, a freethinker, willing to take on a corrupt government, willing to shield his friends from the law. An upright man.
Merry Christmas.