Sunday, December 22, 2002
Sunday, December 22, 2002
He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was
expecting a child.
Joseph and Mary would live in the back of his carpenter shop. Joseph might spend his spare
time making a cradle for the baby. Joseph did not neglect his wife. He loved her and she became
part of his family. When the census was ordered, Joseph took Mary with him to Bethlehem even
though she could have stayed with her family. When the time came for Mary to give birth, Joseph
was there with her. He named the baby Jesus, just as the angel told him.
The first chapter of Matthew's gospel focuses on Joseph. The beginning verses establish that
Joseph was from "the royal line of David, the son of Abraham." "Jesus can legitimately be
designated the Son of David," writes the scholars, "because Joseph, son of David, obeys the
instruction he receives from the angel of the Lord and gives Jesus his name." Joseph was an
ordinary man of extraordinary faith. Such people--both men and women--are the hope of this
world.
(Luke 2.5
NRSV)
"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as
his wife." We can just imagine Joseph waking up after his dream and rushing over to Mary's
parents home. He ran through the town, and when he reached her house he was out of breath.
He pounded on the door. Mary's father answered the door. "Joseph, what's the matter? Why are
you here so early?" "I have to see Mary!" he might have replied. Mary stood behind her father
looking at Joseph. Something in his eyes revealed that everything would be all right. Joseph now
believed her story and was ready, willing and able to take Mary as his wife.
Loving God, help me in my ordinary life to have an extraordinary faith of hope. Amen.
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