Joseph

 

Chapter 10 Joseph

 From Other Little Ships

Surrogate father to the Son of God. Who would want THAT job?! I can't imagine ANY volunteers. There is a great deal to be learned here about being swept up into the awesome Providence of God . . . beyond our will into His.

"The angel of 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 that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." Matthew 1:20

"And after he woke up, Joseph did what the angel had asked him to do, and received his wife." Matthew 1:24

Could he have refused? In a sense, yes.

In a greater sense, probably not. God had a plan and Mary and Joseph were a glorious part of it.

I choose to think that they truly had no choice . . . so that we could have one.

Joseph probably died before his son began his public ministry. The last mention of him in the gospel story is when we see him at Jesus' 12th birthday. The day that, under the law (bar-mitzvah), Jesus became a man.

And what kind of man did Jesus become? Why, a man just like Joseph, of course. And thus we can actually know more about this unsung servant of the Most High than we might first have imagined.

Joseph's death may have been Jesus' first heartache, his first grief and loss. His first face to face encounter with the last enemy (I Corinthians 15:26).

It was very important for this man to be present during Jesus' formative years.

It was just as important that he be absent during his final years. So that there would be no confusion by comparison as to who his Father was. His REAL Father.

Joseph awakens -- he is standing before the throne of God.

The Father stands, steps down, and warmly embraces the father.

And says, "Well done!"