Sunday, December 20, 2020

At Christmas Time 2020: #7 Joseph, Husband of Mary

 


#7 Joseph, Husband of Mary
Please first read: Matthew 1:18-25

Annunciation to Joseph

After the visit of the angel Gabriel, Mary left her home and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She now returns home and is probably showing her three-month pregnancy. Joseph has not yet been visited by the angel and told of the circumstance involved. Is Joseph possibly being tested? No doubt Joseph is crushed and decides to break their betrothal.  Because he loves Mary he plans to have her put away privately, (a divorce procedure) which under Jewish law he has the right to do. This will spare Mary public ridicule and embarrassment, plus there is the potential of a serious crime having been committed. Under Jewish law unfaithfulness (adultery) by the bride-to-be during this time was punishable by death. Marriage occurs in two separate ceremonies: 1. betrothal (engagement) which is considered as binding as marriage, and 2. the actual solemnizing of the marriage itself. The period between these may be long as one year.   The woman usually continues to live with her family during this time.

The angel now comes to Joseph in his grief and explains the situation. (Matthew Chapter 1): “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” We cannot imagine the flood of joy that swept over Joseph with those words!

 Mary’s conception is of the Holy Ghost … He will be the Son of God, and his name is to be ‘Jesus’… Joseph proceeds and makes Mary his legal wife. Under Jewish law this will make him her guardian and give legal protection to both Mary and the baby. Joseph was no doubt aware of the prophecies of Jewish prophets about the birth of a Messiah and how this was to occur. We would expect that he received this news with great joy and recognized the choice blessing that had come to Mary, and now to him.

Only a few things are written in the scriptures about Joseph. We know that he was a just man, a strict observer of the law, and that he had great love for Mary. We also get some small bits of information from a few latter-day prophets and apostles, but that's it. However, there is much known about the world, history, and culture within which he spent his life. When we look at, and place, Joseph within these settings, we can gain a fairly- good look at who and what kind of person he was. To me it is a picture of a very good, faithful and choice son of our Father in Heaven. When we carefully make assumptions that Joseph was much like his "good" peers of that day, about whom quite a bit is known historically, we can begin to understand basic characteristics about him.
                                          
At the time of the Savior’s birth, Israel was ruled by alien monarchs. The rights of the royal David family were unrecognized, and the ruler of the Jews was an appointee of Rome. Had Judah been a free and independent nation, ruled by her rightful sovereign, Joseph the carpenter would have been her crowned king, and his lawful successor to the throne would have been Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." (Apostle James E. Talmage, "Jesus the Christ".)  Joseph inherited his legal status as Son of David from his father and Jesus would be the lawful successor to the throne.

All the nation knew that its' Savior would be born through the royal line of David. Both Matthew and Luke give accounts of the royal lineage. Matthews' is generally accepted as that of Joseph, establishing the order of sequence of successors to the throne of David. Joseph was recognized by Jewish law as the legal father of Jesus thus making Him the rightful heir after Joseph to be king.

The account by Luke is generally accepted as that of Mary. Many scriptures confirm Mary as a descendent of David. The blood line of David would, of course, come to Jesus through Mary alone. During His ministry Jesus was repeatedly referred to as Son of David. He never repudiated this title, and we have no evidence that He was ever challenged about His Messiah-ship because of His lineage.

Daniel H. Ludlow:

“Robert J. Matthews, Dean of the Religion Department at BYU wrote about the fact that Joseph was chosen in the preexistence to serve as the earthly father to Jesus. He was a choice son of God to be thus selected. Jesus was instructed and taught by God the Father as He grew and matured, but it stands to reason that Joseph would teach and counsel correct principles and set an example for Him. Joseph would demonstrate moral, intellectual, and social qualities, and observe the requirements as they pertained to the Baby, the Child, and the Young Man. “’Joseph was a just man, a strict observer of the law, yet no harsh extremist; moreover, he loved Mary ...’”  

Alfred Edersheim:

“At five years of age, reading of the Bible; at ten years, learning the Mishnah; at thirteen years, bound to the commandments; at fifteen years, the study of the Talmud; at eighteen years, marriage; at twenty, the pursuit of trade or business (active life); at thirty years, full vigor; at forty, maturity of reason; at fifty, for counsel; at sixty, commencement of aged-ness; at seventy, grey age; at eighty ,advanced old age; at ninety, bowed down; at a hundred, as if he were dead and gone, taken from the world.”

Apostle Bruce R. McConkie:

“We are left to conclude that Joseph was certainly not older than twenty years when he took Mary as his wife and she was at least fourteen, perhaps fifteen or sixteen years of age.”
                                
Joseph received four separate “dreams” from the Lord in a short period of time, instructing him regarding the birth and protection of Jesus and Mary. Joseph Smith, in his translation of Matthew, corrects the term “dreams” to “visions.”                         
                                
There is a course of study at BYU entitled “The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles.” The study manual reminds us that Mary returned to Nazareth, to Joseph. Three months pregnant, and Joseph proceeded with steps to protect and care for Mary before the angelic visitation telling him who the father of Mary's baby was. Joseph is truly a special Priesthood brother and son of the Father. He was “foreordained to the honored station that he held.”

The Prophet Joseph Smith:

“Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of Heaven before this world was.”

Joseph's trade was that of a carpenter. Given the traditions and culture of the time, his father was probably a carpenter and taught his son that skill, as Joseph so taught Jesus. The term “carpenter,” translated from Hebrew and Greek texts, had a little different meaning than our word “carpenter” today. It included furniture, cabinetry, wood carving and more general wood handicraft than we think of today when we think of a “carpenter.”

Glenn R. McGettigan
December 2011; Revised September 2018

References:

“Our Lord of the Gospels.” Clark
“The Mortal Messiah.” McConkie
“Jesus the Christ.” Talmage
“Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles.” CES NT Manual
“The Four Gospels.” Ludlow
“Doctrinal New Testament Commentary.” Volume 1. McConkie
“The Gospels.” Jackson-Millet
“Mormon Doctrine.” McConkie
“The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ.” Volume 1. Holzapfel-Wayment
“The Life of Christ.” Farrar
“The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.” Volume 1. Edersheim
“Doctrines of Salvation.” Volume 1. Joseph Fielding Smith  

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