A Just Man!
Every Christmas as I navigate the Christmas story, I find myself admiring Joseph. You know, the one who raised Jesus as his own son. The carpenter! This guy is probably one of the most known fathers of all time and has only a few scriptures where he is even mentioned. You’ll find these in Matt 1&2 and Luke 1&2. Although hardly mentioned, he amazes me. He is just a carpenter by trade, not what you would call a wealthy man or educated man. He was a simple man and yet the Bible describes him as “ A Just Man.” (Matt 1:19 ESV)
We all know the story but I will give my synopsis. Joseph is engaged to Mary, which means Joseph had most likely already paid a dowry for her, reserved the local barn venue, and sent out the invitations. Joking of course but it was known about. Mary becomes pregnant and at some point this information gets back to Joseph. This was a serious offense and had serious consequences in those days. Yet Joseph, being a “Just Man,” did not want to disgrace Mary and really was going to take the disgrace on himself. I mean think about it, if he is not going to disgrace her, it means this man is going to take the fall for leaving his pregnant wife. Not a good look.
The next thing we see is God communicating to Joseph through a dream to take Mary as his wife and ultimately to take on Jesus as his son. I try to put myself in Joseph’s position and think what would I have thought when I woke up from that dream. Things like, “Yeah, right!” or “No Way Jose” enter my mind. He had to be thinking, you want me to raise the son of the almighty God! If it was me, I’d probably even question, “Was that really you God?”
But it says, Joseph awoke and did what was commanded. It was not going to be easy, it would be uncomfortable and yet Joseph was obedient. Now here is my favorite part, and he gets little recognition for it. If you read fast you might even miss Joseph. We never really know much about him. We do not even know what happened to him. He is there and then he is not. I love this part because Joseph did not become the husband and father God called him to be for fame, fortune, or even recognition (he only gets a few verses of that.) He did it because of who called him to do it and for no other reason. He took his role as leader seriously.
Later on when someone interacts with Jesus they say, “Aren’t you the carpenters son?” This man left a legacy. Joseph although never rich, highly educated, or even what we would consider a man of stature, gives us a picture of the impact a faithful man, “A Just Man” can have.
Be more than “Just A Man”, be “A Just Man!” As my Bible commentary put it, “That’s the kind of man God looked for to rock his son’s cradle. And it’s still the kind of man He seeks to rock the world.
Merry Christmas…You Are The Man
