THIS MAN JOSEPH

As we celebrate Christmas one of the narratives that greatly inspires me is that of Joseph the foster Father of Jesus and Mary’s husband.  Imagine here is the Youth Leader of a Church going out with one of the young ladies in the Choir. They have been dating for some time now and are now engaged to be married. But one his fiancée text him telling him that they need to urgently meet as there is something important she wants to share with him. And so he makes time and they meet at one of the Javas in the City Center. There she breaks the sad news that she is pregnant and claims that her pregnancy is a special one. The Youth Leader is obviously disappointed knowing how he has tried very much not to get physical with his fiancée and knowing how strict their church is. What will the elders say? Who will believe their story?  Should he exonerate himself from this fiasco after all he is innocent and it is his fiancée who will carry the shame.

But this man Joseph the Bible says was a just man. He was such a good man that he wasn’t willing to publicly accuse Mary of adultery. In those days, once you were betrothed to get married to a certain man you were to remain faithful until the day of your wedding. If for any reason you had sex with someone else and got pregnant or were caught, then you were supposed to be brought before the elders and would be stoned to death for this. Your husband-to-be would then be free to marry someone else. This is what Joseph could have subjected Mary to because on his side he was clean.

Mary was the culprit and whereas you and I can today understand the virgin birth, it was not that easy to believe this then. It was going to be a hard story to sell. Who would believe Mary anyway that what she was carrying was of the Holy Spirit? So even before the angel of the Lord had appeared to him, Joseph being the just man that he was, had planned to secretly put her away. The message Bible puts it thus, “Joseph, chagrined (feeling of disappointment and annoyance) but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary could not be disgraced.”

Obviously Joseph was disappointed with his bride-to-be, but he was noble, he was a just man so he determined to take care of things quietly. How many men like Joseph do we have today who will even though disappointed that the lady they wanted to marry has a child, or got pregnant, will still want to take care of things for her? Instead we have men who will want to publicly disgrace the lady who has said no to them lying and saying many bad things about them.  Even when it is clear that they have impregnated the lady they don’t want to take responsibility instead accusing the lady of trapping them. No wonder we are a country of “dead-beat” dads.

How many men when they hear that the lady they are dating has a child out of wedlock will want to continue with that relationship? How many of us married men will cover and protect our wives from our relatives who are baying for her blood for a “mistake” she did? Will we like Joseph determine to take care of things quietly or will we join the crowd in shouting crucify her. We need men like Joseph, men who are willing to take responsibility, men who are determined to take care of things quietly to protect their women, men who are committed to stick with their women no matter what, and yes men who are just and noble.