On the Sunday after Christmas we celebrate the memory of three people closely connected with Jesus’ family: righteous David the King, Joseph the Betrothed and James the Brother of the Lord. Today I would like to think about just one of these - Joseph the Betrothed, the man who acted as protector and guardian of the Mother of God and foster father to Jesus.

Because of the miraculous nature of the Incarnation our liturgical texts and icons put the Mother of God right at the centre. However, the Bible, together the tradition of the Church, does tell us quite a lot about Jospeh: That he was a “just” or “righteous” man. He earned his living as a carpenter. He was betrothed to the Mother of God at the time that she conceived Jesus. St Luke says that he lived at Nazareth in Galilee. He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that Joseph died before Jesus began his public ministry - only Mary was present at the wedding in Cana at the very beginning of that ministry.

The Orthodox Church teaches that Joseph never had marital relations with Mary - so what about the “sisters and brothers” of Jesus who are mentioned in the Gospels? Tradition tells us that Joseph was a widower whose deceased wife was called Salome. They had 6 children: James, Judah, Joses, Simon and three daughters: Esther, Martha, and Salome.

Some have suggested that the birth narratives in St Matthew’s Gospel are seen through Jospeh’s eyes. It is generally acknowledged that St Lukes’ Gospel is Mary’s first-hand account of events, shared directly with the Evangelist. In either case it can be a useful exercise to prayerfully read the birth narratives, seeing them through the eyes of Joseph and the Mother of God respectively.

St Matthew’s Gospel begins with a genealogy that ends with Joseph – an arresting way to finish a genealogy of someone who has no human father. But the point of that genealogy is that it places Jesus within a historical community of faith. It also emphasises that the adoption was real – Joseph’s adoption of Jesus legitimised him as a member of the community of Israel.

Matthew describes the many dreams by which Joseph is guided in his role of protector of both the Mother of God and Jesus. It also refers to his doubts. To be faced with the unexplained pregnancy of the holy girl he had received from the Temple must have been profoundly bewildering.

Our icons of the Nativity tell us the same thing. Joseph is always depicted away from the central scene of action, usually sitting in a dejected or thoughtful posture. Very often there is an old man with a staff talking to him. This old man can be interpreted in different ways. Sometimes he is shown in a completely different place in the icon as a shepherd, usually looking upwards to the star or the appearance of angels. Sometimes he is taken to be the prophet Isaiah, reassuring Joseph with the words: “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.” Jesse, King David’s father, came from Bethlehem. But most commonly the old man is taken to be the devil, tempting Joseph to doubt the miracle that had taken place.

I wonder how the Evangelists themselves reacted to Jesus’ miraculous birth. St Luke, with his knowledge of the Greek world, would have known that the claim to a virginal birth could appear to be aping pagan traditions, portraying Jesus as a demi-god, half human/half divine. For Matthew, with his repeated proofs that Jesus fulfilled the promises of the Messiah in the Hebrew scriptures, it must have been new territory. The Biblical scholar NT Wright says that there is no pre-Christian Jewish tradition that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. No-one used Isaiah 7:14, (The virgin shall conceive and give birth to a Son) this way before Matthew did. So, there is really no way that the Evangelists would have included this material unless they believed it to be literally true. Of course, they knew that it would lead to sneering comments. Outside the community of faith, taunts of being illegitimate trailed after Jesus all his life.

But, returning to Joseph - he overcame his doubts, was obedient to the instructions he received in dreams and faithfully looked after Jesus and his mother. The miracle of Jesus’ birth must have remained strongly in his mind and the mind of the whole family. Jesus must have known all his life that his birth was miraculous, that he was not Joesph’s son in the way that James, Judah, Joses and Simon were. Surely the Mother of God and Joseph must have talked to him about this! How could they not?! Elizabeth, to whom the Mother of God ran immediately after the Annunciation, knew and surely she would have told her son John. John’s words “Behold the Lamb of God, (and John, coming from a priestly family is not talking about a creature who is just meek and helpless, but a sacrificial lamb), who takes away the sins of the world” gain new depth when we think that John knew that Jesus was the Son of God as well as the Lamb of God.

Joseph is a model for us in many ways. He struggled with doubt. But he was also firmly embedded into the community of faith. He was obedient. He was compassionate. He was courageous. He was patient. But, most important of all, he nurtured and protected Jesus.
The Evangelist John says that we Christians – people who have received Jesus in our hearts – have been born not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God – we have become children of God. But to stay children of God we need to nurture and protect his presence within us. This is often a tough assignment!

I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that, although he could not know it, the ultimate goal of St Joseph’s trust, endurance and obedience was that “Christ be formed in us”.

May we too be faithful to this calling!