Wonder Of Advent #16

A Good Man

Read: Matthew 1:18-21

Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.

Matthew 1:19

JOSEPH WAS A GOOD MAN. He played a smaller role in the Nativity story than Mary did, but his behind-the-scenes devotion is noted briefly in Scripture and surely forever in heaven. He and his bride-to-be were given history’s most sacred charge—parenting a child who would also be called Mighty God and Everlasting Father. If that isn’t a pressure situation, nothing is. And Joseph was the man God chose to do it.

Of course, Joseph didn’t realize that at first. He only knew that Mary was pregnant, and everyone knows how that sort of thing happens. He could have made a scene. He could have humiliated her in a public divorce, which is what breaking the betrothal contract would have amounted to. He could have played the victim. But with integrity and grace—echoing the promise given to David and his descendants (1 Kings 9:4-5)—he decided to be discreet. Only when an angel appeared to him in a dream did he know the real plan, which certainly interrupted his own expectations for how he would live. His compliance was every bit the courageous obedience Mary’s was. He was informed of God’s purposes and went with the flow.

But the plan didn’t exactly flow. Jesus was born into the middle of a heated cosmic battle. Joseph and Mary had to lie low, flee the country, and keep the sacred child safe. They had help—the zeal of the Lord would see to this plan being carried out—but they still had to do their part. So the young parents of humble status went into exile to escape a raging king while the child was still a toddler. They would have to get used to being the center of controversy.

After the birth story, Joseph fades quickly from the pages of Scripture, but he illustrates a profound point. Many of God’s most dramatic works are done on a stage set up by otherwise unnoticed background characters. Jesus is the center of the story, and Mary played a prominent role, but Joseph, only momentarily visible, was nevertheless essential. The massive doors of history often swing on small hinges like integrity and grace. In Joseph’s life and ours, faithfulness is far more important than prominence. Nothing is mundane in the Kingdom of God—not even a life of obedience and doing the right thing.

Prayer

Lord, I realize my character is just as important as my big decisions in accomplishing your purposes. May I live with the sacred awareness that goodness, kindness, integrity, and grace are vital building blocks of your Kingdom. Amen.

REFLECTION

Do you find yourself more often seeking to live with consistent character or to make a significant impact? How do the two go hand in hand?

Further reading: 1 Kings 9:4-5

Fear not, just Joseph, this thy wife

is still a spotless maid;

and no consent to sin, quoth he,

against her can be laid.

“WHEN RIGHTEOUS JOSEPH WEDDED WAS,” MEDIEVAL ENGLISH CAROL