Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.-Matthew 1:18-25
In his Gospel, St. Matthew tells us that an angel from God appeared to St. Joseph. It was in the context of a dream, but that didn’t make it any less real. It’s related to another event recorded in scripture, when the Blessed Virgin Mary also was visited by the angel, and she was told that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and that she would conceive and give birth to a son. The Virgin Mary’s encounter with the angel we know as the Annunciation, and St. Joseph’s experience was no less an annunciation, too. So let’s look more closely at St. Joseph and the place he was given by God.
St. Matthew tells us that Joseph was a “just man.” What is it to be “just?” It means being upright and righteous. Then we’re told that he resolved to send Mary away quietly. Let’s look carefully at that. If Joseph really thought Mary was guilty of wrongdoing, then as an upright, righteous man, he would be obliged by law to denounce her publicly. That’s what was required of a just, righteous, obedient Jewish man. A just man would keep the law meticulously, and the law would require that Mary face the consequences of being a young unmarried woman who was expecting a child. But on the other hand, if Joseph thought that Mary was innocent, then he would certainly be unjust in sending her away. A righteous Jewish man, upholding the law, could never knowingly inflict an injustice on someone. So this gets us to the important question – and the answer to this question tells us something extremely important about Joseph. Here’s the question: “If Joseph was indeed a just man, why was he going to send her away?” It’s in the answer to that question that we’re going to gain insight about Joseph’s spirit, his uprightness, his humility, and his sense of justice. The real crux of the matter isn’t whether Joseph believes Mary to be innocent, or whether he thinks she’s guilty. Rather, it’s this: it’s whether Joseph already knows, at the time of the visit of the angel, that Mary has miraculously conceived this Child. But why is that important?
If we look at the words the angel spoke to Joseph, we get a clearer picture. Our translation says, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…” Really, a more accurate translation of the original text would be this: “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for you know that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…” In the original language of the scripture it’s apparent that Joseph already knew of the supernatural origin of Jesus. The purpose of the visit of the angel wasn’t to inform Joseph that Mary had conceived this child; rather, the purpose was to tell Joseph what his place was to be in all of this.
Now we can more clearly understand Joseph’s uprightness and sense of justice. It wasn’t that he wanted to put Mary away in secret; rather, it’s that Joseph didn’t want to presume a role that wasn’t his. In his humility he didn’t want to pass himself off as the father of the child whom he knows to be the Son of God. It would have seemed to him that he was usurping a role that the Lord hadn’t entrusted to him. That’s why he planned to send Mary away quietly and respectfully and with delicacy. In Joseph’s thoughts, God had plans for Mary, and so he thought he probably should just disappear, he should get out of the picture, so as not to meddle in a plan that was much bigger than the marriage they had planned.
But God did have a place for St. Joseph in this great plan of salvation for the world, and that’s why he had the visit, that annunciation, from the angel. It was Joseph’s vocation to accept, and take into his own home, the Lord of the universe. St. Joseph, as a descendant of David, was to take Emmanuel – God with us – into his own family, into his own genealogy, to be of the house of David. Joseph, the just man, the upright and obedient descendant of David, was to be the means whereby scripture would be fulfilled, and Joseph’s acceptance of this was the last ingredient that was needed for God’s plan to be put into action. Joseph was the first one after Mary to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into his life.
As Jesus comes to us as Word and through Sacrament, so we need to be as Joseph was: willing to serve, willing to obey, willing to open our own hearts and our own homes to the living God who has come to us. Just as St. Joseph had a role in fulfilling God’s plan for the world, so do we. But we need to be intentional about it. Are we opening ourselves to what God has planned for us? Do we pray regularly? Are we involved in regular works of charity? Are we holding a grudge against anyone? Are we giving in to gossip? These are the sorts of things that can either help or hinder us from following the example of St. Joseph.
We need to open our hearts and our minds and our lives to Christ. And when we do that we’ll be helping others to open themselves and their lives to the Incarnate God, who wants all of us to be in that closer relationship with Him.
Let that be your resolution this Christmas – to be like Mary, to be like Joseph, in saying “yes” to God’s call for us to be close to Him, and to obey His divine plan for our lives. It’s in obedience that we find real freedom; it’s when we say “yes” to God that we become the men and women He intends us to be.