Issue 482
He is never quoted. He is only mentioned about 17 times and hardly features in the greatest story ever told. Yet there is a character who, it could be argued, was one of the greatest transformers of all time. Here is a strange truth. Had it not been for this man’s actions, a pregnant woman would have been executed and her son never born. By marrying Mary, Joseph of Nazareth, averted a likely barbaric stoning that would have resulted in two tragic deaths. Joseph was an artisan – a specialist in wood but probably skilled in other ways. No one would remember him today, but for his world famous son, Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus bar Joseph as he would have been known. Joseph was a dreamer and open to the spiritual world of dreams. He was father to at least eight children – five boys and probably at least three girls. One of his boys was fostered or adopted. This was the one we now know as Jesus Christ. We know for sure that Joseph was around for the first twelve years of Jesus’ life but after that we don’t know. Except we do. If you look carefully, tributes tumble out of the life of Joseph’s famous son which demonstrate for you what a remarkable man he was. Of all the things this omni talented son could do we know that, until age thirty, he as a carpenter. Proud of his father’s craft, the Son of God embraced the trade of his foster father. He was good at it. “My yokes fit well” he said when he was a preacher. You can be sure that his wooden yokes were the best an Ox could wear! Jesus would have seen Joseph deal with difficult customers and learned this skill as he later would deal with trick questions. It was from Joseph – who had so cared for Mary – that the young Jesus would have learned how to relate to women. Watch Jesus handle many tender moments with exquisite compassion, and you will see how he had learned from his role model (See Worktalkweekly 334 – 339). Taking his cue from Joseph, Jesus so easily related to men. Joseph, as father to five boys, as well as working in a man’s profession, would have opened up the male culture to his sons. Jesus easily went to parties and socialised. This would have been something he would have seen in his father. (Please note we are in no way minimising the role of his mother here. That will be another study!) But there is one thing, I suggest, that encapsulates all that Joseph gave to his unfathomable son. Look through the gospels and you will find that about 176 times Jesus refers to God as “Father”. It just came easily to him. He loved the Father. He copied the Father, he trusted the Father and wanted everyone to meet the Father. Please do not underestimate this factor. Jesus was a real human man who had to learn how to be a man. It is, in fact, just after Joseph’s last live appearance in the Gospels that we see this Jesus growing physically, mentally and emotionally. Why was it so natural for Jesus to call God “Father”? On a human level, Joseph had shown Jesus the meaning of fatherhood. Jesus came to do a great work. Never underestimate the role that this unsung hero played in his son’s life. Joseph was a conduit of fatherhood. His legacy was initially survival but then healthy thriving of his foster son. And that son changed the world. Make it easy for sons and daughters (yours or other people’s) to call God “Father” and you will be a transforming influence wherever they go
BIBLE SECTION
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
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Geoff Shattock
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