Joseph, Jesus' Earthly Father

  Joseph, Jesus' Earthly Father

presented to Trinity UMC
June 20, 2021

Luke 2:21-24; 39-51
video link: https://youtu.be/vGRmc8v_7Tc

On the Saturday night before Mother's Day, it occurred to me that I would also have the privilege of speaking to you on Father's Day. Here we are – honoring our fathers and forefathers and the father-figures in our lives. Thank you for honoring your fathers with a mission gift and the UMW honors all fathers with the flower arrangement today. I can say a lot about motherhood because I am a mother. But I think that being a father is more complicated and a sometimes thankless task. In my growing up years in the 50s and 60s, a father was expected to go out to work, but not necessarily to be involved with raising the children except to meet out discipline. Many men of that day were not comfortable with the emotional aspects of fathering. Or maybe it was just my dad. I never doubted his love, and because I was a girl, I got hugs along with the discipline and high expectations. Maybe you had similar experiences. With each generation, I see men becoming more comfortable with the multi-task of parenting and I'm glad for it.

On that Saturday night before Mother's Day, I thought that I would like to talk about a Biblical father that we don't know much about – Joseph, Jesus' Earthly Father. There are just a few verses in Matthew and Luke that mention Joseph. From them we can glean some important clues, but facts are few. If you know me, you know I like to deal in facts, so this is a departure for me. I thank Bob Maroney for reading the longest and most revealing of these selections.

Let's take a quick, chronological survey of what we know.

The gospel of Matthew, which was written for a Jewish audience, begins with a genealogy of Jesus to prove that Jesus was a direct descendent of King David, because the true Messiah was to be of the “house and lineage of David.” Matthew 1:16-17: “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Christ. So there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen generations from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the exile to Babylon to the Christ. Luke also gives a genealogy which links Joseph to David, although through a different son of David. The lineage explains the trip to Bethlehem. Luke's is presumed to be actually the lineage of Mary because of the reference to Heli. Luke 3:23 “Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry. People supposed that he was the son of Joseph, son of Heli. Heli probably refers to Mary's father or grandfather. The point of both accounts is to establish Jesus as the true Messiah, and Joseph as “somebody” in his heritage.

In the birth story told in Luke, Joseph is described as a righteous man who was betrothed to Mary. Now most scholars believe that Joseph was much older than Mary. Some even suggest he was elderly, or that he never lived as a normal husband to Mary, but there is no evidence for that. Later we learn that Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters, We know that he was righteous and merciful, because he obeyed God's charge for him and accepted Mary as his wife. You know, Nazareth was a small town and there must have been a scandal when Mary came up pregnant. By marrying her, Joseph accepted the responsibility, claiming Jesus as his son and took on whatever “tongue-wagging” there might have been. So he was also courageous.

From the verses that Bob read for us this morning (Luke 2:21-24; 39-51), we learn that Joseph was poor because he could only afford the minimum offering of two young birds at the time of Jesus dedication. From those same verses we learn that Joseph was a faithful and observant Jew. He and Mary made the trip to Jerusalem to the temple for the ritual cleansing and presentation, and again for the required festival celebrations. The journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem was about 4 days walk, so the trip was always a significant undertaking. The last time Joseph appears in the record was for the Passover Festival when Jesus was about 12 years old. From that passage we also learn that Jesus was able to carry on in-depth conversations with the elders about scripture. This suggest that Jesus was being educated, probably in the local synagogue school, and that Joseph, though poor, provided him that opportunity.

When Jesus began his ministry at age 30, we presume that Joseph had died. The gospels give several references to Mary and to the brothers and sisters of Jesus. The two most notable references are John 6:42 when the grumbling crowd asked “Isn't this Jesus, Joseph's son, whose mother and father we know? How can he now say that he came down from heaven.” And again in Matthew 13:53-56 when Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth and taught in the synagogue. The people said, “Where did he get this wisdom? Where did he get the power to work miracles? Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary? Aren't James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his brothers? And his sisters, aren't they here with us? Where did this man get all this?” In other words, who does he think he is. Jesus and his family were well known in their hometown.

From these meager clues, we can learn something about the kind of father Joseph was. First and foremost, God chose him to be the earthly father of God's own son. That must be the highest possible compliment and a sign of God's favor. It was also the most awesome responsibility. Joseph had the right pedigree. He was a faithful Jew who obeyed God and kept the commandments and observed all the required traditions of Judaism. He was kind and merciful. He was a tekton, which is usually translated as carpenter but could also refer to stone masons and other craftsmen. He was a laborer of the working class, not the ruling or priestly class.

We don't know anything about Joseph or Jesus between the story of the 12 year-old Jesus at the temple and the 30 year old Jesus. From the clues and from scholarship on the history and practices of that time, we can make some educated guesses. Most likely, Joseph trained his sons in his trade. Nazareth was a small town and very poor. It is not likely that he had enough work there to support a family. But just about 4 miles away, set high on a hill, was the growing metropolis of Sephora where Herod was building a summer palace. The city was expanding, so there would have been plenty of work for Joseph and his sons there. We can imagine Jesus making the trek to work with Joseph, learning from him along the way as well as at the work site. Carpentry and masonry require patience and attention to detail as well as physical strength and stamina. We can imagine Joseph patiently teaching Jesus practical skills and life lessons as they worked side by side.

We can imagine that Joseph was present for a good portion of Jesus' formative years; that he not only taught him building trade skills, but modeled the kinds of behaviors that we see in the adult Jesus – love, compassion, knowledge and a sharp wit. Psychological research confirms, and I quote, “children who have an involved father are more likely to be emotionally secure, be confident to explore their surroundings, and, as they grow older, have better social connections.” Research studies on the impact of a father in the home show that children who have a close relationship with their father are twice as likely to enter college, 75% less likely to have a child in their teens, 80% less likely to be incarcerated and half as likely to suffer depression. Furthermore, children with a loving, involved father are much more likely to have successful adult relationships. We can certainly say that Jesus exhibited the characteristics associated with a positive home life.

It is presumed that Joseph died at some point before Jesus began his public ministry because he never makes an appearance as does Mary and Jesus' brothers and sisters. Probably Jesus had to step up to support his mother and siblings. Perhaps he worked as a builder, carpenter, stone mason until his brothers were old enough to support the family, perhaps until his sisters married. Perhaps that is why he didn't start his ministry until age 30, a time when most young men would marry. Perhaps during this time Jesus continued his study of the scriptures, but quietly, privately. His neighbors didn't seem to be aware that he possessed any special gifts or knowledge.

Psychology also confirms that our view of God and our relationship with God is affected by how we related to our father. If a dad is caring, patient and involved, we are likely to see God as having those same traits. The opposite can also be true. If a father is harsh, absent or overly demanding, we may see God as distant and demanding.

Jesus never referred directly to his earthly father, but we can imagine what Joseph was like by hearing how Jesus referred to God. Jesus unfailingly referred to God as His Father. He unfailingly described God as loving and merciful, patient and kind, just and forgiving. His teachings made clear that what God wanted from us was love in return for the love he showed us. Jesus explained that we show that love by loving one another. He must have experienced some of this kind of love in his own home with his earthly father.

I thought about using the Parable of the Prodigal Son as today's text. You know the story. It is about a father's love. The father loved his son so much, that when the son asked for his inheritance in advance, the father gave it to him, knowing that it wasn't best for the son. When the lost son returned, repentant, the father welcomed him with joy. The father's love never wavered. I like to think that Jesus experienced that kind of unwavering love from his earthly father. The story also reminds us that if we have a broken relationship with our father, it can be mended and relationship can be restored.

We know from our own experience that no earthly father, no matter how good, is perfect. Even Joseph. I recently read an essay by Ruth Graham. In it, she tells that she has had a difficult time believing that God had time for her. She thought of God as being off, busy with someone else, meeting other needs – like her own father Billy Graham had too often been. She knew her father loved her, but she wanted the attention of a daddy who was there for her, for her special occasions and times of need. She felt “fatherless.” And she viewed God as being like her famous father -distant, absent. In a sense, she felt fatherless. In the essay, she goes on to point out that there are many causes of “fatherlessness.” Death, Divorce, Abandonment, Abuse, Absence.

But she reminds us that, like another author said, “God is not our daddy.” God is not necessarily like our earthly father. If we had a less that ideal father, or an absent father, that we may have a distorted view of God. Only by acknowledging this can we come into a more meaningful relationship with God. If this feels like you, no matter your age, and if you are interested in pursuing this, you might want to read the book that Ruth Graham was introducing with her essay. It is “God Distorted: How Your Earthly Father Affects Your Perception of God and Why It Matters,” by John Bishop. Disclaimer: I haven't read the whole book – just the introductory essay.) Another Disclaimer: Today I have been using Father imagery to refer to God. That is how I grew up thinking, and that is still common to think of God using male father imagery. However, as a mature adult, I know longer think of God just a male father figure. I think of God more universally and without gender reference. For me it is just as true to say Mother God, or Friend God Counselor God.

A few weeks ago, Pastor Kristie talked to us about the “Spirit of Adoption.” She reminded us that when one is adopted they become in every sense child and parent. We certainly see in Joseph that “Spirit of Adoption” by which Joseph fully adopted Jesus as his son, He is not only presumed to be the father of Jesus by everyone who knew him, but is, in every sense, Jesus' earthly father. Evidence suggests Joseph must have been a very good and loving father. But even he was not perfect because he was a human being and none of us regular human beings are perfect. We shouldn't fret if we didn't have the ideal father, or if we can't be a perfect parent. We just do the best we can. I want to acknowledge that a father-figure or mentor can play a critical role in the absence of a father.

We also see in Jesus' language that He considers himself the fully adopted son of God, his heavenly Father. In his ministry, Jesus emphasized the God relationship over and above earthly relationships. He taught that we are all brothers and sisters as the adopted children of God. Through the spirit of adoption, we can claim a perfect father in God. One who is unfailingly loving and merciful, patient and kind, just and forgiving.

Thanks be to God, our heavenly Father. AMEN and AMEN