Exhortation, Second Advent

Joseph is often a neglected character in the Christmas story. In paintings and crèches, he politely stands to the side so that the Madonna and child can be at the focal point. In medieval mystery plays, he was often a comic character, a doddering old man more marginal even than the shepherds and magi who adore his wife’s holy child.

By contrast, Matthew puts Joseph at the center of the Christmas story, and depicts him as a faithful, obedient, righteous man. He is clearly the head of his small family, taking Mary as his wife in dodgy circumstances, obeying the Angel’s instructions to leave for Egypt and to return to the land, deciding to live in Nazareth to stay out of the way of Archelaus.

He is particularly a model husband in his treatment of Mary. Mary turns up pregnant during their engagement, and under Mosaic law, if she had sex with a man other than Joseph she was guilty of adultery and liable to the death penalty. Joseph refuses to press for this penalty, and seeks a way to divorce her quietly, without exposing her to public shame.

In this Joseph not only proves to be a faithful husband and a righteous man, but also a new and better Adam, a suitable husband to Mary, the new Eve. In Eden, eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge was a capital crime: In the day that you eat of it, the Lord said, you shall surely die. When Eve ate from the tree, Adam did not protect her from the consequences of her sin. Instead, he turned on her, intent on disgracing her, charging her with seducing him into sin. By guarding his wife from disgrace, Joseph refused to follow the ways of the first Adam. Instead, he imitated his adopted son, the Last Adam who delivered His bride from the serpent.

Joseph’s example is a challenge to husbands especially, but not just to husbands. There are times when wrongs must be made public, when the deeds of darkness must be exposed. But the next time you are tempted to expose your children or your wife or your friend to public disgrace, the next time you are tempted to search out a scapegoat who will bear responsibility for your actions and suffer exposure for your wrongs, remember the example of Joseph the righteous man, who sought to put Mary away quietly.