What about Joseph?
That mystery man of whom the Bible tells us so little.
Matthew’s family tree account does not list him as the father of anybody; he is simply referred to as “the husband of Mary.”
Mary pregnant while betrothed to Joseph, but Joseph was not the father.
It fills us with wonder:
Jesus as part of the human history of this world,
but he encounters us as One from the great beyond of God.
Talk about the faith and courage that Mary needed;
Joseph needed it no less.
Listen:
Once I was just a young man
who loved a lady.
I cherished a young man’s
quiet fantasies
of her unwavering adoration.
Her body bowed,
clothed in her best blue homespun,
trembles now before me
tears tumble down onto her wringing hands
as she wrenches out the words
“I am with child.”
My face burns with a fire;
dreams shatter loudly
like brittle crystal
in my mind.
The explanation
the annunciation—
Oh God, how can I believe?
The cruel realization
of the agony of obedience
crushes my heart.
I will be forever
a marked man
both blamed and mocked,
for the child
I’ve been given to love
is not my son. -Joan Rae Mills “Joseph”
Matthew says Joseph “was minded to drop her quietly.”
But then the angel came and explained what he needed to know.
And the angel spoke and made an effort
with the man who clenched his fists
and murmured, “What has changed her so?”
But at that the angel cried Carpenter,
dost thou not yet see that the Lord God is acting?
Because thou makest boards, in thy pride,
wouldst thou really call him to account
who modestly out of the same wood
makes leaves burgeon and buds swell?
He understood. And as he now raised his eyes
very frightened, the angel
was gone. Joseph pushed his heavy
cap slowly off.
Then he sang praise. Rainer Maria Rilke, “Joseph’s Suspicion
”
What a thrill it must’ve been for Mary to finally have Joseph’s acceptance, the assurance of his love, the comfort of his care.
It was from Joseph first I learned
Of love. Like me he was dismayed.
How easily he could have turned
Me from his house; but unafraid,
He put me not away from him. ...
Thus through his love was Love obeyed.
...
With Joseph I was always warmed
And cherished. Even in the stable
I knew that I would not be harmed.
And, though, above the angels swarmed,
Man’s love it was that made me able
To bear God’s Love, wild, formidable,
To bear God’s Will, through me performed. [Madeleine L’Engle]
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