19th March 2012 Matthew 1:18-end

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Joseph often gets overlooked in the Jesus tableau, he is just accepted as the carpenter from Nazareth.  Yet he had to accept the near impossible, he had to cope with social judgement, he had to make the decision to stand by Mary.  These days none of this sounds that difficult really, but 2000 years ago it was massive and Joseph did it.

I like the way we think about fathers today after mothers yesterday.  There is a strong and steering role which fathers provide and which complements mothering. Joseph is a great example of this.

Jesus we know so little about your father but we know he must have been hugely important in your life.  Help is know the importance of fathers in our society.  Amen