Christian Living
Last Christmas Eve, my family and I saw “The Nativity Story’, and emerged from the theater with a new respect for Joseph.
It’s not that we didn’t respect Joseph before seeing the movie; we just hadn’t given him much thought. Truth is, throughout the centuries since Jesus’s birth, his step-dad has been treated like a background extra in the big picture.
Scripture speaks little about Joseph, but we can safely say that he was quite a guy. After all, God wouldn’t go for pot luck when choosing who would be foster father to the Messiah. He chose a man who was righteous, obedient and able to love the child as his own. (Matthew 1: 19, 24; Luke 2: 48)
Joseph was compassionate when it appeared as though Mary had broken their vows. Instead of handing her over for that Biblical crowd-pleaser—public stoning—he chose to bow out gracefully. When the angel of the Lord revealed the truth to him, Joseph hurried to stand by Mary in the midst of social ostracizing. (It’s generally accepted that Mary was around 14 when she got pregnant. Imagine how mean those middle school aged kids of Nazareth were to her!)
When Mary went into labor, she didn’t have a nice anithesiologist offering an epidural. Most likely, she had a donkey, other assorted farm critters and—her Lamaze coach, Joseph. It was Joseph who told her to “push”, and Joseph who helped her bring Jesus into the world. Quite possibly, Joseph was the first human to place his hands on the newborn Messiah.
To me, one of the most amazing things about Joseph is this: if he was alive today, he might still be in high school. Though scripture doesn’t tell us Joseph’s age, and speculation has placed him from pubescent to older than dirt, I personally accept the belief of those historians and scholars who—based on marriage and other traditions of the time—say Joseph was, indeed, a teenager when he became the step-dad to whom all others should be compared.
Now, for those of us who have teenaged sons, this is at times mind-boggling. Aren’t these the dudes who can’t find their geometry book beneath the American Eagle implosion they call a bedroom? Aren’t they the ones whose immersion in PS3 renders them unable to notice an air raid siren blasting four feet away? Yep, that would be them, but it certainly doesn’t mean they couldn’t rise to a calling if, like Joseph, they walk in the ways of God and possess hearts willing to serve as He directs. Like guys today, Joseph probably had buddies, interests and grand plans, but his trust in and obedience to God indicates that pleasing his Heavenly Father was top priority.
Actually, God has been calling kids for a long time. For example, it’s believed that David was no more than 16 when he dropped Goliath1, and that Daniel was as young as 15 when he blew off the ways of Babylon.2 Genesis 37:2 tells us that Joseph (of the colorful coat) was 17 when he began having dreams and we learn from 2 Chronicles 34:1 that Josiah was a lad of eight when crowned King of Judah.
On the flip side, God loves the golden oldies. Noah, 950 when he died, was well past middle age when he boarded the ark at 600. (Genesis 7:6, 9:29) Scripture teaches that, post-flood, human life spans were reduced to 120 years, and later to an average 70-80 years. (Genesis 6:3, Psalms 90:10). That being the case, we know that Abraham was no young buck when God established a covenant with him at 99, nor was the 80-year-old Moses when he began the 40 year journey to the Promised Land.
Plenty of other Bible folks would qualify for senior discounts, including a couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth, advanced in age when they conceived a son. Born a few months before Jesus, he grew up to be called John the Baptist who went forth to “prepare the way for the Lord.” (Luke 3:4)
Clearly, God doesn’t practice age discrimination, and appeared not to consider such when it came to the birth of His son. From the young woman who bore Christ, to the mature women who bore John the Baptist, people of all ages played a part in the event that changed the world.
What does this tell us today? It tells us that we need to turn down our iPods or crank up the hearing aids, whichever applies, and make sure we’re listening for God’s direction.
That’s because—whether we’re under, at or past our prime—God has things for us to do!
©Donna G. Morton, January 2007
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