February 23 - Mary & Joseph

February 23 - Mary & Joseph

When you become a parent, you take on an enormous responsibility. When you take on the responsibility of parenting the Lord, what kind of decision have you made?

Both Joseph and Mary were made aware of what they were getting into before it actually happened to them and though Joseph was tentative at the beginning, as soon as God's plan was explained to him, he moved forward in confidence.

There is absolutely no scripture foundation for the thought that Joseph was an older man. It is an assumption based on the fact that he was no longer a part of the family by the time that Jesus began his active ministry. This information is based on the passage at the end of John where Jesus asks John to care for his mother (John 19:26-27) and the point in Matthew, Mark & Luke where we find Mary and Jesus' brothers in the crowd. (Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31, Luke 8:19)

There is no record of what happened to Joseph to eliminate him from the scene, but from his activities in the early part of Jesus' life, we are certain that if he had been alive, he would have been involved in Jesus' ministry.

Joseph and Mary entered their marriage together with a lot of stressors. There was no time for them to get to know each other and set up a household. They had a child. Not only did they have a child, but for the first two years of their lives together, they had to travel ... to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Egypt and then back to Nazareth.

Joseph would have at least been in the middle of preparing their home when they had to leave for Bethlehem. He might have had it finished, depending on how long they had been betrothed before all of the excitement came up. Did his family finish it for them, were they ready to welcome this little family home to Nazareth?

Think about the family and friends they left in Nazareth. Would they have worried over Mary and her impending birth? Were the wedding gifts waiting in their home for them ... dusty after 2 years? Were Mary and Joseph able to let them know from Egypt that they were finally returning home.?

It was probably a relief for everyone when the turmoil of those beginning years was complete and they could begin living a normal life. Joseph began his carpentry business. Mary set about making the house a home. In the evenings as they prepared for the next day, how they must have marveled at the reality of their lives. Two normal young people, raising the Son of God.

Can you see them sitting on a porch in the cool of the evening, in chairs that Joseph fashioned, looking up into the sky and then at each other, amazed at what their life had become.

Both Mary and Joseph experienced the call of God on their lives. For them, it included a few visits by an angel and the responsibility of caring for God's Son. It changed the focus and plan that they had set into place on their own. But they heahrd God's call and allowed the Lord to guide them. They did this together. That's a wonderful way to start the story.