Digging Deeper into the Narraphor of the Nativity: Joseph's Visitation

After Mary's visit from the angel Gabriel, she goes to visit her aunt Elizabeth (to verify the angel's story & celebrate with family!).  Meanwhile, Joseph is confronting an ugly reality.  He's engaged to Mary- which for most intents and purposes- meant they were married.  Mary is pregnant.  This begins to show and soon he either sees it for himself or hears about it.  Scripture tells us:
Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly...
In Jewish culture, to have committed adultery meant death according to the law. However, in 1st century Israel, the death penalty was off the table- it was reserved solely for the Roman government. Joseph still could have done a lot of things, many that would be close enough to death (public disgrace through a divorce trial, censure as an adultress, etc.). But he text describes Joseph as a "good" man, which puts some sense into his choosing the most compassionate option for dealing with his unfaithful fiancé. The word δίκαιος is used here to describe Joseph- and it is translated as right, righteous, upright, good, pious. According to William Mounce, "in the NT [dikaios] refers to a person in accord with God's standards, in proper relationship with God." So we see Joseph portrayed as good, righteous, or just- not perfect, but abiding by God's law as he lived his days. Joseph's character is evident in his plan- he set about to break the engagement quietly, not through public shaming or disgrace for Mary. Considering what he knew, this is still rather astonishing. In a society marked by male dominance, here is someone who believes himself wronged (because Joseph knew where babies came form and how they came to be) but still chooses compassion instead of vengeance or retribution. Still, he is hurt and planning to move on from his engagement. Although, if he knew the whole story, would things change?

 God ensures they do:
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Notice the verbiage there- "As he considered this..."  God moved and sent an angel in a dream while Joseph was trying to decide what to do.  He hadn't taken action, his mind wasn't made up, instead God intervenes at just the right time.  The angel greats Joseph with the reminder of his heritage, "son of David," in conjunction with the messianic message.  This is important, as through Joseph, Jesus is a son of David, one of the prophesied promises about the Messiah.  Again, the Scriptural text is devoid of Joseph's questioning, doubts or otherwise (perhaps because of the awe at the angel's appearance and words in a dream instead of a face to face encounter like Mary's? Or because of the content of Joseph's character: good,just, righteous[dikaios]?).  Instead, he awakens from the dream and proceeds to obey every word God had given him.

 As we look at the role of Joseph, the key aspects are his character: compassionate even when wronged and righteous obedience to his God.  These two elements show a man who is far deeper and more complex, yet wonderfully suited to be the earthly father of the son of God.  Compassion, or love, is one of the marks of God Himself- so this choice of Mary/Joseph shouldn't leave us surprised when their character is revealed in these opening words of the nativity story. Instead, we should see them as chosen, called out, specifically for the purpose- perhaps because of their character!

 Joseph had been any other man, just working his life away in Nazareth, but God shattered his normal, run of the mill life calling him into a story so much bigger than himself.  That's a dream most men have, yet Joseph gets to realize it.  Maybe not the way he might have chosen, but the way it needed to be.  And Joseph's character paved the way- his compassion, his "righteousness," his willing obedience.  Might we be as compassionate to those who have wronged us, as righteous as we strive to live a life worthy of Christ, and as obediently to follow where ever we are led this Advent...

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