Joseph the Dreamer

19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” 21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:19-23)

For some reason, my mind is drawn to Joseph this morning as I read this passage. Normally, Joseph takes a backseat in the Christmas story. Of course, the focus is on Jesus, as it should be. But after Jesus, people tend to focus on Mary, the wise men, the shepherds, the angels, even the star. Joseph seems to be the “behind the scenes” guy. The silent, quiet husband of Mary and legal guardian of Jesus.

Joseph passes off the scene after this account in Matthew 2. He is mentioned in Luke’s account of the Christmas story but never says a word. And by the time Jesus begins His public ministry, Joseph is gone, apparently dying before Jesus reaches the age of 30.

So we don’t know much about Joseph except that he was a “just man” with a merciful, compassionate heart (Matthew 1:19).

But in Matthew 2, we see Joseph in action. Joseph has three separate dreams in this chapter (2:13, 19-20, 22). Adding the dream he had in chapter 1, that makes four times that God speaks to Joseph in a dream and gives a command or warning. Each time Joseph immediately and obediently responds.

It is sort of ironic that Joseph’s namesake in the OT was also an obedient, compassionate man who was often directed by dreams. The Joseph of the OT was sold into Egypt by his jealous brothers. The Joseph of the NT escapes into Egypt to escape a jealous king.

Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Yet God entrusted His Son to this man. Joseph acted as the protector of the infant Jesus in this chapter. Later, Joseph also fed Him, provided for Him, raised Him, trained Him as a carpenter, taught him about God, and prayed with Him at night. Imagine a man raising God in the flesh. Imagine a man teaching the Son of God about His Father. It boggles the mind.

God does not look at the outward appearance of a man but at his heart. With that in mind, Joseph must have been one of the most faithful men to ever walk the earth. He was quiet but strong. He was simple but deep. He was poor but rich in faith. He was just a carpenter but also the earthly father of the Son of God.

I take encouragement from Joseph. Spirituality is not the “bright lights” of great acts for God. It is being sensitive to the voice of God and being faithful to what He has called you to…whatever that may be. In Joseph’s case, it was simply loving and caring for his wife, protecting his child, providing for his family, working hard, and hearing God.

The last part of Matthew 2 tells us that Jesus fulfilled what was spoken of by the prophets that He would be called a Nazarene. There is much debate on what this means. There is no direct quote in the OT that says these words. Some see a play on words with the Hebrew word, nezer, being the word for “branch.” Jesus is called the “branch of David” in Isaiah 11:1. But more likely Matthew is reflecting on a general theme in all the prophets (plural) that the Messiah would be despised, lightly regarded, and rejected by men. The great King of the Universe would be called a “Nazarene” by men. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” would be Nathaniel’s first words when he hears about Jesus (John 1:46). Nazareth, the podunk town with backwoods people, certainly couldn’t be the place where the Messiah would grow up. But it was.

And the same God who entered the world in a stable, had his first crib in a feeding trough, and died on the cross as a criminal…also chooses simple men like Joseph to change the world.

Please follow and like us:
This entry was posted in Christmas Devotionals. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *