Of all the characters in the Christmas story, Joseph is a pretty big deal, don't you think? Husband to Mary, earthly father to Jesus, master carpenter, protector and provider.
He's a main character in every nativity scene over the last 2,000 years. Everyone knows who Joseph is. Joseph, called on to parent the Son of God.
Joseph, likely the only one in attendance besides the oxen and donkeys at the birth of Jesus on that dark night. He accompanies Mary as supporting cast as she plays her greatest role in life. Yet Joseph gets no lines in the script. He is a silent participant.
Mary has her response to the angel announcing her opportunity recorded for all time. She even gets some significant time given to her songwriting skills in the Magnificat in Luke 1.
But Joseph? Nothing. Nada. A silent character. Everything we know about what Joseph is thinking we learn from the narrator of the story, whether Matthew or Luke. Everything else we know about Joseph we know only from his response to a series of dreams.
Joseph’s first dream is the most well-known and gets rehearsed every Christmas, but it turns out that our Joseph has a total of four dreams recorded. Apparently he took after his Old Testament counterpart when it came to having a vivid dream life!
We are told in the narrative in Matthew 1 that when Joseph learned about Mary’s “condition” he cared enough about her to be willing to send her away secretly rather than have her disgraced or even stoned to death for being unfaithful to him. As Joseph is thinking this through, he has his first of four dreams, where an angel gives him a very different perspective about her condition. When he wakes up he does exactly as he is told and takes Mary as his wife, willingly forfeiting his own reputation as a righteous man in this single act of obedience.
Do you ever wonder what Joseph said to Mary after he woke up from his dream? The relief she must have felt that this honorable man was still going to stand by her side? Do you wonder what their conversation was as they made their way to Bethlehem? Nearly 70 miles they trekked slowly over the course of a week or more. Lots of time to ponder this calling on their lives. To wonder what it meant for them to parent this child of prophesy. To think about the implications of parenting a perfect child. Were they intimidated? Did they trade notes on their sense of inadequacy? Did Joseph feel a loss or sadness about not being able to name his firstborn son after himself, as would have been tradition? While I envy this dreamer the clarity he was given as God gave him direction, it isn’t lost on me what he gave up to go on this journey, to play his part in the unfolding drama.
Joseph’s second dream comes in Matthew 2:13-15 where, after a nice visit and some very helpful gifts from the Magi, Joseph is warned by an angel of the Lord to flee to Egypt because Herod is on the hunt for Jesus. His response again is instant obedience. The text indicates that he “got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.” No hesitation. No delay. His role as protector of Mary and this Child on display and crystal clear.
Dream number three comes in the same chapter, where after some indeterminate time in Egypt, another angel appears to Joseph in a dream and lets him know it’s safe to go back to Israel. So off they go, heading back to Judea. Lots of time on the road for this young family.
The fourth and final dream we know of comes at some point during the return journey when the text tells us that Joseph is afraid when he realizes that Herod’s son Archelaus is reigning in place of his father. The text simply says Joseph was warned by God in a dream, so he heads to Galilee instead, and winds up in Nazareth, back where the first life-altering dream occurred. Full circle.
That’s the last we hear of Joseph until Jesus is 12, and they lose him for three days when he decides to stay behind in Jerusalem after the Passover feast. Even then it is Mary who does the reprimanding when they find Jesus with Joseph’s responses and reactions not recorded.
Such an important character in the story of Jesus, yet we have no recorded words, nothing marked in quotations. Still, we feel somehow like we know Joseph, don’t’ we? His actions and responses paint such a crystal clear picture of who he is that I’ve never really noticed that we have none of his actual words. He is quick to act, quick to obey, without hesitation.
I find myself wondering what it would be like if someone could only watch my life from the outside and never hear my words. How would my life be interpreted? Would I be seen as one who was obedient to the call on my life? Faithful to the journey of becoming more like Jesus? I can tell you without hesitation that there have been moments when I know a single snapshot of my life would not paint the picture I want people to see.
I'm sure Joseph didn't get everything right all the time either, being human and all. Yet I am challenged by the power of the image painted amidst his silence.
In a world that has more words on display than any of us need I'm thinking that what we were taught by our parents is true. Actions speak louder than words. Joseph’s actions, without any recording of a single word he uttered, showed him to be a man of deep faith, resolute commitment, and a willingness to obey and follow at all times.
What will my life say?
