St. Joseph - Father Extraordinaire

Usually we hear St. Joseph refered to as the foster father of Jesus to make it clear that he wasn't the biological father. But Scripture doesn't use that term. In fact Luke who tells the story of Gabriel appearing to Mary, specificly refers to Joseph as the father of Jesus.

"when the parents brought in the child Jesus" Luke 2:27

"And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him;" Luke 2:33

"Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover," Luke 2:41

"the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it." Luke 2:43

"When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, 'Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.' " Luke 2:48

Clearly Luke knew that Joseph wasn't the biological father. But under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he didn't make any differentiation. So there has to be a reason. I think there were 2. The 1st is the most obvious. For Jesus to be the Messiah he had to be a legal descendant of King David & then only through the father. So just being a biological descendant as he was through Mary wasn't enough. So Luke was establishing Jesus' bonefides to being the King of the Jews.

Matthew doesn't use the term father for the realationship between Jesus & Joseph. But it does acknowledge Joseph's legal fatherhood in another way. The father was the person who gave the son his name at the circumcision. In Matthew 1:21 we read where the angel tells Joseph "She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus".

So we have Joseph established as the legal father to fulfill the prophecies.

But the other purpose is so that we can see what it truly means to be a father. Except for biologically Joseph was the father of Jesus. I am friends with a couple who adopted a son back in the mid 80s. Dan is the father of Jon. He didn't do anything differently, nor does he feel any differently, because Jon was adopted. The same is true of Joseph.

That is why I say that we can look to Joseph to see what it means to truly be a father.

So what can we learn from the example of St. Joseph. Granted there is very little mention of Joseph, but what is there speaks volumes.

In every reference we can see that Joseph took his responsibilities as a father seriously. When his child was threatened by King Herod, Joseph didn't hesitate, he took them immediately to Egypt so that Jesus wouldn't be killed. After Herod's death the returned to their home in Nazareth where Jesus was raised by Joseph. Joseph's actions made it clear that he was doing all the things expected of a father. In Matthew 13:55 we read the residents of Nazareth ask "Is he not the carpenter's son? " & then we read in Luke 4:22 where those neighbors say "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"

The fact that they refer to Joseph a carpenter (tekton, which could also be a builder). Clearly Joseph worked hard to provide for his family.

Another part of being a good father was the example he provided by being a faithful Jew. We see that by the previously mentioned references from Luke at the start of this post.

So does Joseph have to teach us about being a good father? I will give a few thoughts that will provide plenty to chew on.

1st & formost we learn that a good father must live out his faith. & not just perfunctory. He does so in response to God's love & does it out of love for God. Clearly Joseph's willingness to immediately respond to the angel's messages, etc show that. Jospeh took his responsiblities to be the Spiritual head of the famly seriously

As I pointed out he also took seriously his responsibilities to physically provide for & protect his family. He was doing all God expected of him. Joseph raised Jesus to be a good Jew, a good citizen, Joseph helped Him to learn a trade & Joseph showed Jesus what it means to be the man God expects all of us to be.

& while I have focused on Joseph as father, every man can learn from the example of Joseph on what it means to truly be a man. Joseph shows us what it means to be a truly loving husband. & Joseph shows us that living our faith out fully is definitely manly. He is an example for all of us of what it truly means to be a Godly man.