The Legacy of Joseph

This Friday, December 1, the movie The Nativity opens in theaters around the nation. Several months ago I had the opportunity to attend a special preview of the movie. I want to highly recommend it to you. It is inspiring, entertaining and most importantly, true to the biblical narrative. One of the things I most enjoyed was the portrayal of Joseph as a man of faith, courage and compassion

In the third chapter of the Gospel of Luke we read “When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being supposedly the son of Joseph …” Even though Joseph was not Christ’s natural father, he certainly was a significant father figure during Christ’s formative years. Amazingly, we know very little about this man who along with Mary had the greatest influence on the physical, emotional and spiritual development of the Son of God.

Joseph is described as a humble, very ordinary man. Though he was a descendent of the great King David, he was one of the common people. He was said to be a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). The word actually describes any common laborer who worked with wood or stone. His offering as described in Luke 2:24 was the humble offering of doves, rather than the more expensive lamb.

In Matthew 1:19 we find an insight into why God chose this humble, ordinary man to raise his son, “And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man …” What is a “righteous man”? A righteous man is simply one who is right with God and right with others. He has accepted God’s “gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17), allowing him to experience the forgiveness of sin and acceptance into God’s family.

When facing moral decisions, he consistently tries to do the right thing (1 John 3:7). In his relationship with others, He deliberately chooses to live according to God's commands, treating others as he himself would want to be treated. In Proverbs 20:7, God promises a special blessing for the righteous man, “The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.”

Like me, you may identify with a common, ordinary person like Joseph. We do not possess great gifts or achieve significant notoriety. We like to fly under the radar most of the time. It excites me to think that God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. It gratifies me to believe that a righteous man can leave an incredible legacy to his children and grandchildren. May the Lord grant us the grace to be righteous men!

Shoulder to shoulder,

Gregg