ZPCBlog

About the author: Scott Shelton is an associate pastor at ZPC. During the week, he focuses on adult discipleship (home groups, adult classes, etc.), missions (supporting local and global mission partners and the mission commission), and pastoral care (responding to members of ZPC in ways that they need). He and his wife Claire have four young adult children, two out of college (Jacob and Lexia) and two in college (Luke and Graham). He’s a bit of a nerd, reading books on spies or wars or American history and visiting historical sites when he has time.

...Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit...you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.     Matthew 1:20-21

If we are to rank who the biggest stars are in the Christmas story, I think the baby Jesus comes first. If you’ve ever been there at the birth of a baby, it is miraculous and everyone stares at this new baby just born. So it is with Jesus as well – he is the rightful star. Mary is the second biggest star. She is the mother who does the hard work of carrying Jesus in her womb and then gives birth to him. I recently spent part of two days at a personal quiet retreat at the beautiful Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Southern Indiana and I noticed there that Mary has a high place of honor with our friends at Saint Meinrad. Mary is a deserving star in the story as her cousin Elizabeth said in Luke 1:42, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear.” So what about Joseph? Does he rank ahead of the angels, or the shepherds, or the wise men in the little nativity scenes in our homes? Do we even talk much about Joseph in the Christmas story?

I picture Joseph as the strong, silent type. Or perhaps Joseph is the caring, humble, supportive husband and father. In today’s short passage in Matthew 1:20-21, Joseph is told not to be afraid but to take Mary as his wife. Joseph could have been afraid to marry her since she was pregnant with a child before they were married, and before they had been intimate with each other. But he did not leave her or divorce her. Instead, being a man of integrity and his word, he listened to the angel and stayed with Mary, taking care of her and even leading her to Bethlehem where Jesus would be born. 

We don’t know that much about Joseph but we do know that he is a man who listened to God through the angel when he could have listened to the culture and left Mary alone. He gave his son the name Jesus, as the angel said to do, which means the Lord saves.  Joseph was courageous, caring, obedient to God, and wanted to do the honorable thing. Maybe he really is the strong, silent type – who is also a man of integrity, honor, and compassion. If that’s really the case, we need more men like Joseph – at Christmas and every day of the year.

In this season of Advent, we remember to worship Jesus – who is both God and human – the Word become flesh (John 1).  May we also remember to see both Mary and Joseph as examples of how to handle tough circumstances in our lives – seeking to listen to God’s leading and to honor God with our choices.

Activity:

If you can locate it, watch the 2006 movie, The Nativity Story, which depicts the relationship between Joseph and Mary in a beautiful way. You may be able to stream it on your TV or you can watch excerpts of it on YouTube. In the second half of the movie, you’ll see how Joseph cares for Mary as the couple travels from Nazareth to Bethlehem. It’s appropriate for children but you might fast forward through the birth of Jesus scene near the end!

Prayer:

Almighty God, may we once again listen to and sing songs of praise to you at Christmas time. We worship you as God the Father and worship Jesus as the Son of God with the help of your Holy Spirit. May we also see the human side of the story. We remember Joseph and Mary as young people doing their best to listen to you and follow you and be obedient to the call on their lives. May we do likewise this season - doing our best to listen to you and follow you during this Christmas season in circumstances that are both  similar and different from what Joseph and Mary faced. We humble pray in the name of Jesus for you to help us where we need at Christmas, amen.

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