"Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus" Matthew 1:24, 25.
Jesus Christ was not the son of Joseph. The whole Christian religion revolves around the truth that He was born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and therefore He could be called God, the Hero, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Even more so is the New Christian Church founded on this belief, for the rock on which it is built is the teaching that He is the one God of heaven and earth.
Therefore it was said of Joseph that he "took unto him Mary his wife, and knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn Son." In those days there was not a formal marriage as we know it. There was a ceremony of betrothal, and a period of about a year elapsed before the man took his wife. It was in this interim period that Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit. By Jewish law that meant that she could be accused of adultery, even though the couple had not come together. Joseph could either denounce her publicly, in which case she would be stoned; or he could quietly send her back to her home in disgrace. Being a just man, he didn't want to take a cruel revenge on her, so he intended to put her away privately; and it was while he was thinking what to do that an angel told him that the child was of the Holy Spirit. He believed, and took her into his home as is wife. Yet, because the marriage was not consummated, she was still his "betrothed wife." "And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem... to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child" (Luke 2:4, 5).
It seems that Joseph's part in the Divine birth is a minor one. Yet he has qualities worth mentioning: justice, obedience, prudence, ability; and his role in this greatest of all stories is worth a second look. The Lord is King of all the earth, and of every house on earth; yet He permitted Himself to be born into the house, and under the worldly protection of Joseph, the just man of Nazareth. The Lord has all power to protect Himself, yet He chose as one means of protection this simple carpenter. Four times Joseph is the instrument through which the miracle of the Lord's Advent is allowed to proceed. When Mary was found with child, he could have had her condemned to death: he chose not to act hastily. He did not need to believe the angel, but he did, and took her to wife, and provided her with protection. When Herod wanted to kill the infant Lord, Joseph woke from a dream in which he had been warned, willingly left home for he knew not how long, to live in Egypt, and used his skills to provide for his family. And when he returned, he took care to find out who was king in Judea, was justly afraid of Archelaus the son of Herod, heeded a final warning, and by-passed Judea to live in Nazareth.
All this is of historic interest. What does it mean today? Why is the story of the Divine birth of perennial import, and what is Joseph's part in the everlasting message of Christmas?
This story is told each year because of its immense impact in the history of human events, but there is a deeper reason why the Lord gives us such delight in its recounting. Within it is the account of His birth in us. What does it mean to say that the Lord has been born in us? It means that charity has come to live in our hearts. The power to love others as much as we love ourselves is something only the Lord can create. When we have such a love, then of it we may say, "This is our God, we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."
That birth of charity in human hearts is represented in all the stories of His birth on earth. What then does Mary represent? She represents the affection of truth. Mary was in an idealistic state: a virgin, betrothed, longing for marriage with the man she loved. In each of us there is a wonderful, innocent idealism, a longing for what is true and good, a feeling that if we follow it we will be happy. This affection for the truth is built up in us by the Lord from our birth, it is the womb into which He can descend in us.
And Joseph, the man Mary loves? He appears to represent the human understanding. It seemed to Mary that once she married Joseph, she would have a man-child who would be their heir, and they would be a happy family. So it seems to us that if we marry our love of truth to our understanding of the truth, then we will create charity. Our idealism, combined with our understanding will build our happiness.
Were that so, then Jesus could have been the son of Joseph.
Joseph is the human understanding. As a person grows, he receives principles of good behavior, and an understanding of how to put them to work. He tries to live according to these values. He is rather like a carpenter, working with tools of iron, shaping useful pieces of furniture. His strong principles shape his goodness.
The understanding of a person is like the earthly father in whose house we grow, even as Jesus grew in the home of Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth. We need the guidance of our understandings. We are not naturally good. We have to learn values, to correct false principles, to practice the good ones.
That kind of learning is what is represented by Joseph. Note that he is said to have been a just man. He was, by the standards of that time, but how worldly were those standards! If a wife was unfaithful, she was either put to death in a very cruel way, or sent home in disgrace. Joseph's concept of justice was to choose the lesser punishment. He didn't want vengeance. That was good, but he did not as yet know what true understanding and forgiveness was either. This type of justice represents the kind of understanding we have before the Lord's charity in born in us. We are just, but by earthly, rather harsh standards. Joseph was a just man; but compare him with the Child who grew up in his home. Compare the simple quality of his sense of right and wrong with the infinite love and understanding and compassion show by Him who was once called Jesus of Nazareth.
Joseph could not be the father of Jesus. It was the power of Almighty God Himself that fathered this Child, because Jesus was to be the embodiment of all love, of all good, of all true understanding. He was God Himself, showing the way of true love. Joseph could not sire that kind of understanding!
Just as Joseph could not be the father of Jesus, so, when charity is born in us, it doesn't come through hte parentage of the human understanding. Its mother is our innocent love of the truth; but its father is the power of the Lord inflowing into our hearts, and creating something that no other intelligence could conceive. The power to love others unselfishly is not born of this world. No human philosophy can create it. It is born of God. In this process the human understanding is almost a bystander. It notes the wondrous growth of love in our hearts, senses, as if by visions, that it is from God, and works to serve it.
But the understanding has some function, just as Joseph has some role the play in the stories of Christmas. At first Joseph was distressed by the knowledge that Mary was with child, suspicious of that conception, thinking that some other man had loved her. This seems to represent a conflict that takes place within us when we begin to feel the stirring of unselfish love in us. You see, our understanding knows us too well. We know our own weaknesses, we have lived with them a long time. Even if we are trying to do what is right, we are often disillusioned by our ability to act from selfish motives.
Therefore when charity begins to move us, we can be tempted by the hells. They whisper to our understanding, "This is not unselfishness. You can't be truly charitable. This is just selfishness under a new guise." We are easily tempted to believe this. The hells love us to think poorly of ourselves, and they are remarkably successful at making us do so when we should not. Even so Joseph was tempted to think that this holy child was the product of evil.
But an angel came to Joseph in a dream and comforted him. An angel, in a vision of sleep, represents an insight from heaven, although a rather vague one (Arcana Coelestia 1925; 4235; cf.Arcana Coelestia 6831; 9315; 6280). The angel did not appear directly to Joseph, as he did to Zacharias, Mary, and the Shepherds. His coming in a dream represents the fact that we only obscurely sense with our understandings at first that certain motives in us are unselfish, or may be so. "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." What a wonderful message of hope that represents - a sense that perhaps some of our loves might be beautiful, inspired by our Lord.
Joseph listened to the angel, and married Mary, and played his part in the Divine birth. A person who is trying to be good seeks the loves that are now moving him. He refuses to listen to the hells which tell him that he is too selfish to ever have the loves of heaven. He follows instead the message of the word and the insight he now has, that charity can be born in his heart.
When Herod the king threatened the life of Jesus, Joseph woke in the middle of the night and fled because of the angel's warning. Herod represents the false thoughts which rule when the love of self moves us. This represents a much more dangerous attack from hell. How often has some love begun to grow in us, and we have come close to destroying it by our selfish wishes? People who are friends or loved ones get into an argument and feel threatened, and choose to hurt the other person, to damage the love between them rather than admit their own anger or weakness. This human weakness is represented by Herod, the wicked and foolish, yet crafty king of Judea, plotting the death of Him who would bring happiness to the whole world.
At such times we need the power of the human understanding to protect us. We need to use our understanding to flee to the spiritual Egypt, which means a state of instruction. We learn from the Word itself how to control anger and selfishness. We try to understand what the Lord is telling us about destructive human emotions, and how to control them; about charity and forgiveness, about how to humble our own pride for the sake of love and the opportunity to care for others.
And when we have learned these things, we return to the spiritual Nazareth, the realm of useful endeavor. It was in Nazareth that Jesus grew up. In the arena of useful service, when we apply the principles we have learned, the Lord gives us a haven in which our spirits may become strong, and able to face any attacks which may later come. For while we are working, applying our understanding of truth as we see it, charity secretly grows strong within us, and gains the power to influence our world. "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and the grace of God was upon Him."
So let us not forget Joseph as we listen to the Christmas story, for he represents our understanding, and in his justice and obedience and prudence are mirrored the spirit of the human understanding as it must be if the Lord is to be born in us. We too must first learn justice, even though we may apply it in a very worldly way - perhaps shunning only the most obvious manifestations of vengeance and self-pity and anger. We have to learn the spirit of obedience, the willingness to follow our understanding of what the Lord (the angel) bids us do. We must follow that understanding, even if the path is not fully clear. We must use the talents He has given us to do the best we can.
But even then, that understanding will not be the father of eternal good in us. We can't build our true loves, or fashion our own goodness. Only the inflowing spirit of God can do this, as the miracle of the Lord's birth is repeated, time and again, in that innocent affection of truth which is the virgin Mary.
And finally, notice that it was Joseph who named the infant Lord. "You shall call his name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." Note that in this verse is the promise that the people will belong to this Child. His name means "Jehovah saves," so when Joseph named the child it represented His faith that the Babe was born of God. So too must our understandings acknowledge the Divine origin of all that is truly good is us, call it by its name - the Lord come down to us. If we can make this acknowledgment whenever happiness touches our hearts, then our understanding will give that happiness a home, and cherish it, that it may grow, and wax strong in spirit, and the grace of God may be upon us.
(References: Arcana Coelestia 2795; Matthew 1:18-25, 2:1-12)
