Post 6 – 23 June 2019
There are two important Josephs in the Bible, very different from each other.
The last major hero in the Book of Genesis is Joseph – son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, and great-grandson of Abraham. This Joseph has ten brothers. Jealous of his psychic gifts and their father’s favoritism towards him, they sell Joseph into slavery on a caravan headed for Egypt.
In the land of the Nile, with God’s help, Joseph rises to the height of earthly power. The former slave becomes the right-hand man of Pharaoh, the Egyptian king. Joseph correctly interpreted two dreams Pharaoh had, foretelling that Egypt and the middle eastern world would have seven years of bumper crops, followed by seven more years of famine. So the King put Joseph in charge of Egyptian grain production and storage in the seven good years, to save up a food supply for the seven bad years.
Joseph’s prophesies came true. His brothers, starving in the famine, came to Egypt to buy stored grain from the Egyptian government. By God’s hand, they were led to Joseph in person. He revealed himself to them and forgave them. Pharaoh then authorized Joseph to bring his entire family to Egypt. They stayed 400 years, prospered and multiplied. Though initially welcoming, over time the Egyptians turned against the Hebrews living among them. But it was through Joseph that, in Egypt, Abraham’s tribe became the Jewish nation that Moses eventually led to freedom.
In contrast to the Old Testament Joseph, at a pinnacle of worldly power, the Joseph of the Gospels stands out for his humble faithfulness.
Stepparenting – raising a child not biologically one’s own – is a hard task. We meet Joseph in the Gospel of Matthew as a man in a dilemma. Mary, his betrothed, is pregnant, not by him. In Jewish culture of that time, an unfaithful bride-to-be could be stoned to death. But Joseph’s thoughts were of how to protect Mary and save her from public disgrace. Even so, he planned to quietly break off the engagement. But an Angel of the Lord told him in a dream that Mary was pregnant from the Spirit of God. So Joseph accepted the duty (and privilege) of marrying Mary and raising her mysterious child as his own.
The mission from God that Joseph accepted turned his world upside down. He had to flee to Egypt with his family, to escape King Herod’s efforts to kill the newborn Messiah. After Herod died, Joseph finally returned to his home town. In Nazareth, he and Mary settled in, to quietly raise their special eldest son.
The last mention of Joseph in the gospels is when Jesus is 12 years old. On a trip to Jerusalem, the young Messiah went off on his own to discuss religious matters with Jewish priests. Joseph and Mary reacted with panic to their son going missing, and finally tracked him down. Jesus then returned to Nazareth with his parents. After this episode Joseph disappears from the gospels. It is assumed that he died before Jesus began His public ministry.
Why is Jesus’s stepfather such a minimalist character in the gospels?
It could be that Joseph was simply a humble, limited man. But other factors may be at work here. Many Christian denominations, the Catholic Church especially, venerate Mother Mary as “ever virgin.” But Joseph was Mary’s husband. The Gospel of Matthew specifically states that Joseph consummated his marriage with Mary after Jesus was born (Mat 1-25). The Gospel of Mark names four brothers of Jesus, and states that He also had sisters (Mark 6-3). So maybe there is an issue of Joseph as a complete husband to Mary getting in the way of Marian virginity doctrines. If so, as far as some Christian hierarchies are concerned, Joseph is worse than inconvenient and the less said about him, the better.
In the Spirit War, this author decided to give Jesus’s stepfather a big upgrade. Firstly, for justice’s sake. Joseph’s mission deserves more in-depth treatment. And secondly, because a strong Joseph stepfather character provides a great basis for Jesus’s education. A puzzling aspect of the Messiah is his earthiness. How could someone as lofty as the very Son of God also be so shrewd in worldly matters? The gospels show that Jesus knew all about housekeeping, farming, fishing, building, business, money and tax matters. Where did he get this? An upgraded Joseph character provides an easy answer. Jesus learned how this world works from a smart, wise, brave, gritty – and loving – stepfather.
Despite how different the two Josephs are, they had one thing in common. Both had an Egyptian connection.
The Joseph of The Spirit War is a blend of the two Josephs from the Old and New Testaments. Like the Genesis character, he is a super-competent administrator and entrepreneur. We first meet Joseph in Egypt, where he has built up a successful construction business. Just as, centuries before, Old Testament Joseph had run Egyptian agricultural and construction sectors for Pharaoh.
But like the humble Joseph of the New Testament, the Joseph of The Spirit War gives everything up at God’s request. Joseph returns to Palestine twice. First to marry Mary after building up a construction fortune in Egypt. He then has to flee to Egypt a second time, now with Mary, to escape King Herod’s would-be killers of Jesus. When Joseph and Mary finally return to settle permanently in Palestine, it’s to backwater Nazareth. The big-time builder downgrades to become a low profile carpenter – to avoid unwanted attention toward the vulnerable child Messiah, from human and demon enemies. In Nazareth, Joseph passes on to Jesus the worldly smarts that would serve Him so well in his redemptive mission.
