Do you about Joseph in the Bible? Not not the one who served in Egypt and saved his family from famine. The one who is most overlooked. The Joseph who was the earthly father of Jesus.
We know about Mary and even his brothers, but Joseph rarely gets mentioned in the story of Jesus. He must have been a great man because when God decided to pick someone to be an earthly father to his only begotten son, he picked Joseph.
I want to share with you a little of his story and then point out one special way that he was great.
Matthew 1:18-19
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
It is not a long reading, but it shows the special character of Joseph. Think about it. Joseph loved this special girl, Mary, but discovered that she was already with Child. What was he going to do? He could have exposed her behavior, but that is not what he did. He decided to quietly end the relationship.
Why is that noble? To “secretly” end the relationship certainly exposed him to gossip. To secretly put her away meant that he was not going to tell everyone his side of the story. He would just leave.
We know how the story ended. Joseph stayed with Mary and obeyed God.
I wish I knew a whole book worth of information about this amazing man, but what I do know is that he is truly a great man.
If Joseph can follow God’s lead under very challenging circumstances, surely we can too.
Lonnie Davis