This morning, while attending worship at The Heights Fellowship, I was hit with an interesting perspective. Mike Martindale, the Pastor at The Heights Fellowship, mentioned something about the character of Joseph, husband of Mary, and step-father of Jesus. Mike mentioned that Joseph was the only person in history to be able to boss God around! It was pretty funny to think about Joseph telling God (Jesus) to take out the trash or clean up the wood shop...but it really got me to thinking about the unmeasureable amount of trust God placed in Joseph to raise His son. I'd never thought about that before. God really trusted Joseph to take care of, nuture, and guide Jesus through those adolescent years. The Bible is silent as to Joseph's presence beyond the birth and childhood of Christ, but we see alot of Joseph's character in the first couple chapters of Matthew. When faced with a pregnant fiance/wife, Joseph chose to waive his rights because of God's leadership. This was a man not given to knee-jerk reactions. He was a man of faith. As a carpenter, I imagine that he is a patient man, making careful measurements before cutting wood. I imagine him being a creative man. Through all we read of Joseph, he was the ideal dad. Even when he was faced with finding a place to sleep that night in Bethlehem, he didn't panic. he trusted.
Now, I know, Jesus had to come through the line of David and Joseph fit that qualifications. I believe there was more to this than just the line of David. Think about it. There were 42 generations that Jesus could have been born into to meet that qualification, The "fullness of time," though, was to be the generation following Joseph. This morning, as I meditated on what Joseph did, how he lived, and how God felt about him, I was moved to be a man like Joseph. An even-keeled, patient, creative, man of faith who faces adversity in the counsel of God. If you'd like to hear Mike's sermon about "Surviving Christmas" with the thoughts on Joseph, click here.
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6 years ago
4 comments:
Seriously, you should check out a song called "Joseph's Song." It's a cool little ditty that would come from the heart of Joseph relatively soon after the birth of Jesus. Leet stuff, yo.
That is so cool, I was just thinking about that last night, I've never thought about him "raising" Jesus. I heard that song last night, although I didn't really listen to it, after the first line, my mind started flying to picture things from his perspective. He so often gets forgotten.
hey i've heard joseph's song.
it's a good one.
Think about this as well, how do you think Jesus learned the Holy Scriptures? From his earthly father who took Deut. 6 very seriously from the way it looks. I love pondering Joseph and I preached on him last year for emerge. Look for a post very soon on my blog on Joseph.
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