Have you ever stopped to think deeply about the man God chose to raise Jesus? Would he have been your choice? What did God know about him that the Bible doesn’t tell us? John Claypool suggests that by studying Joseph’s deeds, we can imagine Joseph’s influence on the life and character of Jesus.
One of the most creative ways of studying Joseph’s deeds is offered by writer Steve Brown. He tries to imagine what it would have been like being Joseph’s pastor (or rabbi) as Joseph lay dying. It is generally assumed that Joseph died at an early age and perhaps this is why Jesus didn’t begin his public ministry until he was thirty years of age. As the elder son, Jesus would have had obligations to his fatherless family.
Joseph, of course, would not have been in a hospital room under the care of doctors and nurses. The place where Joseph died would have been much different than the place where you and I will die.
Knowing that Joseph was dying, Steve Brown says he would want to discuss how significant Joseph was in God’s Big Story. Brown would remind Joseph of the time when he discovered Mary was pregnant. Knowing that he wasn’t the father, in his love, he didn’t want to shame Mary.
Brown would also want to remind Joseph of the trip to Bethlehem and how he protected Mary and the child. He would remind him of his trip to Egypt and also when he and Mary presented Jesus at the Temple when Jesus was twelve.
Joseph would shake his head and say, “But those are such little things…what any man would have done.” Brown would then say to Joseph, “A little bit of faithfulness in a dark place is all that God needs.”
In God’s Big Story you should never discount the little things. Joseph’s faithfulness in the little things was as important as Mary’s womb. You will make a difference when you change a diaper, when you go to work, when you speak an encouraging word, when you are faithful to your family, when you stand by your pastor and your church, when you do what God has asked you to do.
Like Joseph, determine in your heart, this holy season, to do what God asks you to do. Then you might be surprised when you get home to heaven by the true impact you had on others. Besides, impact is God’s business. Faithfulness is yours. Faithfulness in the little things of life.