Joseph
Did I know him? I was his father. Oh, not biologically, I know that. Just one look at him and anyone could see that he was not an ordinary child, even though you couldn’t put a finger on what it was that made him different. But I was his father none the less. I watched as he took his first steps. I guided his hands as I taught him how to be a carpenter, like I was. And I was with Mary while we searched Jerusalem for him when he was 12 and found him talking with the elders in the Temple.
I’ll admit, when Mary told me that she was pregnant and that an angel had told her that the child was the promised messiah I found it very hard to believe. After all, we were nobody special. We were peasant people, living simple lives in a small, backwater town. There was nothing about us that would single us out, or prepare us either, for that matter. Why would God choose us? I wish I could say that the news made me excited, but nothing could be further from the truth. My first thought was to end our betrothal quietly, and spare Mary as much of the shame and humiliation that I could.
That was before God spoke to me in a dream. He told me not to be afraid of what was going to happen. That the child was, indeed, the promised messiah. What can you do? When God speaks, you listen, and you act. So I married Mary as soon as I could. Was I nervous? Extremely! After all, how can you prepare to raise God in the flesh? All you can do is hold on and trust that God will guide you. And that is exactly what I did. And God was faithful, and stood by me, and guided me as I helped raise a very special Child. It was a challenge but would I change things if I had the chance? Not on your life.
