Joseph a
Model for Christian Discipleship
Rev. Dr. Prakash K George.
Bible Passage: Mathew 1: 18- 25
Advent is a
time of visits. We find in the bible many instances where God visits human
beings; nature, human and God meeting together in unique ways etc. In all these
encounters the presence of God transforms the lives of people. Human presence
inspires and empowers people to live their lives in its fullness. These visits
help ordinary people to take up God’s mission with greater commitment and
enthusiasm. It was in such encounters that, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah
and others were entrusted with different tasks. The message of the advent was
different to each one of them. But all of them responded showing great
commitment and enthusiasm. They were so faithful to their commitment that even
when they had to face the hardest of experiences in their lives they did not fumble
or flee from their responsibilities.
So as we
begin this meditation let us pray to God that he may visit us when we are
lonely, fearful, frustrated and helpless.
In the
gospel portion of Mathew 1: 18-25, we read about the special responsibility
entrusted to Joseph. The annunciation of Mary often overshadows the
annunciation of Joseph. But his annunciation is different from that of Mary.
The annunciation as recorded by Mathew may lack the poetic beauty of Luke’s
account, but this whole episode has its own dramatic force and theological
insight. This makes it well worthy of proclamation and occurs in the liturgy of
the last week of advent. This annunciation occurs at a time when Joseph was
going through an extraordinary crisis in his personal life.
Joseph: Model for Christian Discipleship
Mathew
portrays Joseph as a model for Christian discipleship. Joseph is pictured as
righteous even though he did not strictly adhere to the law but acted out of
care for the dignity of another person. A righteous person is the one who respects
justice and lives in the spirit of Law by obeying his commandments. Joseph was
living in the spirit of the law and did not just literally obey it. His
attitudes, decisions and commitment are exemplary which proves that he lived
with a higher righteousness of the kingdom of God.
In the world
of his time, shame and honour played significant roles. He knew the great
suffering that ‘shame and humiliation’ could cause in the lives of people,
especially in the life of a girl who had the formal betrothal. He was sensitive
to the hurt and shame that his righteous act could cause her. So he decides to
divorce Mary quietly. Though he was righteous person, Joseph did not manifest
his righteousness at Mary’s expense: “He was unwilling to expose her to public
disgrace” or “to make a public spectacle of her.” Accordingly Joseph was going
to divorce her ‘quietly’- not in the sense that no one would know it, but in
the sense that there would be no formal inquiry into Mary’s behaviour.
Often in our spiritual journey the problems we
encounter are from the so called ‘righteous the people who want to display
themselves as righteous and holy at the expense of the other. The prayer of the
Pharisee in the parable of Luke 18: 9-14 is a great example of this. We too may
sometimes use the opportunities to prove that we are better than the other.
During this
crisis time, he experiences that divine presence and counsel. He received God’s
revelation in a dream, in which the angel of the God tells him not to break the
engagement as he had planned, but to take Mary to his house, for her pregnancy
is of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was asked to keep his marriage to Mary, to accept
her as his wife. He was asked to name the baby ‘Jesus’ and thus to become an
adoptive father, thus to become a crucial link in the genealogical chain that
stretched from Abraham at David to Jesus. But how did Joseph recognize this as
the voice of God? He knew that God always speaks for the weaker ones and God
has a preference for the poor and the most vulnerable ones.
The roles
Joseph played for the sake of Mary and the child Jesus are also model of
discipleship. He acts as a midwife to
Mary. He was called to show extreme care and kindness. He stands beside both of
them, giving care and protection. He has
to travel with Mary and the child to Egypt leaving his village and home, then
back to Judah and then to Nazareth. In the last episode where we meet Joseph for the last time in the
Gospels he was again with Mary assisting her to find the missing boy Jesus,
sharing her very concern and pain. This is very explicit in the words of Mary
in the Jerusalem temple where she meets her son “Child why have you treated us
like this? Look your father and I have been searching for you in great
anxiety.” Luke 2:48
The message
of the advent is ‘God with us’- Emmanuel. Jesus is the one who is always with
us in all our experiences of life. The message of Christmas is that God is with
us, God is accompanying us in our life journey, in all experiences of life.
Joseph is called to be with Mary and the child Jesus accompanying them in their
most difficult times.
Can we be
good companions to others especially to those who are lonely and vulnerable so
that they may experience divine care and security? Can we be with people in
their hard times, accompanying them in their difficult times of journey? Joseph
was with Mary and Jesus in all their experiences of life at the early years of
their married life. He acts not only as a midwife but becomes a refugee for
them travelling with them to Egypt then back to Israel and then to Nazareth.
Joseph is a
model for us in our country. He is a disciple who listens to the voice of God,
wide awake. He was called to lead an awkward, risky and open ended life.
The last
verse of this text highlights another characteristic of his commitment to God’s
call. Nothing is mentioned about his marital relationships in his dreams, but
he was showing extra ordinary behaviour for the sake of the mission God has
entrusted him. He was ready to walk an extra mile to maintain the responsibility
God entrusted to him.
In Latin word for accompaniment is ‘encompance’ which means ‘breaking the
bread together’. Not only at Eucharist, but can we break the bread together with
the people whom we minister, sharing their pain and joy.