Joseph was a man's man.

In our book, “Boys Have a Dam Problem:  Examining the Faults That Have Put Our Boys In Crisis”, we consider the criteria for manhood:
 

• Male by design
• Masculine by nature
• Men through loving sacrifice
• Godly men by Christ’s example (Obedience)

 
We also examined examples of masculinity in the Bible to include:
 

• The men listed in Hebrews 11
• Daniel
• David
• David’s Mighty Men
• Men of Issachar

 
That’s not meant to be a comprehensive list, just a few examples of great men listed in the Bible.   Of course, that list would start with Jesus, the greatest of all men in history.  But as we are in the Christmas season as I write this, I want to look at another man from the Bible and how he fits our description of masculinity.
 
Joseph.
 
What do we know about the man who raised and cared for the boy Jesus.  Here’s what we know about him:
 
-He was a descendant of the line of David.
-He was a skilled craftsman.  Although we generally think of him as a carpenter, the word in Greek is ‘skilled craftsman’ and he probably did as much work with stone as he did with wood.  Nazareth did not have trees for wood, but they had plenty of stone.  
-He was from Nazareth, the ‘city of garbage’ as it was often described.   The phrase “Could any good thing come out of Nazareth?”, said much about the little village where Joseph lived.
 
We also know that he was betrothed to a woman named Mary from the same village.  Betrothal was a binding agreement between a man and woman that could only be annulled through divorce.  It was as if they WERE married, but they lived apart for about a year as the groom prepared room in his father’s house for his future bride.  When he was ready to receive the new couple, the father would instruct the son to go and get the bride.  The Jewish wedding customs are vital to understanding rapture theology and eschatology. 
 
The situation that Joseph found himself in when Mary was with child was a most difficult, embarrassing, and awkward situation to be in.  The brunt of what would happen to Mary fell on Joseph.  If he accused Mary of adultery, the result would be her death; a public stoning in the town square.   In a strange twist of fate, Joseph held God’s life in his very hands.  Without divine intervention, it’s hard to say how Joseph may have responded to this situation.   We do know that he was visited by the angel Gabriel who assured him in a dream that what Mary told him was true and she would be the one, chosen by God, to bring forth Israel’s Messiah. 
 
It is hard to put ourselves in Joseph’s shoes because of the vast cultural differences.  In a time when 50% of marriages end in divorce, we might consider this a ‘no brainer’.  It’s not only that your betrothed is having a child out of wedlock and YOU are not the father.  Now, she’s having the Son of God and you’ve been pulled into a story as far outside your comfort zone as is divinely imaginable.  But Joseph displayed all the attributes of godly manhood that we would want to emulate.
 
Male by design.
 
Contrary to public opinion,  God created men to marry woman and have children within the husband-and-wife marriage relationship.  Strangely enough that is not the popular opinion today, but it doesn’t change a thing about God’s design.  God had provided Jesus a mother in Mary and His son would have an earthly father too.  Here’s the thing:  God created and called Joseph for that purpose.  Whatever we don’t know about Joseph, we know that he was uniquely qualified to do this job.   God does not call us to do things we are not qualified or capable of doing.    Have you ever considered that Joseph was created male as part of this calling?  In our book, we talk about this at greater length.  However, the point is your gender is part of your purpose and calling.  Your birth gender is NOT an accident.  When you lose sight of this, you are immediately on the wrong path.  You can not begin with the assumption that God made a mistake when he made you.
 
Masculine by nature.
 
We know that Joseph had XY chromosomes and his fair share of testosterone.  He was poor and he lived in Nazareth.  It’s hard to imagine it was an easy life, but I would only be speculating on his nature to go further than that.  However, I imagine him to be a man’s man, hard-working provider for his family, great dad, and good husband.  I’m going to point to the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem as an example of this.   The trip is 70-90 miles depending on the route.  He agreed to take his very pregnant wife with him on the trip, even if she did insist on going.  The journey would take 4-6 days over difficult terrain and frought with dangers like wild animals, thieves and robbers.  Mary would ride the donkey and Joseph would walk along, seeing that Mary would be protected and taken care of to the best of his abilities.  This was no small task and indicates something about the rugged nature and masculine instincts of Joseph.  Once the angel had intervened in this his situation, his DNA kicked in and he was instinctually protector, provider, and presider. 
 
Men through loving sacrifice.
 
Any man that has been in the birthing room when his child was born will understand what it is to hold your child for the first time.  It is hard to imagine that any notion that Jesus was ‘someone else’s child’ vanished when he first held his son.   No.  Those paternal instincts kicked right in.  Though our cultural dynamics have changed the role of men in the family, God has not.  It is God’s design (not mine) that the man be the covering in all spiritual institutions, the family being paramount in God’s good order.  Back in these days, Joseph’s role in the family would have been unquestioned.  I would have liked to have seen his response to the shepherds or curious on-lookers getting wind of the shepherds’ encounter with the angels.  How ‘protective’ was he of his family regarding all these strangers.  Don’t forget that this was only the beginning.  Herod was trying to kill the child, and in fact did kill all children ages two and under in Bethlehem.  His days were filled with suspicion and no small amount of anxiety.  Wise men from the East?  Who else knows about the birth of my son and our location.  For goodness’ sakes, there’s a star showing the world where we are.  This was only the beginning.  The angel would warn him of Herod’s plans to kill the child and he would be forced to take his young family to yet another strange location in a far away place.   Joseph would have to be on the move; a man who didn’t move around much prior to all this.  He would have to find work to provide for his family.  Where would this take him?  Life would never be about Joseph again.   Actually, the Bible tells us very little about him after the Christmas story.  We know that he died before Jesus started his own earthly ministry.  Joseph walked in the shadows, holding up one of the greatest stories in history.  That’s what good fathers do.  They sacrifice for their families.
 
Godly men through Christ’s example.
 
First child.  What do I do now?  How does this work?  Raising children is one of the great mysteries of life.  Each child is so different.  The Bible has some things to say about it and people write books about it, ad nauseum, but what do YOU do with YOUR child?  What about if that child is the SON OF GOD?  How did Joseph approach teaching the Son of God ANYTHING?  What if the example you want to leave your son is HIM?  Jesus would be the example for all other men to emulate.  How do you raise THAT child?  It’s almost laughable, isn’t it?
 
Here's what we know.  Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and favor with both GOD and man.  Joseph did a good job.  He presented his son with a GOOD example.  Joseph was obviously a man of great faith.  You don’t get swept up in a story like this without GREAT FAITH.  Don’t get lost in the divinity of it all.  Jesus was fully human too.  He needed his DAD.  Everything that a boy in Nazareth would need to know, he got from his Dad.  Families taught their children to read and scripture was most often used to do this.  Can you imagine Joseph sitting down and teaching Jesus to read from the scriptures?  Jesus WAS the Word.  This irony could not have been lost on Joseph.  Yet, he did his part.  He taught Jesus what he knew;  education, job skills, life skills, etc.  That was Joseph.  Can you imagine Joseph trying to have ‘the talk’ with Jesus.  I can’t wait to meet this Godly man and ask him these questions.  WOW.
 
My wife and I performed a play that I wrote called “Joy in the Journey” for many years, when we were younger.  I always played the part of Joseph.  I did that until my wife said she was too old to play Mary and I’d have to write a play about Abraham and Sarah instead.  Because we did it for so many Christmas seasons, I always felt like I was going back to visit with an old friend, when I played the part.  I imagine we were very different in some ways, but in ways that matter I hope we were very much the same  male by design; masculine by nature; men through loving sacrifice; and a godly man by Christ’s example.  I look forward to meeting you someday Joseph.