You Believe in Miracles?” Joseph-- {Eyewitness of his Majesty}
“My name is Joseph; you know my wife better; she is much more famous than I. I’m the lesser half some might say. We were very average people--at least in the beginning, until all the attention. We were from a small tribe lived in a small town and we were poor and powerless. No, actually we were below average if you refer to social class and economic means. We lived in a small town with a poor reputation, called Nazareth. People made fun of Nazarenes--our offbeat accent and our backward ways. People would say--”nothing good ever comes out of Nazareth.”
My father, (Jacob) was a carpenter, so I became a carpenter too. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been around wood. If you’ve been around wood, you know what I mean; wood has personality, it can be turned into wonderful shapes and tones; it has a special smell, especially when there are shavings under your feet and sawdust in your hair. We had to do everything from scratch--we even cut our own wood. now, finding good wood in Nazareth was often a challenge--we have Olive trees and Palm? tress and sycamore trees and especially the cedars of Lebanon--that was our favourite wood for household furniture. Being poor and remote, most of our customers couldn’t afford cedar--except for the Romans. The Romans, I could tell you stories about them, but lets just say, they were unwelcome guests in our nation. We Israelites are very proud and protective of our God given land--we called it our promised land because Abraham our father made a covenant with Jehovah.
Yes, wood, Mary and I love wood--we made our living from wood, but more than that we found our identity in wood and we gave that wood a place in many peoples lives. when people think of Joseph-- they think of wood.
O yes, forgive me, this is my wife Mary,
Mary and I met through our parents (confirm), as our culture dictates I was considerably older than Mary (_____), but I loved her dearly and she loved me too. Over the years our love deepened.
when we got engaged it was a wonderful day--the whole town--all 500? people ran out to celebrate--people passed comments around--”O what a perfect couple” “.....)
in our culture, engagement is always for one year--it is a very formal affair sealed with a written declaration and sometimes accompanied with a small gift.
the engagement is so binding, it can only be broken by divorce.. infidelity during engagement was regarded as adultery. and no sexual relations between the couple were permitted during the engagement period.
We were busy planning our wedding and I had to build a house for us to live in. We wanted plenty of children so I had to build it plenty big.
Everything was going so well, I was as happy as could be, until one day,... Mary came to see me. looking very anxious, ...
“ Joseph, we have to talk”
I knew that look and that tone of voice, so, I immediately put down my hammer, placed the wood on the floor any sat down...I found a place to sit among the plies of fresh cut lumber and Mary dropped the bombshell!
“Joseph, I don’t quite know how to say this, so here goes.”
“what is it Mary”
well...I had a visitor the other day.
yes, who was it, someone congratulating you on your marriage to the most eligible bachelor in all of Israel!?
Well, not exactly. Joseph, you know how we always follow the ways of God, and you know God does unusual things at times.
yes, like the time he made the sun stand still for Joshua! or the time he parted the red sea! or the time he closed the mouths of the lions and Daniel was not harmed...
that’s right that’s exactly what I mean. remember how we sometimes say, why doesn’t something miraculous like that happen today, and why not right here in Nazareth.
*Do you believe in miracles?”
now Mary, I don’t think God would ever do something that amazing in Nazareth, Mary. Nazareth is the end of the earth! even the romans despise Nazareth!
we are just a village of 100 people!
“Joseph, remember Abraham and Sarah, remember how God appeared (gen 18:12) to them and told them they would have a son.”
“yes, of course Mary, that’s where we Jews could from--we even sing about that--father Abraham has many sons, many sons had father Abraham, and I am one of them...”
OK, now Joseph, listen to me-- “I had an angel visit me”
you did!~ what did he say!
he said I'm going to have a baby!
that’s great... when we get married and settle down, we can start our family!
no Joseph, there’s more--he said I’m going to have a baby in nine months, Joseph I’m pregnant!
Mary
I was in shock , a thousand questions ran through my mind
what?
How?
who?
Oh no! all my hopes and dreams went up in smoke!
Now listen to me Joseph...the angel said, the baby would be conceived by the Holy Spirit, and that he would be called the “Son of the Highest” and God will give Him the Throne of David, and his Kingdom will have no end.
I asked the angel, how is this possible since I am a virgin.
He said, The Holy spirit will come upon you and the Holy One born will be called the “Son of God”
Then he said, “nothing is impossible with God”.
I was floored by this news from Mary. Could I believe this story; I wanted to but it just seemed too farfetched. I’ve read about angels and visions-- but not here in Nazareth.
miracles always happen to other people, right?
“Most likely, Mary had been unfaithful to me and all of this was a cover-up.”
how can this engagement last if Mary is already breaking her vows!
I needed time to think.
I thought well..... a quiet divorce would do the least amount of damage.
what about our plans and dreams--its all over--it doesn’t make any sense to me!
The more I thought, the more confused I became--divorce was my only solution.
then one night, I also had a visitor--the same angel that visited Mary also visited me!
he said, Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. and she will bring forth a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
* Do you believe in miracles?
I could sleep another wink! Mary was telling the truth! a miracle is happening to us!
I felt terrible for not believing Mary....I had to talk to Mary;
I apologized for my reaction--she understood. Mary was so understanding
now, we would face the rumours and gossip together.
it wouldn’t help to tell people that we were visited by an angel--who would believe us!
gossip will abound...people will question our morals and we will likely lose a few friends and some business over this; but we will survive--God will see to it.
Things began to settle down a little-- our wedding day was getting closer--and Mary was getting bigger.
she went to visit Elizabeth and Zacharias--relatives. they also were having a miracle baby.
Mary and Elizabeth spent much time together--Mary spent three months there.
then another surprise --this time it was not God speaking, it was the other Kingdom--Rome.
Caesar Augustus ( Roman __________) decreed that all citizens must register in a census. the timing could not have been worse! Go to your home town to register they said.
I didn’t want to leave Mary--the baby was almost ready to be born. Given the miraculous events so far I didn’t want to be separated from Mary now!
and I didn’t want her to face the gossip of the town without me to protect her.
so we made the trek from Nazareth in the north to m home, Bethlehem, in the South, some 69 miles by donkey with Mary almost a full nine months pregnant.
it took us several days 69 miles or 112 kilometres; now that’s quite a journey for a woman in her ninth month!
we made stops in Tiberias, Jericho and Jerusalem along the way.
*some where along the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem I figured out that being a part of a miracle doesn’t mean smooth sailing and blue skys!
miracles take a lot of hard work!
when we arrived in Bethlehem, the town was busting at the seams! There was barely space to pass in the streets. we tried every inn--with the same response--
“sorry full up.”
finally, one innkeeper, seeing our desperate state, gave us space in his stable, which was nothing more than a cave in the side of a hill.
There, among the animals, our miracle baby, Jesus , was born.
While I knew I was not the baby’s father, in the normal sense of the word, from that moment, I knew God wanted me to treat this child as my own and be a father to him while he is with us.
we had visitors--wise men from the East.....they had been led to us by a star.(Matthew 2:1-12)..they gave us gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh.
such wealth we had never seen before!
and shepherds from the hills around Bethlehem--angels had appeared to them too, announcing the birth of Jesus the son of God.
* “Do you believe in miracles”
it was all quite incredible!
after 8 days we went down to Jerusalem where Jesus was circumcised and given the name Jesus!
our law says that a new mother is ceremonially “unclean” for 40 days--so we had 32 more days to wait and then, we could offer a sacrifice in the temple.
being poor, we could not offer the standard temple offering of a lamb and turtle dove, so we had to opt for the provision made for the poorest of our society--two turtle doves.
(lev. 12:6-8)
it was there at the temple that we met a wonderful man named Simeon, he was not a priest, just a follower of God; a devout and holy man.
Simeon took our baby and prayed a powerful prophetic prayer--- “my eyes have seen your salvation...a light for the gentiles and the glory of Israel.”
(I could tell that God had been talking to him too)
“Mary and I marvelled at these things which were spoken of him”
then another person came by--Anna,... a prophetess, she was 84 years old; she came and spoke that baby Jesus would be a redeemer.
we were preparing for our return to Nazareth when it happened again---another visit from an angel.
(remember now we had not yet been home to Nazareth for our formal wedding !??)
“ Arise, take your family and Flee to Egypt. Stay there until I bring you word; Herod is trying to destroy Jesus”
*Do you believe in miracles”?
wicked Herod, feeling threatened by a baby. Herod went on the kill all male babies under the age of two ...and the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Herod have been at odds ever since!
so, I began to see a pattern develop--angel appears--much travelling follows!! Nazareth to Bethlehem was only 110 km and in our own country---Egypt was another 75 miles (120 km) just to the border; that would be our minimum travel to escape Herod’s jurisdiction.
thankfully, Egypt was also home to about 1 million Jews at his time. so we would be able to make friends and find employment.
but, Egypt was also where our forefathers had spent 400 years in captivity.
so far being a father and a husband was not so easy.
Have you ever had a bad Christmas? My first one was the best of times and the worst of times.
No time to go into Nazareth to show off our baby.
fugitives from Herod---refugees in Egypt.
you know what refugees are--you see them on TV--people escaping violence and walking for days over rugged hills in all kinds of weather.
I know what it is to be a refugee.
after two years in Egypt, the angel again appeared; “Herod is dead”
go back to Israel, but not Jerusalem, go to Nazareth.”
we thought of settling in Jerusalem, but with Achelous, Herod’s son, in power, again God warned us in a dream to avoid the area and settle in Nazareth.
so we returned home to Nazareth, a village of only 100 people. of course, everyone knew everyone else and when we arrived it caused quite a stir!
some people were compassionate others were more ruthless.
we settled in and began getting our lives back to normal.
being a carpenter meant long hours of hard work and meagre pay. I began to teach Jesus the craft.
he learned quickly and worked hard. he enjoyed the satisfaction of building a chair or making a bed.
he enjoyed meeting the people of our town too.
everyone liked Jesus-- Jesus by the way, is just a common name in our society, in Hebrew it is pronounced “Joshua”.
“and the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him” (Luke 2:40)
and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men” (Luke 2:52)
later of course, the people of Nazareth were the first to turn against Jesus...
{Mark 6:3 Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.}
as we worked side by side in the carpentry shop my mind would often reflect upon the incredible circumstances of his birth, I began to study the prophets with greater interest and discovered numerous prophetic references about the messiah.
Mary and I would often talk about this and wonder about the future...
sometimes miracles take a long time to grow up.
when Jesus was 12 we travelled to Jerusalem--what a nightmare; somehow Jesus got separated from us and we searched for him frantically--if you’ve ever had child get lost you know what I mean... we eventually found him in the temple in conversation with the teachers and Rabbis.
he looked at us with a look that said, “I thought you understood?”
“Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
*Do you believe in miracles?”
“Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart”.
he always loved the scriptures--we would discuss them over the workbench...
his comprehension was amazing...just as I showed him many things with wood, he showed me much from the scriptures...
I knew he was special--his mind and his heart were being moulded for a special calling. But even Mary and I could not grasp it all.
I was growing old now--I was considerably older than Mary, I was slowing down and leaning on Jesus more and more to carry on the carpentry shop. Jesus sensed this and he stayed around until he was 30 to help his Mom and his brothers.
Then one day, it was time--I saw it in his eyes-- we were eating supper, he was more quiet than normal ....”Dad; it’s time to go--” “I must be about my father’s business”
Mary and I knew what that meant...and yet in so many ways we didn’t.
we knew we couldn’t hold him... By now we believed in miracles - for our entire lives since Jesus birth was one big miracle
we were thankful for the 30 years we had, Peter put it best... “eyewitnesses to his majesty”
that’s exactly how we felt.
do you believe in miracles? I do. not the kind where everything is easy and prosperous--I believe in the kind of miracles that give people faith and hope, .... you see to change one’s heart is the greatest miracle of all.
having Jesus in our lives, changed everything about us--our attitude toward Rome, our understanding of the future, and most of all our trust in God.
being a part of a miracle wasn’t easy for us and I’m pretty sure it isn’t easy for you either. I bet sometimes you are confused and overwhelmed.
just remember the miracle of grace, that is happening inside of you is worth it.
this world needs you to believe in miracles.
and you need to share your miracle (hope) with your neighbour.
your society, while more advanced than was ours, seems to me, very similar--your people have the same concerns---searching for joy and purpose and a need to know the creator.
Jesus came to us as a messiah--to save us from our sins....he comes to you with the same message of truth.
I’m glad you still celebrate Christmas--I am a little overwhelmed by your extravagance, but I don’t mind it so much....I think Jesus would enjoy knowing that Christmas is a time when more loved is expressed than any other time of the year.
and that’s why he came.
But don’t miss the best gift of all---Jesus himself.
you too can be an eyewitness to his majesty! when you invite him into your heart, he will reveal his love and grace unto you, and you will never be the same.
and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, glory of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth!
do you believe in miracles? If you believe in Jesus, you believe in
