12/2/13
In the eyes of Joseph…
I sit here alone in my thoughts as I watch Jesus carefully
whittle away at the small table leg. He
was in the shop early this morning and must have sensed my frustration as we
arrived back home from Jerusalem late last night. Our journey to celebrate Passover was
extended by four days. He had stayed
behind, unknown to us and we had already traveled a day’s distance before we
figured it out. To make matters worse,
once we arrived back in Jerusalem we spent three days, with much anxiety,
trying to find him with no success.
Finally, of all places, we found him in the temple, both listening and
asking questions of the teachers within.
All of those in the midst of the conversations were astonished that
Jesus, now just twelve, had much understanding at such a young age. Finally, Mary beckoned him from the crowd
with a look that only a mother can give and pulled him aside and away from the
onlookers. She asked him what he was
thinking, staying behind and without anyone’s knowledge. His response now reverberates in my mind… “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I
must be about My Father’s business?”
Sitting here, still a bit angry, I watched him as he
intently worked the small piece of wood into the shape he desired. I could not help but make the
connection. Jesus, he too, was a work in
progress and both Mary and I had been given a great responsibility to assist in
his maturity. My mind raced back twelve
years and I began to relive the confused days prior to his birth. The fragments of paper, now aging, that I had
written upon some 13 years ago hold my innermost thoughts as I reread them once
again this morning…
I was working in my
shop on a table and chair set for my dear friend Timothy and his family of
five. Like any other day, it had been a
little chilly early in the morning but the heat of the day soon would prevail
and the once dry wood shavings sat at my feet now as a clumpy mass as my sweat
poured uncontrollably from my forehead and onto the floor.
I had been so engrossed in my work I had no idea that it was
time for lunch and that Mary had slipped in with the small satchel carrying the
sustenance that I now knew I was needing. As I stopped to wipe the back of my
neck, my face and arms, Mary, as only Mary could do, began to unwrap and
prepare a plate for me. The first glass
of water went down quickly and as I looked at her she seemed very uneasy. Not her normal bubbly self and I could
immediately sense that “something” was wrong.
In my mind I thought that maybe our pending wedding, all of
the planning and all of the preparations had just become too much today. I tried without success to calm her as I
pulled her near to me in a soft embrace.
I pulled her hair back from her beautiful eyes and looked deeply into
them, trying once again to calm her with small strokes of my callused hand
across her face. Without warning she
began to cry… softly at first and then a flood of tears broke out and she
simply went limp into my arms.
After a couple minutes, she pulled slowly away from my
embrace and asked for a chair that she might sit down and tell me of something
that happened during the night. That was
an easy request as I pulled one of the many unfinished ones within arms length,
wiped off the wood shavings with my hands and placed it near for her to
sit. She asked me to sit down as well.
As she looked up at me, wiping tears from her eyes, she
simply said, “Joseph, you know that I love you
without limits.” I shook my head
in agreement and noted that I knew that.
She however was not satisfied and reiterated once again, “you know that I love you and that I would never do
anything to hurt you and would never be unfaithful to you.” Yes I know that Mary…what is it sweetheart?
She paused for a brief moment and her eyes began to look
away from mine and towards the floor. I then knew something was wrong, very
wrong. I reached over and placed my hand
under her chin and slowly moved it upward so that she once again looked at me,
eye to eye, and asked her to just tell me what was wrong.
She took a deep breath and said “that
she had an encounter with Gabriel last night.” Gabriel?
I had lived in Nazareth my entire life and I knew no man named
Gabriel. Mary said, “no not a man, he was an angel and he came to me in the
middle of the night.” An angel I
asked? Of course I had heard of the many
stories, the many chance occurrences’ that my forefathers and those of the
Jewish faith had had over the years but I never had direct knowledge of anyone
that had an actual encounter. So I said
go on, tell me more.
I noticed she now became a little bit excited and said, ”it is good news Joseph, very good news”. Again I said well go ahead already and tell
me! Joseph, these are the exact words he
spoke to me as I will never forget them. “Rejoice, highly favored one, the
Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”“But when he spoke
that to me I was confused Joseph, very confused as I am so young and you and I
both know we are poor and have very little.
How can I be blessed among woman? Yes Mary we have little but what we do have is
each other and we have our faith in the God of our fathers and trust in His
hand in our lives. Do we not? “Yes Joseph but
there is more and this will not be easy for you to hear.”
Mary, I love you, I trust you and we know that whatever it
is that God desires for us or from us, we together can accomplish. I remember the smile, the smile that came
across her face…her beautiful eyes once again regained their wonderful color
and I simply said go on Mary, tell me the rest.
She reached across the distance between our chairs and now
grabbed my face with both of her hands and said, the
angel spoke, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor
with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give
Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of
Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
“Yet something in my spirit
Joseph told me that it would not come from your loins?” All I could muster was a confused
“what?” She said, “I asked the angel how could this be since I have never
been with a man and you and I are not married yet? Jospeh, he told me, The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also,
that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
I pulled away and let go of her hands and
leaned back in my chair. I sat there in
disbelief. I am not sure how long and it was as if I was the only one in the
workshop as I tried to process what Mary had just told me. Then I felt her hand on my leg and she
brought me back to reality. “Joseph…Joseph…talk to me please! Please don’t just sit there.”
I felt an anger well up within me and I
stood up to help relieve some of the tension and began to pace slowly around my
shop. I picked up a piece of wood that
lay close by and threw it at the wall as my anger now boiled over and into a
rage. Mary, wait a second…so you are
telling me that I will not be the one that impregnates you with child, and that
this “Son of God” will be from the loins of another?
She mustered a simple “yes
Joseph.”
I remember asking her to leave and to do so quickly…to get
out of my sight! She certainly could
sense my unbelief in this absurd story and rose up from her chair. Before she left she turned back to me as she
readied to walk through the door and said, “the
angel told me two more things… my cousin Elizabeth has also
conceived a son in her old age.” What?
You know she and Zacharias are way too old to have children…you have
lost it?! “Joseph
he also told me “with God nothing will be
impossible.” “I know you are beyond
upset and I have already planned to visit her for some time.” She paused and we looked deeply into one
another’s eyes. She said, “I love you Joseph” and she turned and walked out.
My heart sank, I fell to my knees and wept
from a place deep within just as she left the shop.
Day after day, as I worked in the heat of
my shop, my mind tried to figure out who, why, how could she do this to
us? What man could Mary have been with
and without my knowledge? We were
together every waking hour outside of my work and enjoyed each other’s presence
so much. She did not have time, did
she? I was a miserable wreck and unable
to concentrate many days as the uncertainty of the whole encounter simply was
too much for me to handle. Her absence
did not help matters any and I longed to see her even though I still had much
to sort through. She had been gone three
months and I wondered in my mind if she had begun to “show” any signs of her
pregnancy yet?
Her presence startled me and she whispered
my name, “Joseph.” Her voice was so
settling, angelic if you will. I could
contain myself no longer and stood to embrace the one that I truly loved
without end. We stood there, saying
nothing and simply enjoyed the warmth of each other’s tender clinch. It was late and we walked, hand in hand, to
our respective homes and I told her that we would speak to one another in the
morning. I placed my hands on her
cheeks, gave her small kiss and left her standing in the door way. She once again simply said, “Joseph, I love you.”
My pride however would not allow me to return the sentiment.
Though I was beyond tired, sleep did not
come easy. Though I did love her
immensely, the thoughts of the last three months replayed themselves over and
over again in confines of my mind.
Heartbroken, I knew that I must put an end to our relationship as pride,
once again would not allow me to be the father of another man’s child. I however had no desire that she would be
shamed by any in our village and I was determined to do sever our relationship
in the most graceful way I knew. She
certainly would be better off without me and my distrust. I felt a peace, as
the constant wrestling in my mind began to wane and my thoughts finally carried me to sleep…but
not for long?!
That night changed the course of my
life. In a dream, and angel of the Lord
appeared unto me we as well. The angel
said, “Joseph, son
of David, do not be afraid to take to you 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. So all this was done that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: Behold, the virgin shall be
with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, “God
with us.”
I awakened with much joy, tremendous
joy! It was true…she was telling me the
truth this whole time. I could stand it
no longer and raced over to Mary’s house and knocked on the door even though
darkness still held the early morning captive.
Mary, half asleep from the day’s previous journey, looked inquisitively
at me. I could only utter Mary, please forgive
me, forgive me for being so distrusting.
I grabbed her hand, and we sat down at the foot of her bed and I told
her of my dream and we both began to weep softly. She fell into my arms and we said no
more. Nothing more needed to be said.
The next six months brought much
anticipation and we were ready and excited to be parents. The time drew nearer still each day but,
regrettably, I had to travel to Bethlehem to pay taxes since I was of the house
and lineage of David. I did not want to
miss his birth but it looked inevitable: I simply had no choice. Mary was livid and she too was determined
that I would not miss the birth of our son, the son of God, Jesus; so she
decided she would travel with me though I tried desperately to persuade her otherwise.
The road was hard for Mary as we
traveled the 70 miles to Bethlehem and it was slow going for sure. We arrived later than expected and
unfortunately the season of taxing brought an increase of travelers to the
streets of Bethlehem. As night fell we
found ourselves in quite a predicament and could not find a room or shelter
anywhere. Of greater importance, Mary
started having contractions pretty regular and I became nervous as to our
dilemma. I returned to an innkeeper and
begged him for any type of accommodation to shelter Mary for the night…Jesus
would be born soon. His only solution
was the barn that was just around the corner.
Mary struggled as she lay on a make
shift bed that I had created out of the hay in the barn; we had an extra
blanket that we packed and I laid that on top of the hay to soften its
offering. I had managed to find a young
lady to assist Mary in her time of need and we all three sat struggling with
the conditions in the barn. The smell alone was enough to drive any person to
insanity and the animals, excess in their number, were louder than normal
making an extraordinary amount of noise.
I wondered if they somehow could sense what was about to take place.
Mary was in much pain and the young
lady gestured that it would not be long now.
The anticipation was killing me when it dawned on me that we had no
place to lay Jesus once he was born. I
knew Mary would cradle him for a time but soon she would tire and there would
need to be a place for him to lie. In
the corner of my eye, I saw a manger and though it was in pretty rough shape
and there was a donkey mulling around for any leftover food, I knew I could
clean it up and make it work. I took off
my outer robe, smacked the donkey and began to clean it out. I then gathered hay once again and carefully
placed it in and to overflowing in the manger.
I then took my outer robe and placed it on the top to soften it
accordingly.
The young lady asked me to leave as
Jesus was soon to be born. As I stood
outside the barn, though there were throngs of people and activity, I felt
alone. I witnessed the busyness of the
inn, people scurrying to and fro and tending to their immediate needs. The neighing of the donkeys was tremendous
and almost overwhelming; one after another with no end. Yet through it all, I heard Mary cry out in
pain and it brought me back to my reality; I could only wonder as to the
miracle that was forthcoming and if any of those near, in their hurried states,
knew the significance this little barn was housing. Again Mary cried out, this time with greater
ferocity and longer in length and then I heard, barely at first a whimper, and
then a loud shrill. The once neighing
donkeys seemingly ceased all at once and a quiet filled the area. It was eerie to say the least and I
knew…Jesus had been born.
As I waited intently, I noticed
directly above the barn a tremendous light, others as well, as we looked up
into the sky to see a lone bright star.
The bottom trail of the star seemingly reached down to the top of the
barn and the area which moments earlier held us in its darkness now was
illuminated with abundance.
It seemed like an eternity before the
young lady came out and motioned that I could go in to Mary. I was nervous at first but when I saw Mary in
the intermittent dancing light that breached the cracks in the barn from the
brilliant star, her smile let me know that all was well. Jesus was laying in her arms, wrapped so
carefully in the clothes, swaddling him completely, that we had brought. He looked so peaceful! We sat together, in the utter slums of a
barn, beholding the Son of God. Mary
soon began to tire and I took Jesus into my arms, looked deeply into his eyes
and I was captivated. They held me in
their grip as I placed him in the manger.
This was not just any child, but a child of the most High, the God of my
forefathers, the very same God with whom we had entrusted our lives to.
Thoughts:
- Joseph was a simply a carpenter, Mary,
just a young girl; both were probably poor in the eyes of the world. David the shepherd boy and others to follow
too would and will be the lot which He chooses from.
1
Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on
his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him:
for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looketh on the heart.” He continues on to anoint David.
1
Corinthians 1:26-29 “For you see your calling,
brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble, are called. But
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and
God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which
are mighty;and the base things of the world and the things which
are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing
the things that are,that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
Someone,
a man whom I hold dear, once told me… “God does not call a church, God calls a
man and or a woman.” God’s call is not
concerned with a church building, a man made denomination, theology or
traditions as warned by Paul in Colossians 2:6-9 “As ye have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk
ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye
have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ. For in
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
He
calls today for the very “poor in spirit.” Could this be you?
- He spoke specific to Joseph in dreams
and though many discount dreams, scripture is flooded with those that God spoke
to in such a manner: Job 33: 15-16 notes, “In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens
the ears of men, and seals their instruction.”
The question for us today is simply this…How
does God speak to each of us specific?
Let us consider this thought…If we are not
hearing Him, something is very wrong!
- Finally, we must
recognize that when God calls us, that the path WILL not be easy as some might
imagine. There will, there must be a
price that must be paid to follow Christ.
Jesus notes
as He speaks to His disciples in John 16:18-21 “If the
world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love
his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than
his lord. If they have persecuted me,
they WILL also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours
also. But all these things WILL they do
unto you for my names sake, because they know not him that sent me.”
Jesus once
again in Luke 9: 22-25 “the Son of man must suffer many
things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
slain, and be raised the third day. And
he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross daily, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose
his life for my sake, she same shall save it.
For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose
himself, or be cast away?
Listen to the
words again, “if and man will come after me”… “if”…we have a choice, it is voluntary! Christ will not force us to go after
Him. But if we do, “let him deny himself,” there must be a turning from
all that we desire, possibly many of the plans we have for our lives?!
“Take up his cross daily.” First note that this is a daily
requirement. This word cross in the
original Greek language is powerful and in essence summarizes what being a
follower of Christ must entail. The word
cross denotes “that portion of affliction
which is endured by pious men and
woman as a trial of their faith, to conform them to the example of their crucified master.”
Lastly we must “follow Him” as it is not enough to just give Him lip
service. We must follow, to lands of His
choosing, to places others fear to tread, with immediate obedience, for time is
of the essence!
Lord, I am
reminded of that which Peter spoke in 1 Peter 2:9 “but
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar
people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
the darkness into his marvelous light.” As
with Joseph, the word was hard, the call would be costly, yet through it all,
you would lead as only a leader with such experiential knowledge could. The same will hold true today “if” we too
would be obedient in listening to the call you have for our lives. Forgive us Lord for your “calls” that have
fallen on deaf ears. There are those
that still remain in darkness, there are those hurting, those lonely, those
without hope to the point of suicide.
Forgive us Lord for indifference, for the fulfillment of self, for
looking in rather than looking out.
Could we walk in such a call… “a chosen
generation, to be a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people?” Is it possible that we might but be bearers
of just a bit of your wondrous light? We
repent of our dullness of hearing and can only ask with humble hearts that you
would give us another opportunity!
I am
yours…Daniel
