In our church Christmas pageants there is one primary character who doesn’t get many, if any, lines: Joseph, the quiet nice guy in the Christmas story.

Have you ever wondered what Joseph was feeling and thinking during those months preceding and following Jesus’ birth? Times and customs change, but people don’t. His emotions may have been like those many men would experience today.

Joseph — a humble carpenter who had been betrothed to a young Jewish girl named Mary. Jewish betrothals, or engagements, in Joseph’s day were as binding as marriage.

The Bible isn’t specific on the details of Joseph and Mary’s relationship but we are told they had not been intimate. Yet, one day Mary tells him that she’s pregnant.

You can imagine Joseph’s hurt and confusion when the woman he loves, and with whom he has not yet had sexual relations, tells him a story about how an angel came to visit one night and now she’s pregnant with the Son of God.

Matthew’s account of the Christmas story tells us that Joseph was a righteous man. His only recourse, it seemed, was to break the engagement through what was called a bill of divorcement. This was a certificate which said, in effect, “This woman is not my wife; I am not her husband.” Not wanting to publicly disgrace Mary, however, Joseph decided to do so quietly.

Before Joseph could carry out his plan he, too, had a visit from an angel. With a lot on his mind, he finally falls asleep and has a dream in which an angel tells him not to be afraid to marry his fiance because the baby she is carrying was conceived by the Holy Spirit and that the child will save his people from their sins. The angel even tells him what to name the child — Jesus.

Though surely still confused, Matthew tells us, “when Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” (Matthew 1:24; NIV)

Matthew also points out that Joseph refrained from having relations with his wife until after Jesus was born. We don’t know how well Joseph understood the writings of the prophets but his patience in this regard assured the literal fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14; NIV)

So here’s Joseph with a new wife who is pregnant with a child which isn’t his. The first thing she does is leaves home for a lengthy visit with her cousin, Elizabeth, in the hill country of Judah.

Mary finally returned home and things were beginning to settle down. Then Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, decides to take a head count of everyone in the empire. Old C.A. decrees that everyone should go to his ancestral home to register for the census.

Since Joseph and Mary were descendants of King David they had to go to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s ancient home. Had Air Galilee offered direct service from Nazareth to Bethlehem this would have been a simple 70-mile trip. Winding through the hills by donkey, however, the trip was much longer.

Poor Joseph. The trip would have been bad enough traveling alone. Now he must make the trip with a woman in the third trimester of her first pregnancy. We don’t know if he completely understood the need for Mary’s child to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy. (Hundreds of years earlier Micah had written, “But you, Bethlehem … though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel …” Micah 5:2; NIV.)

Even if he did understand, the journey was surely not a pleasure trip for either Joseph or Mary.

You know the rest of the story.

In a day of self-centeredness and putting our own rights before those of others, Joseph is a refreshing character to study. And to emulate.

As we celebrate the Christmas season and enjoy the church pageants, let’s not overlook the quiet guy in the background — the humble carpenter whose obedience and devotion helped bring about the greatest Christmas gift ever

He was a real good Joe.

Arvid Huisman can be contacted at huismaniowa@gmail.com. ©2024 by Huisman Communications.