What about Joseph?

He's barely mentioned in the Bible, but right at the heart of what Christians believe.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

(Matthew 1:18-25)

In Advent I often wonder about Joseph. Other than Jesus, Joseph seems to be the main character in this passage. And I have some questions for Joseph:

What was it like when the angel appeared to him?

What did he and Mary talk about on the slow journey to Bethlehem?

What was it like to raise the saviour of the world?

And that’s just the start. Why we don't hear much more about him I don't know. We'll get to ask him one day. But I also picture him there, in his carpenters' shop: mastering woodwork, and with every chisel how he must have contemplated what little control he had over his own life.

Have you ever felt like that? None of us can engineer our surroundings, to be protected from what's done to us, and none of us can also completely master what we're able to do.