Joseph: Dealing with fear (Matthew 1:18-25)

Joseph was in a predicament! His world had been thrown upside down. Joseph was without doubt envisaging a fairly normal marriage and family life with Mary. Mary was ‘betrothed’ to Joseph … a marriage-in-waiting, just the formalities to go through. He loved Mary so much – but now she was pregnant … and Joseph knew that he had had nothing to do with this baby’s conception. The sense of betrayal, the pain, the confusion! Joseph could publicly reject Mary and leave her to endure public disgrace or worse. But Joseph loved Mary! Yet, how could she have done this to him. Still, he loved Mary … but to take on the responsibility for this child as if it was his – this would open him up to a lifelong stigma. So, Joseph would just have to do the best he could in the circumstances.

Joseph would not seek revenge or vindication … Joseph would just dismiss Mary quietly, seeking to spare her the worst of the public humiliation and shame. This is how it is that Matthew’s Gospel can describe Joseph as being “a righteous man” (v.19) – a man who would do the right and generous thing. Despite the hurt and disappointment he felt, he wasn’t going to take Mary down for no good reason. Thus, Joseph, “the righteous man”, was the sort of person who might just be ready to listen to God! Joseph just might be a person ready to listen to God … even when what he was going to hear would be almost impossible to deal with … almost impossible to even believe. And we find Joseph heroically up to the challenge! God speaks to those who are ready to respond!!

Now, this would not have been easy for Joseph, this would’ve taken courage. What Joseph undoubtedly feared the most, was exactly what God was going to ask him to do. In going ahead with his marriage to Mary, Joseph was as good as admitting (even though it wasn’t true) that he was the father of this child. As mentioned earlier, this would mean for Joseph – a lifelong stigma. Would his reputation ever recover? And then those that thought that Joseph could not really have been the father, would have called Joseph a complete idiot for taking the sort of extraordinary action he did. But Joseph rose above all this in the cause of following God’s will.

And all Joseph had heard was the simple yet profound explanation, that this child had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. What a remarkable response … “When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him …” (v.24)! Such was Joseph’s readiness, this was all he needed to hear – “for the child conceived in [Mary] is from the Holy Spirit … She will bear a son, and you are name him Jesus” (v.20-21). Joseph was a man ready to serve God! And in being open and ready like this, he was able to hear and understand that this special child Jesus would save humankind from their sins. Given his availability, Joseph had been chosen for this role, and he didn’t let God down. It was when Joseph heard “do not be afraid”, and then got on top of his fear, that God’s plans went forward.

The fear that Joseph could have suffered from was the fear of what others think. Such a fear could have made Joseph withdraw from his calling and retreat from being involved. Such a fear could have made Joseph neglect Mary’s needs. Such a fear as worrying about what others think, could have completely diverted Joseph from being the person God had made him to be. “Fear” is when the anxieties and feelings of alarm within us stop us doing what we know we should be doing. Fear stops us taking adventurous risks; thus fear tends to disrupt the discovery of all what God has for us in life. For example, if Joseph had let his fear control him, being too worried about what others would think, then Mary, at the very least, would have been left destitute and vulnerable. And, if Joseph had caved in to the sneers of his community, this would have lost Joseph his very important role in history.

But when Joseph heard the “angel of the Lord” say to him, “do not be afraid”, he found the faith within him to comply completely with God’s will. And Joseph went on to adopt and affirm his role as human father to Jesus by giving him his name … “and he named him Jesus” (v.25). There was probably unbelieving whispers around Joseph for the rest of his life, but Joseph knew that he had done the right thing … the God thing! And now with Jesus in his life, for Joseph, there is really nothing left to fear! So, where did all this courage and faith come from?? God spoke … and Joseph listened!! God is speaking to us today, especially when we suffer fear. God speaks to us … how??? Through his Word. When we pray (with openness/receptiveness). In his creation. In our imaginations. In and through other people. In particular events, happenings or circumstances. Are we listening!?!