Joseph was going to divorce Mary. "...He had in mind to divorce her quietly." Matthew 1:19. NIV. He had the legal right. They were engaged, he had been honorable---she was discovered to be pregnant. But, the Bible says he put the divorce off because, "Joseph... was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace." Matthew 1:19 NIV. Furthermore, he could have "put her away" merely by declaring that she did not please him (see Matthew 19:3,8) without even mentioning his reason for doing so.

It took a direct revelation from God to restrain Joseph from divorcing Mary (see Matthew 1:20). And, looking back, we can see Joseph's embarrassing situation was the working of the providence of God. If Joseph and Mary had consummated their marriage, they would have considered Jesus as their child. Evidence of the virgin birth would have been out of the question. Also, one wonders how agreeable Joseph would have been to an angel trying to persuade him to marry a woman already found pregnant? It appears that God made the situation as easy as possible, under the circumstances, for both Joseph and Mary.

Actually, little is known of Joseph, he played only a supporting role, but it was an important one in the formative years of Jesus' childhood. We can gather from Joseph's kindly treatment of Mary that he must have been a man with a strong sense of right and wrong that was tempered with mercy and understanding.

Joseph, the carpenter, was of the line of David (see Matt 1:6-16) and had four sons (see Matthew 12:46, 13:55 "...James, and Joses, and Simon and Judas?"). He seems to have been widowed and had children by a former marriage. This most certainly would have made him somewhat older than Mary.

The family of Joseph and Mary included daughters. Jesus had sisters, Matthew 13:56, "...and his sisters, are they not all with us?" The text suggests that there were at least two but we don't know if they were Joseph's children from the previous marriage or the product of his marriage to Mary.

The last event recorded about Joseph was in Luke 2:51 when Jesus was 12. The lack of any further mention of Joseph can be taken to mean that he died before Jesus began his ministry. The act of entrusting the care of His mother to John at the cross (John 19:26,27) is a strong clue that the death of Joseph had occurred prior to that time. Also, the point that Jesus left His mother in the care of the apostle John (John 19:26,27) rather than with one of His brothers seems to show that Mary had no other children of her own, other than Jesus, and perhaps his four brothers were from a previous marriage of Joseph.

While we greatly admire Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a virtuous and wonderful woman, it would be well to pause and ask what sort of a man would be chosen to head up the household in which Jesus would be raised? I wonder how difficult it would be for God to find another Mary and Joseph in these days and times?

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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Blessings!
Marvin Hunt

Http://www.biblehistory.com

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