Joseph’s legacy
Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men (Luke 2:51-52).
Each year Joseph and his family travelled from Nazareth to Jerusalem to worship. Luke recorded one visit, when Jesus was twelve years old (Luke 2:41-52). As they returned home, Joseph and Mary thought Jesus was with their relatives, but, after discovering this was not the case, they went back to the capital. After three days of searching, they found Jesus sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking questions. Everyone was astonished by His understanding and answers.
Mary said to Jesus, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” Jesus answered, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Interestingly, Mary spoke of Joseph as Jesus’ father. But Jesus spoke of His Father in heaven. They did not understand what Jesus meant, and Jesus returned with them to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and as He grew up in the home at Nazareth, Jesus is described as increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men. That home was the home of Joseph, the carpenter.
When Jesus begins his ministry, one of his first disciples is Philip. Philip immediately finds his friend Nathanael and says to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” It is a reference to the dignity of the man who cared for the Son of God. In Matthew 13:55 Jesus is called the “carpenter’s son”. In Mark 6:3 Jesus is called “the carpenter”, so Jesus was not only known as the son of the carpenter but as the carpenter. Mark teaches us in his Gospel about Jesus as the servant of God. That service embraced an ordinary manual job. In John 13 Jesus undertakes the task of a household slave when He washes the disciples’ feet to teach them lowliness. Never let us underestimate the value of every aspect of service for God, however menial it may be. There is a famous story of President Kennedy when he visited Cape Canaveral. He asked a man what his job was. The man was a cleaner, but he replied to the President, “I’m helping to put a man on the moon.” He had an overwhelming sense of being part of a great endeavour. Paul tells us, “You serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:24). Do I have a sense of the greatness of the Person I have the opportunity to serve?
As Joseph completes the service God had given him, he disappears from the pages of the Bible as quietly as he appeared. Some commentators believe he had died by the time Jesus began his ministry. We don’t know. But it is incredible to think that day by day for thirty years in the obscurity of Nazareth the Son of God grew up and worked alongside Joseph. In all likelihood, Jesus spent more time with Joseph than anyone else. And it was Joseph, a humble man of royal descent, who was used to give Immanuel the title of “Jesus of Nazareth”.
I said at the beginning of this talk that Joseph is one of the most overlooked men in the Bible. I believe we should not continue to overlook the spiritual qualities of the man into whose care God chose to place His Son. We never hear Joseph speak. Joseph’s voice is the quiet but powerful voice of humility, faith, goodness, mercy, lovingkindness, obedience, courage, provision, protection, peace, hard work, and sacrifice. These attributes are desperately needed in our world today. And Joseph’s life is a challenge to every Christian man.
