What if Joseph had not married Mary and undertook the role of the earthly father of the Son of God, who was born of Mary, how the world would look like today? Would Mary have given birth to Jesus alone? Would Mary have been able to raise him all by herself?
Though Mary, the virgin betrothed to Joseph, of the
Davidic lineage (Matthew 1:6-16), bore the Son of God the Most High, by the
power of the Holy Spirit, without intercourse (Luke 1:30-33, 35), how the world
would have believed this? Who in the ancient Israel would have believed this,
though God had said to one of Joseph’s ancestors, Ahaz, “Listen, house of
David! Is it not enough that you weary human beings? Must you also weary my
God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant
and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel”(Isaiah 7:13-14).
Given the patriarchal character of
the ancient Israel, which is reflected in Abraham, as the father (גוים /ab)
of many nations (אב המון /hamon goyim)(Genesis 17:5), it would
unimaginable Mary giving birth to and raising Jesus alone as a single mother. The
social norm certainly required a woman like Mary to have a loving and caring
man, like Joseph. Otherwise, she sure would have been ashamed and could have
been stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:20-21). Knowing Joseph and hid loving
heart, that is why, through the Archangel Gabriel, God called Joseph to welcome
Mary, who was already pregnant with the Son of God, as his wife, though he was
thinking to quietly divorce her quietly, as addressed in one of the options for
the Gospel Reading of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a). As it was also Joseph, who led Jesus and Mary to safety in Egypt when Herod was trying to kill Jesus, as warned by the angel of the Lord (Matthew 2:13-23).
As the father of the Holy Family, Joseph, indeed, protected and defended his step-son, Jesus, the Son of God, and his wife, Mary from any harm.
What if Mary had not consented to bear the Son of God and serve Him as the Theotokos? What if Joseph had rejected God’s call to take Mary as his wife? Would we have had the Son of God, incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus, to dwell among us, while teaching and healing through his public ministry, to shepherd us to his Kingdom?
Would Mary have been able to serve God as the His handmaid
(Luke 1:38), if Joseph had not welcomed
her as his wife?
It was neither the will of Joseph nor the will of Mary to be betrothed. According to the Protoevangelium of James (8-10), it was God's will to let these two come together for matrimony. And Mary's "surprise" pregnancy, which was not by her will but God's will (Luke 1:26-38), made it difficult to keep the betrothal. However, because Joseph let God's will override his will, the betrothal was sustained and consummated (Matthew 1:18-24). Because of this, Jesus, the Son of God the Most High was born of Mary and was able to grow in wisdom and strengths (Luke 2:40) in order to begin his public salvific ministry.
With his love and righteousness, St. Joseph, the
spouse of the Blessed Virgin, is indeed, the defender of Christ and his mother.
So he is the defender of the Church, whose core, the Holy Family, was headed and
defended by him.
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