On March 19, the Roman Catholic Church solemnly honors St. Joseph as the spouse of Mary the Blessed Virgin, who is also the Theotokos. We could not have Jesus as our Savior without Joseph. The Kingdom of God would not be established as the eternal Davidic Kingdom without Joseph being the beloved and chaste husband of Mary.
Being a relative of Elizabeth (Luke 1:36), who is
Levite (Luke 1:5), Mary hailed from a priestly family. And her husband, Joseph,
is a descendant of David (Matthew 1:6-16; 1:20; Luke 1:27; 2:4). This way,
Jesus is the High Priest (Hebrews 2:17; 4:14; 5:6; 7:26-27; 9:7, 11-28) and the
King (Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 17:14; 19:11-19; cf. Ephesians 1:21–23).
The fact that Joseph is the husband of Mary, who gave
birth to Jesus (Luke 2:7), thus, makes the Son of God Davidic. And this
fulfills God’s promise to David, which is described in the First Reading (2 Samuel
7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16). Because God promised David the eternity of his royal house
(2 Samuel 7:13), the Responsorial Psalm (89:2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29) sings the
eternity of the Son of David, namely Jesus and his Reign as the King of all
kings (Revelation 19:16).
The first option of the Gospel Reading (Matthew 1:16,
18-21, 24a) shows that Joseph, who is on the Davidic lineage, is the legal
husband of Mary. But the reading also describes the dilemma that Joseph had in
discovering Mary’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy before the consummation of the
betrothal and how Joseph overcame it to take her as his wife.
Imagine what it would be like to have found that a
woman you are about to celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony had been impregnated
by someone you do not know. Wouldn’t you be upset, to say the least? And that
was what Joseph went through at first, though Matthew did not say if Joseph
were upset and became indignant. What is written by Matthew in regard to Joseph’s
initial response to Mary’s pregnancy is:
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ
came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived
together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit (Matthew
1:18).
What was unbeknownst to Joseph was the fact that Mary
was made pregnant through the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 1:35). Therefore, he must
have wondered who made Mary pregnant. This sure could have upset him. And both he
and Mary knew that she would be subject to stoning to death, according to the
Law (Deuteronomy 22:20), if she were found to be pregnant in such a way, because she should have been virgin until her
betrothal with Joseph became complete.
Though this could be so disturbing to Joseph, the
scriptures do not say anything about Joseph accusing Mary for being pregnant
before she was legally allowed to have a physical contact with him, by the Law.
According to Matthew, this is how Joseph responded first:
Joseph her husband, since he was a
righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her
quietly (Matthew 1:18-19).
Being a righteous man in the eyes of God, it was not a
right thing for Joseph to marry a woman, who had been already impregnated by
something other than him. But it did not mean that his loving care for Mary
changed. Joseph really loved her. Therefore, he wanted to make sure that her
pregnancy would not become publicly known, because it would not only put her to
shame but to death. Therefore, the best thing he could do was to cancel his
betrothal to her in secret.
Then, the truth behind Mary’s pregnancy was made known
to Joseph by the angel of the Lord in his dream, through these words:
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this
child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall be
with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God
is with us” (Matthew 1:20-23).
Through the above words, Joseph learned that Mary’s pregnancy
was not due to adultery, because she became pregnant through the Holy Spirit
for the sake of the salvation of people. Furthermore, the fact that she became
pregnant as a virgin was to fulfill Isaiah’s prophesy of God’s sign, spoken to Ahaz
(Isaiah 7:14).
Then, Joseph took Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:24) but
did not have did have any relations with her until she actually bore the child
(Matthew 1:25), to be clear that the child in her womb was not of his
responsibility. Indeed, Joseph was a chaste man. And his chastity is out of his
love for her and reverence to God, who made his wife pregnant with the Son of
God.
The revelatory
words about the truth of Mary’s pregnancy to Joseph by the angel of the Lord reflects
what Archangel Gabriel spoke to Mary at the annunciation:
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called
Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his
father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom
there will be no end. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called
holy, the Son of God (Luke 1:31-33, 35).
As Joseph took Mary as his wife, her pregnancy had no longer a possibility to be scandalized to risk her to be stoned. In the eyes of society, the child in Mary bore was seen as Joseph’s son (John 6:42). But, both Joseph and Mary knew that the son whom Mary bore and give birth and whom Joseph became the legal father to, was the Christ to save humans from sin.
The second option of the Gospel Reading (Luke 2:41-51a)
depicts Mary being a typical mother, telling 12-year-old Jesus, how Joseph and
she, as his parents, worried about him, while searching him for three days,
when they found in the Temple. So, Mary said to him:
Son, why have you done this to us? Your
father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety
(Luke 2:48).
Note that Mary referred Joseph, her husband, to Jesus,
as his father.
Though Jesus is the Son of the Father in heaven, his
legal father on earth is Joseph. And because of him, who hailed from the
Davidic royal lineage, Jesus legally became the Davidic King to fulfil God’s
promise to David for establishing the eternal Davidic Kingdom (2 Samuel
7:10-16), which is, namely the Kingdom of God, proclaimed by Jesus and John the
Baptist (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15). And the Second Reading (Romans 4:13,
16-18, 22) reminds that Joseph’s acceptance of Mary, who was already pregnant
with the Son of God through the Holy Spirit, but virgin, was not only to fulfil
God’s promise to David but His promise to Abraham.
In honoring St. Joseph as the spouse of Mary the
Blessed Virgin and the Theotokos, we express our gratitude for receiving
her as his wife and serving as Jesus’ legal father, so that we can be saved and
the Kingdom of God is established as the eternal Davidic Kingdom, in completely
fulfilling God’s covenant with Abraham, which progressively expressed by God
(Genesis 12-22).
Yes, St. Joseph made difference. His choice to receive Mary as his wife let God's promise to David and His covenant with Abraham move forward towards fulfillment. And our salvation is on this move.
No comments:
Post a Comment