Joseph's View

     It wasn't his child.  Can you imagine how Joseph felt?  Not only was his soon to be wife pregnant, but the child wasn't his.  How did he find out?  An angel, of all things, told him.  What did he have to look forward to?  Ridicule.  Shame.  Disgust maybe?  Why should he believe that angel?  He knew he had not been with Mary.  How would he explain this to his family?  Or to his friends?  It was an embarrassment.  It was a sin!  Well it would have been had it not been that this was the Son of God.    
     Raising a child is not an easy task.  I can't even imagine the doubts, the emotions, the confusion, or even the questions Joseph might have had.  Was he to treat this child differently than he would treat his other children?  Would he be able to love him?  If this really was God's Son, would he obey his child or would his child obey him?
     The Word tells us that Jesus never sinned.  Now I don't know about your kids (I've got a pretty good idea though!) but our kids can be real stinkers at times.  And I have it on good authority that I wasn't always the perfect child either.  But Jesus never sinned.  Even as a child.  I guess that, at least in that respect, Joseph had it easy.  Even when Jesus stayed back and taught in the synagogue as the rest of the group went ahead and then His parents realized it and had to go back for him.  He was being about His Father's business.  His parents couldn't even fault Him because He was doing God's work.
     Joseph did teach Jesus his trade.  Carpentry.  That's the way it was done.  A father passed his trade down to his sons.  Jesus grew up with His hands in wood.  And He died with His hands in wood.  Joseph knew, from the prophets, what Jesus' fate would be.  Did he doubt it?  Did he wonder?  Did he want to protect Jesus and keep it from happening?  Jesus was to die on the cross.  Did Joseph wonder about this at times when he was working with wood and think about the hands and feet of his precious son being nailed to the cross?
     Watching our kids go through difficult times is not easy.  Yet we know that they must go through some things to grow and learn.  As a parent, most likely Joseph wasn't any different.  Still, in the back of his mind was he always thinking about Jesus fate? 
     The Bible doesn't mention Joseph being at the crucifixion.   Joseph had died prior to that.  I would imagine though that Joseph would have been brokenhearted just like any father.  He had raised Jesus as his own.  He had watched Him learn to walk, talk, read.  He had taught Him everything he knew.  And here was Jesus, dying on a cross.  How did He get here?  This perfect little baby.  Born, of all places, in a barn!  And here He was.  Dying on the cross.
     Thing is, this was God's plan.  He loves us so much that He sent His only Son, a part of Him, to earth.  Jesus was to be born in a barn.  His family was maybe middle class, not royalty.  But Jesus didn't complain.  He knew why He was here.  He was born to die.  He loves us so much that He was literally born to die.  But that's not the end of the story! 
     Jesus was born in a manger, died on a cross, and was raised to live again!  Today He reigns in Heaven with God.  While his earthly life was not even close to what most of us want, He did what all of us should do.  He obeyed His Heavenly Father.  Right down to being beaten, ridiculed, and even killed in the most inhuman way known to man.  But He did it.  He did it for you.  He did it for me. 
     I think Joseph would have been very proud of his Son.  I'm sure he was a wise man.  He had to have been or God wouldn't have chosen him for such an awesome job.  How about you?  God has an awesome job for you as well.  Will you listen to Him?  The only way our lives are worth anything at all is if we obey Him.  Giving ourselves wholly to Him.  I believe Joseph set an amazing example as a father.  He taught Jesus to obey.  I'm sure Jesus would have obeyed anyway because He was and is perfect.  But still.  Joseph didn't waiver.  He stayed the course.  He obeyed the Lord.  He loved Jesus and treated Him like his own precious son. 
     Do you know Jesus?  Would you like to know Him?  The Bible tells us that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  But the FREE gift of God is eternal life!  How do we obtain eternal life?  By accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  Living for Him.  Obeying Him.  Loving Him.  Whether we were born in a barn or live in a mansion, He died for all of us.  Seriously.  Do you know Him?  Would you like to?