Many of the events in the Christmas story include a journey. Some are physical journeys, and some are journeys of wonder, confusion, and of trust. It is Joseph’s journey of trusting God that has been most helpful in giving me confidence and guidance for my own life-journey.
In our annual Christmas story telling, it would appear that Joseph is only a peripheral figure in this glorious story. But in Matthew’s account of the story, Joseph plays an important and essential role in the series of miraculous events. (Matthew 1:18-25).
In verse nineteen we discover that the miracle of Christmas rested on Joseph’s shoulders as we await his hesitant decision to either accept or reject the stunning news of the coming Messiah, and the shocking way in which he would come into the world.
If the Godly righteous and compassionate Joseph had carried through with his plans, not only would the child, Jesus, have been illegitimate in the eyes of his culture, he would have been without the validity of a Davidic heritage as declared in the prophetic promise of the Messiah.
Verse 24 reveals Joseph’s most praiseworthy characteristic, which we see in his acceptance of and obedience to God’s word to him. Enabled by his faith to believe the promptings of God’s Spirit, he trusted the angelic visions and messages regarding God’s gracious plan of coming into the world in human flesh and form.
From the moment Joseph first learned of Mary’s pregnancy, he traveled a difficult emotional journey of extreme feelings; a questioning, wondering journey of how, why, when, who, and what child is this.
To fully appreciate Joseph’s journey of trusting God, we should remember that for him to accept what God told him, meant going through days of anguish and heartbreak. It meant his dreams would be dashed. It meant setting aside his own desires and rights to claim his wife as his own, living with her in celibacy until the birth of the child. It meant accepting, caring for, and loving a child whose origins and future he was not sure he understood. And it meant giving the child a name unrelated to his own.
Yes, it was a perilous journey, weaving between trust and doubt, threading around pits of anger and frustration, fighting disappointment and heartbreak. Nothing happened the way Joseph had dreamed and planned it would. Not the wedding, nor the public approval and celebration. All his dreams were dashed to dust, but there emerged, with his continuing trust in God’s involvement, something much bigger and more wondrous than Joseph could ever had imagined.
Joseph was told to name the child “…Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (v.21). Jesus means “God saves.” The scriptures also say, “They will call him Emmanuel, …which means God with us.”
Whatever else we may say about Joseph, we should never overlook the truth that he was a man of confidence in God’s trustworthiness. His strength, compassion, wisdom, and courage all flowed from his constant, steady faith in God’s presence with him, and in God’s power to work all things for his good.
This is why I think Joseph’s journey of trusting the God of Christmas is at the very heart of the Christmas story. His experience with things going awry and turning out so differently from what he expected, is so much like our own life experiences. And his journey helps us hear and believe the possibility of our own difficult journey connecting with the good news of the Christmas story.
This Christmas, as we marvel at Mary’s quiet calm, admire the faith of the Magi, share in the excitement of the shepherds, let us also take a long, soul-searching look at the quiet strength of Joseph trusting faith. And let us remember that as Joseph was obedient to the angel’s message and named the child, Jesus, so may each of us do the same.
“Today…a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” Name him “Jesus” and trust him to be “Emmanuel” in your life-journey.
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 20, 2023
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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