By Bekah Shaffer
Joseph was one of very few…perhaps even just two…who met Jesus before He was Jesus.
Scripture is silent about the details of this birth. Was Joseph at Mary’s side as she gave birth? Was he out scouting the unfamiliar neighborhood for someone…anyone…who could help his precious wife bring a baby into the world? Did he return to the stable with a helper in tow only to find the Baby already born and resting inside the cloths Mary used to wrap Him? Did he pace nervously outside the door of the stable, straining to hear that first cry?
Wherever Joseph was the moment the Baby entered the world, his own world forever changed. It had begun to change nine months earlier during what was perhaps a restless night of sleep. Somehow he’d received the news that his darling Mary was expecting a baby. One he knew was not his own. And as he wrestled with the loss of his love and the preservation of his integrity and family name, “an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’”
You are to give him the name Jesus. Joseph’s role as Jesus’ earthly father began with that assignment. God wanted him to name the Baby.
Did Joseph have any idea what this Boy would mean? As he stood over the manger and uttered Jesus’ name to Him for the firs time, did he know what that name would cost the family?
Had he known, would he have uttered the Name? He had no choice. Amid joy or heartbreak, this Baby was God’s chosen path of salvation for the world. This was not his own Son. This was God’s only Son. His own sons would someday come into the world. His time to create flesh and bone with Mary was yet to be. For now, his responsibility was to declare this Baby to be Jesus.
He declared simultaneously to his Father and Son that this was Immanuel.
And in that moment of meeting, Joseph accepted a life of uncertainty. A life he had not envisioned. A path he couldn’t possibly have prepared for. And yet he accepted a role no other father has ever known – a gift so great perhaps he couldn’t fully grasp it himself. To give him the name Jesus was to accept that He is with us. That new life had begun because His new Life began.
These words are excerpts from “His Advent: Still His Greatest Gift” written by Rebekah J (Freelan) Shaffer published by Westbow Press. Used by permission .
Brenda Jank and the Run Hard. Rest Well. team are thought leaders in the arena of Restorative Wellness. Find additional resources at www.RunHardRestWell.org. Contact us at: Brenda@runhardrestwell.org