Joseph The Protector

I can’t help but to think of my late wife Piper when Fiver and I take our daily walks.  From our college days at Chico State University and throughout our years of marriage, walking together, hand in hand, was one of our favorite pastimes that we enjoyed together.  When she was healthy it was an almost a daily occurrence and when she became wheelchair bound in the last years of her life, I would push her around the neighborhoods in which we lived!

As the dog and I walked along the golf course yesterday, I began to contemplate the almost innate desire that I had… from the early days of our relationship in high school until the day she went home to be with the Lord… to PROTECT her.  It wasn’t even that she needed protection as she was one of the most confident and wise women that I had ever met!  But she had an innocence about her that just made me want to lovingly take good care of her.

She was always up to a good challenge!  Planning and leading large-scale activities and events in high school, at the different churches we served in over the years, as well as with our extended families, never seemed to phase her.  She was quick on her feet, a good multitasker and stayed calm even when things around her got a little crazy!

So, while it wasn’t necessarily me protecting her in a physical sense, it was probably more in the way of protecting her good reputation.  When we were dating and throughout our marriage, I tried to always be respectful and honorable of her wishes, and sought to never put her in a position that could be seen in any way as something that would impede her high moral character and excellence.

And it was within that line of thought, while Fiver and I walked in the cool and crisp December air, that I suddenly stopped and said aloud to no one in particular, that

“Joseph was a PROTECTOR!”

From the very beginning of his introduction in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, Joseph is shown to be the one called to PROTECT Mary, the young, innocent teenage girl who was chosen to become the mother of the coming Savior of the world… and his very first thoughts toward the woman he loved and was engaged to be married to… was to PROTECT her reputation, when she was found to be with child!  Matthew 1:19 tells us that,

“Joseph was an honorable man and did not want to disgrace her publicly. So he decided to break the marriage agreement with her secretly.” (God’s Word ©) 

But Joseph wasn’t just an honorable man, he was also a VIGILANT man with great personal strength and conviction to obey the word of the Lord… even if it meant going against the long-held and sacred Jewish traditions.  The next six verses detail the event that instantly changed Jospeh’s plans and set him and his wife to be on an adventure that would soon become known throughout the world… for all the generations to come!

“Joseph had this in mind when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said to him, "Joseph, descendant of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus [He Saves], because he will save his people from their sins."  All this happened so that what the Lord had spoken through the prophet came true:  "The virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel," which means "God is with us."  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him to do. He took Mary to be his wife.  (And) He did not have marital relations with her before she gave birth to a son. Joseph named the child Jesus.”  (God’s Word ©)

I can only imagine some of the looks, or the hushed chatter that went on behind their backs as Mary and Joseph walked, hand in hand, down the streets in their home town before their trip to Bethlehem and the glorious birth of the anointed child Jesus.  But I can clearly see the confident and maybe even a little defiant look in Joseph’s eyes as he squeezed Mary’s hand and smiled gently to her with a warmth that said “Don’t worry Honey, all will be fine and turn out exactly as the Lord said it would!”

David wrote in Psalm 37:23 that,

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and He delighteth in his way.” (KJV)

It is interesting to note that the term “a good man” is actually defined in the Hebrew as the description of “a VALIANT man, a warrior (emphasizing strength or the ability to fight)” (Strong’s/Brown-Driver-Briggs.)

This verse gives us an accurate picture of Joseph.  Once he had his steps ordered by the Lord, Joseph became VALIANT and ready to fight any tradition or the words or actions of men that would try and interfere with the important calling on Mary’s life!

I’ve always sought to be like Joseph (after all it is my middle name), in all my roles as a husband, a father, a grandfather and as a friend…  and to follow with the best of my ability, conviction and strength… the Word of God and the directions I believe that He gives me... and I bet YOU do too!

In the midst of this Christmas Season, as we remember the story of that first Christmas and celebrate the birth of our Savior, let’s think about the important role that Joseph played and strive to emulate his VALIANT courage and strength in following the Word of the Lord in the New Year ahead!

Have a terrific weekend, enjoy all the Holiday events, keep EXPECTING God’s BEST and give HIM the glory due His holy name!