Goodness, Gossip, Gasps, and Gold

“Jacqueline! Your gas tank light is on empty!” Bernardino gasped in astonishment. “I wasn’t thinking about it,” she replied. Together, they went to the gas station, and the needle on the dashboard went from empty to full. “He is a good boyfriend,” my daughter told me. The character trait of goodness speaks loudly. 

The Gospel of Matthew tells us of the life of a good man and gives a glimpse into the reality of the Holy Family, before it was the Holy Family! Scripture shares the circumstances through the lens of Joseph, and it is his Feast Day that we celebrate today. Joseph has always been a favorite of mine because he is said to be a good and righteous man. In each circumstance and to the best of his ability, he is set on doing the right thing. 

Joseph is a skilled worker/carpenter and follows a normal trajectory of life for a Jewish man living in the first century. He wants to get married and start a family. Abiding by the cultural norms of the day, there is the arranged marriage which begins with an engagement. To his dismay, things don’t go as planned. I imagine Joseph getting the news through the village gossip that his betrothed is pregnant. The first gasp. Mary’s body growing with a child isn’t easily hidden. The second gasp belongs to Mary. Messages of the private unraveling of their commitment are forthcoming. The third gasp belongs to her parents. They understand the implications of an unwed mother including the possibility of Mary being out of the community and stoned. 

Not only is a supernatural intervention needed but also a receptive human mindset of a man willing to work with his circumstances. May all our eyes and ears turn to Joseph. 

“Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.”  —Matthew 1:19-20a 

An angel helps Joseph out. “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child is conceived by the Holy Spirit.” Joseph takes on the responsibility of this directive and takes Mary to Bethlehem. For Joseph, placing the hay in the manager for the newborn baby was an act of will, not only for his wife but for Jesus. When the shepherds arrive to testify to the glorious music sung by angels in the night sky, Joseph listens. After this event, Joseph knows he must work and wait for the Bethlehem census to be completed. The Holy Family is in house by the time the Magi arrive.  There will be gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

Much modern-day devotional ink describes myrrh being a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death. But what about life? These spices would have smelled good on a household flame. Also, the smell would remind them, “yes, the Magi did come and say, ‘the newborn king because we have seen his star in the East.’” Being resourceful with the gold, Joseph could purchase food, clothing, or more tools for his trade. This gold would sustain them on their journey to and from Egypt. 

While scripture doesn’t tell us about Joseph’s death, we know he is still living during Jesus’ adolescent years. When his parents are frantically looking for him in the caravan on the return home from Jerusalem, Joseph doesn’t react quite as hastily as Mary who asks, “Why have you done this to your father and me?” Jesus replies, “Wouldn’t you know that I would be in my father’s house?” It is here that Joseph must take the wound. A present-day therapist might say,  “to not take it personally,” there is the Upper Story. Jesus’ response would surely pierce Joseph’s protector’s soul. Was it not he, Joseph, who receives the dreams with divine messages? And he, by his own choosing, heeds the warning to flee with his family in the night to avoid Herod’s pending wrath and what is known as the Slaughter of the Innocents?

Interestingly enough, juxtaposed to this exchange, later in the reading of the Gospel of Matthew there is the familial tie. ^“Jesus came to his hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son?” Joseph the good man, the protector of Jesus and Mary, is who we revere and honor today. 

Joseph teaches us that righteousness is often lived out in listening, in waiting, and in choosing love when the way forward is uncertain. He reminds us that holiness can look like steady work and faithful presence. May we, like Joseph, remain open to God’s dreams for us and find grace in doing the next right thing, even when the full story has yet to unfold.