Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:18-21).

It has often—and rightly—been said that we learn the true character of a man when he faces crisis. So it is with Joseph, as he discovers that his betrothed, Mary, is pregnant with a child that could not be his. In a world where examples of true men seem scarce, it is a blessing each Christmas to be reminded of Joseph.

Abortion would have been unthinkable to Joseph, not only because Old Testament law^⁠1 proscribed it, but presumably because his conscience would as well. Divorce, however, was not unthinkable. What I find so interesting, and inspiring, is the way Matthew describes Joseph’s resolution: Matthew calls him a just man. Now Joseph would have been entirely within his rights as a betrayed husband to divorce his wife. Of course, the question would arise—why? At that point, Mary would face at best public scorn, at worst, the death penalty.

Here we see the character and depth of Joseph’s righteousness. Should he divorce Mary publicly, he would receive no reprimand from the synagogue. But he would not have slept in peace. So, unwilling to expose his wife to the public shame and potential danger that revealing her pregnancy would provoke, Joseph resolves to divorce Mary quietly. Whatever feelings of betrayal he might have felt, he would not shame or endanger her. He would shield her. And when God revealed to him that Mary was with child not by adultery, but by the Holy Spirit, Joseph stepped up as both husband and father. Following the direction of the Lord, he protected and provided for his family, in the early years as refugees in Egypt, and then settling in Nazareth as a carpenter.

Jesus apparently learned from Joseph during those years, apprehending his sense of justice. While we don’t know much about Jesus’ growing up, we see the fruit of his upbringing in his adult life. One encounter in particular suggests Joseph’s influence over his adopted son (see John 8:1-11). A handful of religious leaders, seeking to discredit Jesus, presented him with an adulteress, and proceeded to invoke the law: “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

No one would have charged Jesus with injustice should he have assented to the woman’s stoning. And adultery is serious—it is not without reason that the penalty for adultery is so severe, for sexual sin is destructive: for individuals, families, and communities. But Jesus sees the woman (likely entrapped herself, for if she were caught in the act of adultery, where is the man?) and has compassion. So he shields her, standing between her and her accusers—“Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone at her.” And they leave, one by one, each one bearing a measure of the shame he sought to place upon her.

Here is the justice of Joseph, displayed in the life of Jesus. Yet Jesus takes it to a deeper level. Throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New, the people of God stray from Him as a wayward and adulterous bride. But rather than cutting her loose and giving her over to death, the Son of God stands as a shield. Jesus’ stance on behalf of the adulterous woman did not go unnoticed, or unpunished. It is precisely because he exposed our injustice (even if cloaked in religion) that Jesus was crucified. Michael Card captures this beautifully in a song written in the voice of the woman caught in adultery, after her accusers disperse:

In this new light now, I understood,

He would not condemn me, though he could

For he would be condemned someday for me.^⁠2

The bride of Christ is pure and undefiled, not because she is righteous, but because she has been protected and purified by Christ Himself, even at the cost of His own life. So Jesus lives into the character of Joseph, and into the name given to him by Joseph, even as he takes God’s justice to a depth Joseph never could: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”

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¹ The claim that abortion violated Old Testament law is not based upon abortion being addressed explicitly in the Old Testament, but because OT law draws no distinction between born and unborn children.  In the Bible, all are referred to as children.  Therefore the command not to murder, as well as commands to defend the fatherless and the vulnerable, apply to all children, including those yet to be born.

² You can find Card’s song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laPFkFnHGlM,

and another on the same passage, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjABhOLmk3Y.

Finally, see Card’s reflection on Joseph as he wrestles with what it means to be the father of the Son of God. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unuARptSP50.