A Good Man
A Reflection by Jesse Steven Wheeler*
Seen from the male perspective in the book of Matthew (as opposed to the female perspective presented by Luke), this is the story of “Joseph the Just”:
This is how Jesus Christ was born: His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but, before the marriage took place, she found herself to be pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her husband, Joseph, was a just man and, since he did not want to disgrace her publicly, he resolved to put an end to their engagement privately. He had been [fuming over this], when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife, for her child has been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son; name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
All this happened in fulfillment of these words of the Lord through the prophet, where he says—“The virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son, and they will give him the name Immanuel”— a word which means “God is with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord had directed him. He made Mary his wife, but they did not sleep together before the birth of her son; and to this son he gave the name Jesus.
—Matthew 1:18–21 (OEB)
This is a powerful story, bubbling just beneath the surface with incredible meaning. In his day, Joseph had every legal, religious, and social right—perhaps obligation!—to seek Mary’s public humiliation and execution. This is a world of honor killings, wherein any hint of sexual impropriety on behalf of a young woman could result in either her social banishment or even death at the hands of those closest to her. In fact, such consequences were enshrined in religious law. As such, this represents yet an additional instance whereby women and girls are found crushed beneath the wheels of religiously-sanctioned patriarchy.
In the version presented by Luke, we find Mary boldly taking upon herself such a risk for the sake of the world’s salvation. In Matthew, as New Testament scholar Kenneth Bailey informs us, we find a just man who set aside his justified anger to break both law and custom for the sake of the greater righteousness—defined prophetically as compassion for the vulnerable. This, he did prior to any divine intervention. What we find in this story, therefore, is an unequivocal affirmation and celebration of all life as the sign of God’s blessing, regardless of the place and circumstances by which that new life is conceived. This is a bold rejection of those death-dealing laws, customs, and belief systems that would seek to extinguish the life of a mother and her child. From this story comes the world’s salvation.
Now, imagine this story in light of the present-day realities confronting the Palestinian people. Many, in a misguided desire to prove their loyalty to God by means of an uncritical and unquestioning loyalty to the modern nation-state of Israel, blind themselves to the destructive consequences of their mistaken belief systems. For today, it is the indigenous Palestinians, the living-stones of the Holy Land, who find themselves crushed beneath the wheels of religiously-sanctioned apartheid, settler-colonial conquest, and ethnic cleansing. Let us look, therefore, to the example of Joseph the Just and choose the greater righteousness, to walk the path of the prophets and stand compassionately alongside and in solidarity with our world’s most vulnerable. May we boldly reject those death-dealing ideologies, institutions, and empires that have extinguished the lives of far too many of God’s beloved children.
Prayer
Lord God, grant us the wisdom and courage to learn from and follow Joseph’s example, a judicious willingness to defy both law and custom for the sake of a greater, life-affirming holiness. Open our eyes and our hearts to the experiences, insecurities, and hardship of others, that we might become agents of your divine grace, love, and deliverance for those you have placed in our life. Guide us in the path of true righteousness and restorative justice, even at the expense of our pride and public image. We pray this in your holy name Lord Jesus. Amen.
—A Prayer for Wisdom and Courage
*parts of this reflection from Jesse Steven Wheeler, Serving a Crucified King: Meditations on Faith, Politics, and the Unyielding Pursuit of God’s Reign (Eugene: Resource Publications, 2021)