More Josephs, Please

Word from the Center
Written By Peter Scaer

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I'd be happy with another Samson to rout the Philistines, another David to slay Goliath. I can think of more than a few places where I'd like Joshua to march around seven times. But what we really need is more Josephs.

Our own hymnal calls him Joseph the Guardian. But, really, he was more than that. He was to Jesus a true father, to Mary a true husband. Depictions of Joseph as an old man do him a disservice. The Bible teaches us that Jesus had brothers, including James, Jude, and Simon. Sisters too. To all these, and Jesus as well, Joseph was provider, protector, and model. He loved Mary as his wife. And Jesus was known as the carpenter's on, even as another identity would later be revealed in the Jordan River.

The world, of course, hates Joseph, because the world hates the One Joseph provided for. If the world loved Joseph, the world would love natural marriage, would love the family. If the world loved Joseph, it would do everything it could to make sure that every child had mom and a dad. If the world loved Joseph, it would do everything it could, like Joseph did, to preserve the lives of our littlest children. Yes, Jesus was the only begotten Son of God from all eternity. But then He became one of us, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of Mary, and was given an earthly father, and then a family of brothers and sisters. In the mystery of the Incarnation, even God's Son needed a Joseph.

How much more are the children of our age in need? What is the leading indicator of just about everything bad? The lack of a father, that is to say a Joseph, in the home. Will the neighborhood be safe? Get more Josephs? Will an infant be safe? Not with a live-in boyfriend, whose presence makes a home very dangerous indeed. The kid deserves a Joseph. Someone who doesn't see the child as an obstacle to the woman he sleeps with. Would Christians like their children to grow up and stay in church? Well, for that, there's a Joseph. A guardian against the thugs? Joseph. Someone who may even whisk a family away from tyranny, knowing that the family takes precedence over the state? Joseph.

So sure, I'll take a Gideon, a Samson, or a David. Throw in a Solomon, a Joshua, and a Moses. Better yet, give me millions of Josephs.

The Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer is professor and chairman of the Exegetical Department at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Ind.

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