4th Sunday of Advent 2022
Isaiah 7:10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25
Drat, bother, and confusticate the Jerusalem Bible and its sloppy mistranslations. Yes Joseph was a “man of honour” as he showed in his intended behaviour towards Mary, but that is not what the original text says. It tells us that he was dikaios, which means “just”. Why was he just? He was just because he had faith, which justifies us, makes us just, as St. Paul points out. It was his faith, his trust in the God who calls us to do the right thing, which enabled him to form an honourable intention, which demonstrated that he would be a worthy guardian of God’s Son. There is a whole world of meaning in that one word, which today’s translation fails to convey.
What about St. Joseph, then? You may, or more probably may not, remember Flanders and Swann, a pair of musical comedians whose popularity continued for years, even though they ceased performing in 1967. Michael Flanders, large, bearded, and confined to a wheelchair by some sort of stroke during his wartime naval service, and Donald Swann, balding and bespectacled, were always immaculately turned out as they delivered a series of witty songs, often reflecting on contemporary events. I mention them because one of their compositions concerned the Unsung Heroes of the World, and St. Joseph, though not mentioned in this ditty, is surely the greatest unsung hero of them all.
We never hear him speak—not a single word of his is recorded—yet he was always there, in the background, the original Quiet Man, supporting Our Lady, playing a father’s role for Jesus, protecting Him from harm, teaching Him his own trade so successfully that Jesus became known as “the carpenter’s son”, and indeed, as “the carpenter”.
Possessing justifying faith, Joseph was always obedient to God’s call. In Matthew’s account, this call is repeatedly conveyed to him in dreams, a conscious reflection of an earlier Joseph, the son of Jacob and “the man of dreams”. Matthew, in his genealogy, also calls St. Joseph’s father “Jacob”, thus strengthening the connection.
According to Matthew, these dreams of St. Joseph not only led to his becoming the husband of Mary and guardian of the Christ child, but also took the family to Egypt and back, and resulted in their settling in Nazareth. It has to be said that some of these events cannot be reconciled with the time frame presented by St. Luke, and it seems that Matthew was more concerned with emphasising Joseph’s faithful response to God’s call than with strict historical accuracy.
The last mention we have of St. Joseph, apart from those references to “the carpenter’s son”, is to be found in St. Luke’s account of the finding of the boy Jesus in the Temple, aged twelve. Here, Joseph appears to receive something of a put down. After Mary has spoken to her Son of “your father and I” the boy retorts “Did you not know that I must be (literally) ‘in the things of the Father?’”, a stark reminder to Joseph that God alone was his foster son’s true father. Yet young Jesus still recognised their earthly authority, and returned home with them.
In 1964, the Italian director Pasolini’s film “The Gospel according to St. Matthew” appeared on British screens, and I remember Eamon Duffy, later to be Professor of Church History in Cambridge and an acclaimed author, reminiscing that a scene in this film brought the incarnation to life for him. It depicts Jesus as a little boy, three or four years old, seeing Joseph heading home from work. The boy’s face lights up in sheer delight and he races to Joseph before leaping into his arms: Joseph a pivotal figure, along with Our Lady, in shaping the human character of the Son of God.
One more thought: this child, comments Matthew, is the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He is Emmanuel—God with us—which reminds us of the deepest meaning of the Christmas event. God IS with us: He came to be with us as the child of Mary, the foster child of Joseph; and through His Resurrection and Ascension, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, He continues to be with us, now and always.
