Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man
Joseph was righteous by faith, not simply because of ceremonial works of righteousness, nor even virtue or good works done apart from his trust in God.
It was not through the law
that the promise was made to Abraham and his descendants
that he would inherit the world,
but through the righteousness that comes from faith.
The law was not why Abraham was able to begin the line the would eventually give rise to the promise. The law had not yet been given. It was because he believed in and acted on the promise of God that his descendents were blessed and multiplied. As for Joseph, the law itself, at face value apart from faith, might have pushed him in the wrong direction.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Abraham and Joseph both would have had natural expectations about the way things worked in the world, just as we do, expectations about when and how children could be born. But they allowed these expectations to be overturned by revelation.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
By faith Joseph was privileged to be chosen to be the earthly father of the heavenly Son of God. It is noteworthy that both the genealogies of Jesus traced his ancestry through Joseph even though we sometimes refer to him as the merely "foster" father of Jesus.
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name.
And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
Joseph's fatherhood was sufficiently real as to be a channel for the promises of the covenant. Even though his fatherhood was not biological it still had a miraculous reality to it because of his faith. Just as faith overcame the limitations of the age of Abraham and Sarah to give them their child, so too was Joseph able to receive Jesus through faith.
I have made you father of many nations.
Jesus came to make us sons and daughters in the Son. But just as he also wants to share his mother with us, so too does he desire to share Joseph. Joseph is not our father in the way that God is meant to be, but he is nevertheless meant to be like a father to us. Joseph wants to offer us his example of faith and the protection of his prayers. He wants to remind us today that faith can unlock the blessings of God even when the circumstances look insurmountable. Joseph was not known for many words, or mighty deeds, but first and foremost for his willingness to let his faith in God guide his life. We often reverse the order of importance so that deeds and words come first and only then faith. May we look to Joseph's example and intercession so that we too can be channels of blessing to the world.
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity
and establish your throne for all generations.”
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