The epistles of St Paul are the oldest extant writings. These mention Jesus' mother (without naming her), but do not refer to his foster father. The Book of Mark, believed to be the first gospel to be written and with a date about two decades after Paul, also does not mention Jesus' legal father.
The first appearance of St Joseph is in the gospels of St Matthew and St Luke, written from around 80 - 90 AD. Each contains a genealogy of Jesus showing ancestry from King David, but through different sons; St Matthew follows the royal line from Solomon, while St Luke traces another line back to Nathan, another son of David and Bathsheba. Consequently, all the names between David and Joseph are different.
Like the two differing genealogies, the infancy narratives appear only in St Matthew and St Luke and take different approaches to reconciling the prophecy that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem with the tradition that Jesus in fact came from Nazareth. In the Gospel of St Matthew, St Joseph obeys the direction of an angel to marry the Virgin Mary. Following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, St Joseph was told by an angel in a dream to take the family to Egypt to escape the massacre of the children in Bethlehem planned by Herod, the ruler of the province of Judea. Once Herod has died, an angel tells St Joseph to return, but to avoid Herod's son he takes his wife and child to Nazareth in Galilee and settles there. Thus in the Book of Matthew, the infant Jesus, like Moses, is in peril from a cruel king; like Moses he has a forefather named Joseph who goes down to Egypt; like the Old Testament Joseph, this Joseph has a father named Jacob, and both Josephs receive important dreams foretelling their future.
In the Gospel of St Luke, St Joseph already lives in Nazareth, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem because St Joseph and the Virgin Mary have to go there to be counted in a census. Subsequently, Jesus was born there. St Luke's account makes no mention of him being visited by angels (Mary and various others instead receive similar visitations), the massacre of the innocents, or of a visit to Egypt.
The last time St Joseph appear in person in any canonical gospel is in the story of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old, found only in the account of St Luke. No mention is made of him thereafter. The story emphasizes Jesus' awareness of his coming mission: here Jesus speaks to his parents (both of them) of "my Father", meaning God, but they fail to understand (Luke 2:41-51).
Christian tradition represents the Virgin Mary as a widow during the adult ministry of her son. St Joseph is not mentioned as being present in the wedding at Cana at the beginning of Jesus' adult mission, nor at the Passion in the end. If he had been present in the crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to take charge of Jesus' body, but this role is instead performed by St Joseph of Arimathea. Nor Jesus would have entrusted his mother to St John the Beloved if her husband had been alive.
While none of the Gospels mention St Joseph at any event during Jesus' adult ministry, the synoptic Gospels share a scene in which the people of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, doubt Jesus' status as a prophet because they know his family. In Mark 6:3, they call Jesus as "Mary's son" instead of naming his foster father. In the account of St Matthew (Matthew 13:53-55) the twonspeople call Jesus as "the carpenter's son," again without naming his foster father. In St Luke's account, the tone of the contemporary people is positive, whereas in St Mark and St Matthew it is disparaging. This incident does not appear in St John's gospel at all, but in a parallel story the disbelieving neighbors refer to "Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know" (John 6:41-51).
May 1 is the Feast Day of St Joseph the Worker.
St Joseph, pray for us.
x----x
This post is sponsored by Barclays.
The first appearance of St Joseph is in the gospels of St Matthew and St Luke, written from around 80 - 90 AD. Each contains a genealogy of Jesus showing ancestry from King David, but through different sons; St Matthew follows the royal line from Solomon, while St Luke traces another line back to Nathan, another son of David and Bathsheba. Consequently, all the names between David and Joseph are different.
Like the two differing genealogies, the infancy narratives appear only in St Matthew and St Luke and take different approaches to reconciling the prophecy that the Messiah be born in Bethlehem with the tradition that Jesus in fact came from Nazareth. In the Gospel of St Matthew, St Joseph obeys the direction of an angel to marry the Virgin Mary. Following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, St Joseph was told by an angel in a dream to take the family to Egypt to escape the massacre of the children in Bethlehem planned by Herod, the ruler of the province of Judea. Once Herod has died, an angel tells St Joseph to return, but to avoid Herod's son he takes his wife and child to Nazareth in Galilee and settles there. Thus in the Book of Matthew, the infant Jesus, like Moses, is in peril from a cruel king; like Moses he has a forefather named Joseph who goes down to Egypt; like the Old Testament Joseph, this Joseph has a father named Jacob, and both Josephs receive important dreams foretelling their future.
In the Gospel of St Luke, St Joseph already lives in Nazareth, and Jesus is born in Bethlehem because St Joseph and the Virgin Mary have to go there to be counted in a census. Subsequently, Jesus was born there. St Luke's account makes no mention of him being visited by angels (Mary and various others instead receive similar visitations), the massacre of the innocents, or of a visit to Egypt.
The last time St Joseph appear in person in any canonical gospel is in the story of the Passover visit to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old, found only in the account of St Luke. No mention is made of him thereafter. The story emphasizes Jesus' awareness of his coming mission: here Jesus speaks to his parents (both of them) of "my Father", meaning God, but they fail to understand (Luke 2:41-51).
Christian tradition represents the Virgin Mary as a widow during the adult ministry of her son. St Joseph is not mentioned as being present in the wedding at Cana at the beginning of Jesus' adult mission, nor at the Passion in the end. If he had been present in the crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to take charge of Jesus' body, but this role is instead performed by St Joseph of Arimathea. Nor Jesus would have entrusted his mother to St John the Beloved if her husband had been alive.
While none of the Gospels mention St Joseph at any event during Jesus' adult ministry, the synoptic Gospels share a scene in which the people of Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, doubt Jesus' status as a prophet because they know his family. In Mark 6:3, they call Jesus as "Mary's son" instead of naming his foster father. In the account of St Matthew (Matthew 13:53-55) the twonspeople call Jesus as "the carpenter's son," again without naming his foster father. In St Luke's account, the tone of the contemporary people is positive, whereas in St Mark and St Matthew it is disparaging. This incident does not appear in St John's gospel at all, but in a parallel story the disbelieving neighbors refer to "Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know" (John 6:41-51).
May 1 is the Feast Day of St Joseph the Worker.
St Joseph, pray for us.
x----x
This post is sponsored by Barclays.
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