Fourth Sunday in Advent (A)
December 21, 2025
Text:
Matt. 1:18-25
Joseph was a just man. Righteous. Not, first, in the way of works, but
in the way of Abraham. As it is
written, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”
(Rom. 4:3; ESV; quoting Gen. 15:6). And
in the way of Simeon, a man who was “righteous
and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon
him” (Luke 2:25). “(T)he
righteous shall live by his faith” says the Prophet Habakkuk (2:4), and St.
Paul bases the whole Gospel on that verse (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11). Joseph was a just man. That is, justified by faith. And then he lives that righteousness
by his resulting works, as one already justified prior to those
works. Mary is pregnant, and Joseph
knows the Child isn’t his. He kept his
flesh in check. She, apparently, had
not. Or so it seemed. But being a just man, he did not want
to put her to shame. Which, as it
happens, would have led to her death by stoning (cf. Deut. 22:22-24). He doesn’t want that. He loves her.
And he has compassion on her.
As righteous men are wont to do.
So he resolves to divorce her quietly, lest this dear woman, who
has made mistakes (haven’t we all?... even the just!), be ruined, disgraced, perhaps
even condemned to death, temporal and eternal.
But Joesph was also a reasonable
man, and a dreamer, if you can reconcile these things. And you can, in the person of Joseph. Reasonable, for the text says, “he
considered these things” (Matt. 1:20).
He thought about them.
Deeply. You can bet he prayed
for wisdom and discretion and the guidance of God’s Spirit, as we all
should. But then, like his type and
eponym, the Patriarch Joseph, a dreamer.
That is, God revealed things to Joseph in dreams. In our Gospel, the angel appeared to him,
preaching the Gospel as it happens in real time: Do not be afraid to take
Mary as your wife. She is still a
virgin. That which is conceived in her
is from the Holy Spirit. This is the
fulfillment of Isaiah Chapter 7 (v. 14): “the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son.” He is Immanuel, God with us. You shall call His Name “Jesus,” for He will
save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:20-23). Being a just and reasonable man, Joseph did as
the angel commanded.
So, now Joesph was a husband. And a model husband, at that. For he was a just man by faith, and he
acted accordingly, as one who believed God. “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did
as the angel of the Lord commanded him” (v. 24; emphasis added). That is, he took Mary to wife. And though I don’t doubt that there was
tremendous joy in that, as I pray there is among all husbands and wives, we
also know that there was for Joseph (not to speak of Mary!) tremendous
sacrifice. The shadow of the cross
loomed large. Joseph was to know her
not… he was not to violate her virginity… he was not to insist on his
conjugal rights… until she had given birth to a Son. He bore the cross of celibacy. That is a sacrifice for anyone, but
particularly for a man. But he bore it
in faith. Now, does that include after
Jesus’ birth? Was Mary a virgin ever
after, and Jospeh simply out of luck?
Maybe. We’ll allow the Church
Fathers to speculate on that, but the rest of us ought to knock it off. If God wanted us to know, He would have told
us explicitly in the Bible. But there is
a modesty, here, that most of us lack: In the same way you don’t, or shouldn’t,
ask your parents about their sex life, let’s just give Mary and Joseph a little
privacy. But we do know this: If Joseph
was given the cross of lifelong celibacy, he bore that, too. In faith.
Believing that God can give him unimaginably better things. And here he is the model for single men and
women, and for all of us as we bear our own appointed crosses. And, in any case, crosses aplenty he bore. As a husband. And as a father.
Joseph was a father. Perhaps to other children, known in Scripture
as Jesus’ brothers and sisters. But
certainly to Jesus Himself. Well, we
know Joseph is not our Lord’s biological father. Jesus has no human father,
biologically speaking. God is His
Father, and He is conceived by the Holy Spirit, who came upon His
mother, Mary, in the preaching of Gabriel.
Thus He received His humanity from His mother alone. But Joseph was Jesus’ father in every
other sense. Sometimes called His foster
father, or adopted father, he was Jesus’ guardian. He provided for Jesus, securing a
place for Him in the stable. Food,
drink, clothing, shelter. He protected
Jesus… the flight into Egypt, lest this Child die with the boys of
Bethlehem. Another dream. The return to Nazareth. The desperate search for adolescent Jesus in
Jerusalem. Finding Him in the Temple,
sitting among the teachers. He trained
Jesus for a trade. “Is not
this the carpenter’s son?” (Matt. 13:55).
As a just man by faith, Jospeh was a faithful father. A sacrificing father. Under the shadow of the cross. A model for us all. By the way, we assume Joseph died sometime
between the infamous trip to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old, and our
Lord’s coming into adulthood, because Joseph simply disappears from the Gospel
narrative. God has His reasons, and we
trust that He knows what He is doing.
But among those reasons, undoubtedly?
Jospeph’s vocation was to protect Jesus. But there came a day when he must not
protect Him. Imagine Joseph at
Jesus’ trial (who could hold him back?), or standing with Mary under Calvary’s
cross. What might he have done? How might he have gotten in the way of
our Lord’s saving work? What crisis
of faith might he, himself, have experienced? See, it was a great mercy to Joseph…
and to us… that God took him to heaven when he did. Let that be some comfort to you when you must
grieve an untimely death. God knows the
whys and the wherefores. You do not, but
God does.
In any case, it would fall to another
Joseph, from Arimathea… yet another just man, “a good and righteous
man” Luke says of him (23:50), “himself looking for the kingdom of God,”
Mark tells us (15:43), “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the
Jews,” says John (19:38)… i.e. a just man by faith… it would fall to
that Joseph to provide for Jesus now.
A shelter, a tomb, a place for God’s dead body. A place for God’s dead body to rise! For all the Jospehs. And for you.
And for me.
Joseph of Nazareth, though… he
died. Yet he lives. Because of his Boy, Jesus. You know, one day, we’ll meet Joseph.
That’ll be a trip! But then, I suppose, in some way, we’ve met him
already, here in the Scriptures. Well,
and at the altar, around the body of his Son. And we give thanks for him,
this just, reasonable, dreamer of a husband and father.
And for Mary. And most of all, for Jesus. In fact, we
give thanks for Joseph and Mary because of Jesus. The Holy
Family. Our family. We belong to them. With
them. The family of God. The family of Christ, our
dear Lord.
Joseph was a just man. And we are just men and women, too. In the same way as he. By faith.
In Jesus Christ. Who loves us,
and gave Himself for us. Joseph can be a
father, of sorts, to us, too. As we
follow his example. Imitate him. Be encouraged and inspired by his life of
faith, and faithfulness. Know that he
prays for us, and for the whole Church of God.
He is one among those in the great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us
(Heb. 12:1), supporting us, and rooting us on.
And that is to say, he is our spiritual father. Chiefly in this: The angel preached to
Joseph, “the virgin…” his wife, Mary… “shall conceive and bear a son”…
“you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”
(Matt. 1:23, 21). Joseph believed
that preaching. And when you
believe it (as, indeed, you do), you are children of Jospeh. And even better, you are children of
God. The just who live by faith. Merry Advent, beloved. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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