Notes |
- Saint Joseph, also known as Joseph the Worker, is a key figure in Christianity. He is celebrated as the earthly father of Jesus Christ and the husband of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’s mother. Although historical accounts of his existence are somewhat blurred, his life is recorded in the Gospels, particularly in the books of Matthew and Luke.
Joseph was a descendant of the house of King David. When he discovered that Mary, his betrothed, was already pregnant, he initially planned to divorce her quietly. However, an angel revealed to him that the child was the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph obediently took Mary as his wife.
After Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem, an angel warned Joseph and Mary about the impending violence by King Herod the Great. They fled to Egypt for safety. Later, the angel instructed Joseph to return to the Holy Land after Herod’s death. Avoiding Bethlehem due to fear of Herod’s successor, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus settled in Nazareth, where Joseph taught Jesus the craft of carpentry.
Joseph’s last mention in the Gospels occurs when he and Mary frantically searched for the lost young Jesus in Jerusalem. They found him in the Temple, where Jesus posed the ironic question, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” The circumstances of Joseph’s death remain unknown, but he likely passed away before Jesus’s public ministry began and certainly before the Crucifixion12.
Some apocryphal narratives about Joseph are extravagantly fictitious. For instance, the Protevangelium of James from the 2nd century and the History of Joseph the Carpenter from the 4th century present him as a widower with children at the time of his betrothal to Mary, contributing to the confusion over the question of Jesus’s brothers and sisters1. Despite these variations, Saint Joseph’s role as a devoted and righteous man remains an integral part of Christian tradition and veneration.
The foster-father of our Lord (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23). He lived at Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 2:4). He is called a "just man." He was by trade a carpenter (Matt. 13:55). He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that he died before Jesus entered on his public ministry. This is concluded from the fact that Mary only was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. His name does not appear in connection with the scenes of the crucifixion along with that of Mary (q.v.), John 19:25.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (Matt 1:16)
Arimathea, a "city of the Jews" (Luke 23:51), the birth-place of Joseph in whose sepulchre our Lord was laid (Matt. 27:57, 60; John 19:38). It is probably the same place as Ramathaim in Ephraim, and the birth-place of Samuel (1 Sam. 1:1, 19). Others identify it with Ramleh in Dan, or Rama (q.v.) in Benjamin (Matt. 2:18).
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