As part of my BYU-Idaho online New Testament class I will be posting my thoughts and answers to questions at least weekly.
This week I chose to focus on Joseph, the father of Jesus Christ, because I feel he is a very important person but gets forgotten frequently.
I studied Matthew 1-2 and the institute manual commentary for Matthew 1:18-25, "Mary Was Espoused to Joseph" (p. 22-23). Then I responded to these following questions:
1. What did Joseph initially want to do when he found out Mary was with child?
Matthew 1:18-19 and the institute manual commentary make it clear that Joseph had to choices when he found out Mary was with child. He could either as vs. 19 says "...make her a publik example..." or "...put her away privily.." From the very beginning we realize Joseph loves Mary and is a righteous man of mercy because he makes the decision to "put her away privily" which according to the institute manual meant "privately sever the espousal contract before witnesses."
2. What did Joseph decide to do after the visit of the angel in his dream? What does this suggest about Joseph's character?
I love how Matthew 1:20 says, "But while he thought on these things..." which means he didn't come to the decision hastily to sever his espousal contract with Mary. Again this showed how much he truly loved her. While he was thinking about this decision we are told in vs. 20 that an angel appeared to him in a dream and told him to take Mary to wife because she was to have the Son of God. Joseph again had a difficult choice to make, but I believe because he was so righteous and close to the Spirit he didn't hesitate to take to wife Mary.
3. How many times in these chapters was Joseph guided by the Lord in a dream? What does this suggest about Joseph's spiritual sensitivity?
During these chapters Joesph was guided by the Lord in a dream 4 times. The first time is when the angel directs Joesph to go ahead and marry Mary (Matthew 1:20). The second time is when the Lord tells Joseph to go to Egypt to escape Herod's wrath (Matthew 2:13). The third time is when the Lord tells Joseph it is safe to return to Israel because Herod is dead (Matthew 2:19-20). The final time is when God tells Joseph to go to parts of Galilee instead of Judaea. I believe that Joseph was foreordained to be the earthly father of Jesus because Heavenly Father knew His Son would be safe with this righteous and spiritually sensitive man. What an honor and heavy burden Joseph must have felt.
I also noticed that the wise men were warned by the Lord in a dream too (Matthew 2:12). They were told not to return to Herod so they didn't. I think this shows the righteousness of the wise men too and their willingness to obey the Lord.
4. Although Joseph was not the literal father of Jesus, he was a righteous man entrusted by Heavenly Father to be a guardian to His Son in mortality. Write about at least two qualities Joseph demonstrated that you think you could develop to help you prepare to be a good parent.
As I read I felt a great love for Joseph and his exact obedience and mercy. I feel that mercy and obedience are very important qualities to have to be a good parent. It is essential to have mercy because your children are going to make mistakes and you need to be able to show them mercy while at the same time teaching them discipline. I feel that the mercy must come first though because until they know how much you love them they will not respect you and want to be obedient. As a parent you have to lead by example so if you want your children to obey the commandments of God then you have to show them how first. Faith is also essential to have exact obedience because sometimes things our Heavenly Father asks us to do doesn't make sense logically. If we are exactly obedient as parents then we will be worthy of the guidance of the Holy Ghost to help us be the best parents possible.
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