The Righteousness Of Joseph: Rising Above Legalism

The Righteousness Of Joseph: Rising Above Legalism

I am fascinated by  Joseph, the earthly human father of Jesus Christ. Here is a man who broke away from the legal conventions of Jewish law pertaining to marriage.

To clearly appreciate why the Holy Scripture describes Joseph as a righteous man, we have to take a closer look at the Jewish system of marriage. Jewish law like any legal system governing marriages has remarkably strict formal requisites. This was the legal milieu in which our Savior was conceived, and born, from a humble couple of Jewish ancestry of the lineage of King David, admittedly the greatest king of Israel.

The virgin birth of our Lord and the blessedness of Mary His mother have been the focus of the spotlight in this tableau that Joseph has so far been overshadowed. 

The Bible declares Joseph was a righteous man. With this affirmation it may be well to shift the spotlight and see what kind of a man was Joseph, the husband of Mary. I mentioned the Jewish custom on marriage at the outset because this is the mirror where we begin to see  up close the face of this man,  husband and father.

We are told that the angel came to a virgin named Mary, the favored one. The virginity of Mary is affirmed in Scripture.  She was sexually pure, signifying that the human agency whom God chose to bring His Son into this world was a pure vessel.

Now Mary the virgin was already betrothed to Joseph when the angel delivered the news that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. This news was shocking. Obviously Mary did not tell Joseph that she was pregnant. But sooner the discovery became inevitable, as Joseph was kept in the dark. His virgin bride, was pregnant a terribly scandalous situation.

To fully appreciate the impact of this unexplained pregnancy of Mary upon Joseph, we need to look into  the basic formalities of Jewish marriage in those days.

In those days marriage consists of two stages: First stage is the betrothal. Second stage is the Marriage Proper which happens one year later from betrothal.

In the betrothal stage,   the engagement is formalized by an agreement. This is initiated usually by the father of the groom, and the respective parents of the bride and the groom meet and negotiate the marriage settlement. When the agreement is done, the Qiddushin or formal betrothal takes place.  This formal betrothal is as binding as marriage itself, although there is no marriage ceremony that takes place yet.

The betrothal agreement, however, is as binding as marriage itself, since the only way to get out of this relationship is by divorce.  If Joseph had died between the betrothal and the marriage, Mary would have been his legal widow.

It was at this stage of formal engagement between Joseph and Mary, that Mary became pregnant with child, as announced by the angel. They had to wait for a year for the marriage ceremony to take place. The binding effect  of Jewish marriage already applies in the betrothal stage. The wedding celebration or ceremony which would come later after a year, is only a recognition of the formal agreement already established in the engagement.  

This is the reason why in Matthew, we read that “Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18),  and in the succeeding verse Joseph is described as Mary’s “husband” which seems to contradict the previous statement that they were only “pledged to be married.”  

There is no contradiction here because Jewish law already considers them as husband and wife even at the betrothal stage. This is the reason why Joseph had the perfect right to travel with Mary to Bethlehem. They were considered as husband and wife, but the only prohibition was that they should refrain from sexual relations until the second stage of the marriage is completed, that is, the marriage ceremony.

The pregnancy of Mary at this  stage, was highly scandalous more so with Joseph who surely knew that he was not the human agency who caused the pregnancy of his wife. This is not only scandalous but evidence of adultery.   This was indeed a shocking revelation to Joseph. The only thing he knew about the child Mary was carrying was he did not sire the child. And the only humanly possible  conclusion that could be drawn from this situation was that Mary committed adultery. Jewish law at that time provided for the harshest  penalty for adultery that is death by stoning. It is also a ground for divorce.

As we focus the spotlight on Joseph what did he do to merit the Biblical declaration that he was righteous?  

Let’s read  Matthew, “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph  son of David do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in  her is from the Holy Spirit.”

Here we see that even before the angel appeared to Joseph and explained everything to him, his thought and action revealed his merciful heart,  overflowing with kindness and forgiveness.  He did not want to expose Mary if Mary had really done such a thing to defile their marital union. Joseph was a merciful, forgiving, and compassionate man. He did not want to humiliate Mary. He did not want to expose her publicly and condemn her even at the risk of placing her under indictment for adultery. He did not want to accuse her of a grievous sin. He did not want to hurt her, nor avenge the dishonor.   He chose not to exercise the full extent of his  legal rights, and instead suffered to be wronged.

Here is a man who stands out for his kindness, compassion, forgiving spirit, and love. A man of rare qualities  shining like a gem in this unforgiving  world, where we frequently  see  condemnation, hatred, and indecency.