St Margaret's Church Prestwich

Rev Helen preached this sermon on Wednesday 19 March 2025. Here it is for you again:

Today is St Joseph’s day, the day we remember Joseph of Nazareth, Jesus father. The man who was with Jesus mother and supported her, the man who would bring Jesus up, his father. Now I am going to caveat this whole sermon by saying here and now I am a massive daddies girl, even now! That stereotype of little girls and their daddies, that what me and my dad are like! I do love my dad even though he forgot to pick me up one night after work and left me stranded outside an Aldi in Failsworth for an hour! Also the two of us went out for a meal one night, we got to the restaurant and he realised that he’d forgotten his glasses (which he’d previously lost in a pile of Christmas Tree and in a compost heap), so I had to sit and read the menu to him! He’s not being allowed to forget those anytime soon!

Today we are remembering Jesus father Joseph. I always think it’s interesting when you look at Matthew’s account of Jesus birth Joseph takes centre stage in the narrative. He is the one the angel speaks to and tells about the birth of this baby, not Mary. It’s like the opposite of Luke’s account of this story. Joseph is that descendant of King David that the Messiah would be born to, it is mentioned in both genealogies of Jesus that is through Joseph. It’s interesting because we don’t know much about Joseph yet we can make some assumptions from the reading we have heard today. Joseph is clearly a caring man, he’s found out his fiancé is pregnant but he’s not going to publicly shame her, drag her in front of the authorities as an adulteress, he’s going to do it very quietly and considerately. He still takes Mary as his wife, which I’m sure many would have been amazed at but Joseph is prepared to take on Mary and this child, of course Joseph knows how special this baby is and how important he will be in the future. The Angel makes sure Joseph doesn’t abandon Mary so he is clearly wanted in Jesus life.

So we hear about Joseph round Jesus birth, Jesus is called the Son of Joseph however Joseph disappears from the narrative of Jesus life. We see many images of Mary and her son but very few of Joseph and his son, even the one behind me the infant Jesus with his mother but no Joseph. Again there are different theories put forward as to why this is. There is this image of Jospeh being a lot older than Mary to explain his absence in the story, Joseph was older so he has died by the time Jesus in his thirties and starting his ministry. There is also the slightly sticky issue of Jesus’ four brothers and unnamed sisters, where do they fit into this story. Are these children just Joseph’s from a previous relationship or are they children of Mary and Joseph who came after Jesus, they’re not there in the birth narratives. It’s made very clear in this narrative where Jesus comes from and that is nothing to do with Joseph, but what about the others, especially if Joseph suddenly disappears from the narrative at some unknown stage, leaving Mary with all these children. Of course this also depends on your own views around the perpetual virginity of Mary and the true nature of the incarnation and I’m not going there today!

But, and I know I ask this question a lot, does it really matter? Are we focusing on the wrong thing here when we think of Joseph as Jesus father? What does it mean when we say Joseph is Jesus dad. I said at the beginning I am a daddies girl, I don’t look like my dad, personality wise I’m like my grandad (who is my mum’s dad) but half my genetics are from my dad and we have the same blood group, much to my mum’s annoyance, I don’t understand the issue with that! That’s doesn’t make him my dad, it’s the other things he does that have made him my dad, loving me, looking after me, teaching me how to face the world, the way he’s brough me up. My dad is very mild mannered but you do something to me or my brother and he turns into a Rothweiler, even shouting at garage workers when they have messed me about repairing my car, my mum wouldn’t even go in with him he was so angry. Those are the things that make him my dad.

This is what Joseph did for Jesus, he brough him up, he taught him a trade Jesus was a carpenter like his father, he taught him his morals, dealt with those awkward teenage years, he showed him how to treat other people, how to be a good person and a good son for his dad to be proud of. I used to, still do sometimes, this is so sad, if I go somewhere and my dad doesn’t come with me, usually if me and my mum went away, I would buy my dad like a little present of some kind one time I got him a very soppy fridge magnet which just said ‘Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad’, I know but isn’t that just what this is about here! Today we remember Jesus dad Joseph, the man who brought him up, the man who may or may not have given him his lineage in one way or another but that doesn’t matter. Joseph would have had impact on his sons character, his strength, his willingness to go the extra mile for those he cared about, his wanting to help those who were in need, his fearlessness when things got tough. Was Joseph the one who gave him the courage to stand strong in those final days of his life to his death! So let’s bring Joseph out of the shadows, remember him and the contributions he made to Jesus life because looking at what Jesus did I think we can all agree, he did a pretty decent job. Amen