Mary and Joseph
are VIPs in the Christian world and are considered Saints by some Christians. We
know that Mary is the mortal mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Joseph
is his step-father, but what do we really know about them?
We know that both Mary and
Joseph were outstanding youth. Heavenly Father would have chosen the best
possible woman to be the mortal mother of His Son and an equally good
step-father. Mary and Joseph were first cousins, and both came through the royal
lineage of King David. Elder James E. Talmage wrote: “Had Judah been a free and
independent nation, ruled by her rightful sovereign, Joseph the carpenter would
have been her crowned king; and his lawful successor to the throne would have
been Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 82).
Luke tells us that the angel
Gabriel appeared to “a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary” (1:26-27). An espousal was an
agreement entered into by a written and legal document. An espousal was more
binding than an engagement in our day, but it was not as binding as a marriage.
Since Jewish tradition at the
time was for young women to become espoused (engaged) between the ages of 12-14
years, Mary could have been very young when she was chosen to be the mother of
the Son of God. She also could have been as old as 15-17 because espoused
couples married months and sometimes years after becoming engaged. Joseph was
probably one to three years older than Mary, but he was most likely not an old
man.
Six hundred years before the
birth of Jesus Christ, a young man living in ancient America saw Mary in a vision.
Nephi writes, “And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I
beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white…. A virgin, most
beautiful and fair above all other virgins.” Nephi was told that “virgin whom
thou seest is the mother of the Son of God” (Book of Mormon – Another Testament
of Jesus Christ, First Nephi 11:13-18). From
this scripture we learn that Mary was beautiful, fair, and white.
In Luke’s nativity story, he
tells us that Mary was “highly favored” and “blessed” among women (Luke 1:28). Mary
immediately accepted the “calling” to be the mother of the Son of God. After
receiving answers to a couple of questions, Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of
the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” This response tells us that
Mary was spiritually mature and willing to obey God.
What do we know about Joseph? He
was obviously a young man in his late teens or early twenties. He had to be
young enough to endure the 100 mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem and then to
continue into Egypt.
Matthew tells us that Joseph was
a “just man” (1:19). Imagine the shock that Joseph must have felt to learn that
his beloved Mary was with child by another man. It must have been a terrible
shock, and yet Joseph was “not willing to make her a publick example, was
minded to put her away privily” (1:19).
Remember, adulterers at the time
were stoned. Joseph, being the first witness, would probably be required to
throw the first stone. The fact that he was willing to end the engagement
privately showed that he loved Mary very much. He cared about her more than
himself.
As Joseph pondered the
situation, an angel appeared to him in a dream. Was it Gabriel? Probably it
was, but the scripture does not say. The angel explained the situation to
Joseph and told him “fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which
is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (1:20).
Joseph must have been very
relieved to receive this information. He married Mary as soon as possible and “knew
her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son” (1:24-25). He accepted
the position of step-father to the Son of God. He willingly cared for Mary and
her Child. He even took them to Egypt to protect them from King Herod and later
took them back to Nazareth.
Mary and Joseph deserve our love
and respect. We honor them as the mother and step-father of the Son of God, but
we do not worship them as we do Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
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