12/27/2025
On this second day after Christmas, it is worth pausing to remember Joseph.
He stands within the Christmas story and yet remains largely in its margins. He is not the center, and rightly so. Christ alone occupies that place. Still, the story would not unfold as it does without Joseph.
Not a single word from Joseph is preserved in the four Gospels. Scripture records none of his speech, only his faith. And in this, his silence becomes eloquent.
Joseph is a righteous man. When God disclosed to him that Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit, he believed the miracle. He did not divorce her. Instead, he took Mary as his wife and shouldered the responsibility of caring for her and Jesus. He guarded her, provided for her, and became the earthly father to the child who was, in truth, the Son of God.
In faithfulness, Joseph carried an extraordinary calling: to care for God in the flesh.
In this way, Joseph embodies what it means to live as a child of God in the world: through quiet fidelity. He was a faithful husband, a faithful father, a faithful servant of the Most High.
So let us give thanks to God for Joseph and all the Joseph-like men who, unseen and often uncelebrated, continue to reflect this same faithful obedience.