The aim of this blog is to meditate and reflect on how Saint Joseph was corrected by an angel of the Lord who appeared in his dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: Look the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us (Matthew 1:20-23).
Fatherhood as a divine gift is a spiritual phenomenon and is contradictory to mere human thesis. A good example could be cited from the case of Abraham and Sarah. The interpretation of God’s promise of a son, by Sarah, was based on the notion of ‘end justifies the means’. Accordingly, we read that Sarah suggested a fatherhood to her husband through Hagar, her servant (Genesis 16:2). Sarah’s rationalistic approach shrouded divine mystery as was seen once earlier when she laughed at the promise of a son, as we read in Genesis 18:12. The same rational could be presumed in Saint Joseph based on his subsequent resolution to cease the betrothal. He must have laughed off in dismissal his fiancee’s explanation about the divine intervention in their relationship. A modern day Joseph would recommend his ‘would be’ wife to a psychologist, or may dismiss concluding it as a clear case of cheating.
Matthew 1:19 portrays Saint Joseph as a ‘righteous man’. One may find it difficult to align his status as a ‘righteous’ man with his discreet plan to withdraw from the marriage covenant. A clear misalignment between the characteristic features of righteousness and the planned action (of a man) confirms Psalm 143:2 ….for no one living is righteous before you. We have more examples to justify the Psalmist from the lives of a few righteousness men in the Old Testament and history.
Noah is one of the first righteous men reported in the Bible (Genesis 6:9). The one righteous before Noah was Abel, as identified by Jesus (Matthew 23:35). The description to Noah’s righteousness is given in the same verse that Noah walked with God. In 2 Peter 2: 5 Noah is identified as the herald of righteousness. Besides walking with God, the qualities of righteousness that could be ascribed to Noah are that he listened and followed the instructions of God (Genesis 6:22; Hebrews 11:7), and did not fail in thanking the Lord as soon as he came out of the ark. Genesis 8:20 says Then Noah built an altar for the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Another righteous man in the Bible is Lot, the nephew of Abraham. The Old Testament does not explicitly state but only points to the righteousness of Lot. It was Saint Peter who ennobled Lot as a righteous man (see 2 Peter 2:7). The righteousness of Lot could be justified from his deeds as one who demonstrated utmost reverence in inviting the two angels and hosting them at his house (Genesis 19:2). Later, Lot’s suffering as a righteousness man is seen as pleading to spare the lives of his guests to the extent of willingness to sacrifice his daughters’ lives (Genesis 19:8). Lot is acknowledged for his piety in 2 Peter 2:7-8, and is portrayed as a man who struggled to uphold the divine virtues among the licentious people.
It will be a remiss to ignore the most glorified of all the righteous men in the Old Testament. Job is introduced as a man in the land of Uz, who was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil (Job 1:1). The book of Job could be viewed as a debate on righteousness between Job and his three friends, Eliphaz, Zophar and Bildad. A fourth friend, Elihu appears later who also deliberates with Job. Interestingly, Job claims himself as a righteous man as we read in Job 6:29; 12:4; 17:9 27:17 and 29:14. Moreover, the author of the book of Job acknowledges the self-confidence of righteousness in Job as So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes (Job 32:1).
Having said, there is another side of the (righteous) personalities of these three men. The same man (Noah) who walked with God Genesis 6:9) is seen drunk and lying naked in his tent, much to the embarrassment of his sons (Genesis 9:21). Lot, the righteous, who fought every moment of his life against immorality and licentiousness (2 Peter 2:7) was trapped in the same sins that he hated throughout his life (Genesis 19: 30-38). Job was not caught in similar situations though his righteousness had to encounter headwind in the form of fatal tragedies in life (Job 1:13-2:8). He could also be commended for his strong faith in his righteousness and God. However, these qualities did not award him a fully righteous status as we see God imparting a lengthy and corrective tutoring covering four chapters (Job 38-41), after which we see Job surrendering his claims to the Lord and admitting imperfections: See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay hand on my mouth, I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further (Job 40:4-5).
The brief analysis of the three cases of righteousness above identify a gap in human righteousness, which solemnly invites divine intervention in one’s spiritual journey. The humility and modesty, thus demonstrated is the grounding principle of orthodoxy that counters the spiritual pride in certain protestant teachings. There are a few examples that could be drawn from the ministry of Jesus that supports this statement. Jesus’ emphatic statement, For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20). We also see Jesus denouncing the direct and indirect claims of righteousness in the case of the rich young man (Matthew 19:21), and the prayer of the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14).
Though there is a clear distinction between human righteousness and God’s righteousness, the former, if not spiritually guided may succumb to man-made philosophies. Hence, Saint Paul cautions, See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ (Colossians 2:8). The words of Saint Paul highlights the incompleteness of righteousness in this world which in the 20th century was reflected in the requests of Saint Gregorios of Parumala to his visitors, please pray for me!!
Saint Paul’s words in Colossians 2:8 could be perceived as an ongoing tension between human tradition and divine tradition, as the former being misguided or even demonic. As a result, true righteousness is often marred by human perceptions about the same. This is evident from the life of Leo Tolstoy who became popular in his righteousness not only through his writings but also through his deeds. Tolstoy’s endeavour to righteousness experienced a roller-coaster ride before he realised the shortcomings in it. Out of his new found enthusiasm in the teachings of Jesus, he decided to sell of his estate, set free all his slaves, discontinue copyrights on his books and refused to accept any royalty. However, his wife inflicted a clear dent in the newfound status of Tolstoy as a righteous man which replaced the Russian nobility class position, ‘Count’. She wrote: There is so little genuine warmth about him; his kindness does not come from his heart, but merely from his principles. His biographies will tell of how he helped the labourers to carry buckets of water, but no one will ever know that he never gave his wife a rest and never– in all these thirty two years-gave his child a drink of water or spent five minutes by his bedside to give me a chance to rest a little from all my labours. Apparently, Leo Tolstoy realised the flaws in his righteousness towards the end of his life and confessed: I am guilty and blemished. I shall be pronounced guilty as I failed to practice my righteousness.
As evident from the case of Leo Tolstoy, the elements of divine mystery embedded in human beings trigger and re-trigger the spiritual journey of a righteous person by way of realisation and acknowledgement of his/her shortcomings. This no-nonsense humility drawn from Christ’s nature (Philippians 2:5-8) could be identified as a hallmark of righteousness as evident from Saint Paul’s words: …..Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I am the foremost (1 Timothy 1:15). Accordingly, it could be discerned that the tipping point of human understanding of righteousness is the starting point of divine righteousness. In other words, it is the humble submission of one’s righteousness at the feet of God so as to receive grace and mercy that help embark a person on a glorified journey with Him. The openness and willingness this demonstrated should be understood as decisive to the achievement of eternal righteousness. This could be validated using Jesus’ statement about John the Baptist, Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11).
In the same way as rationalism and literary interpretations that focus on contradictions, tensions and ambiguities in-text reaches a dead end, understanding of righteousness gets blocked unless we seek revelation from the Lord. On this premise, we should assume that even though Joseph worked by himself on his confusions and eventually resolved to dismiss his would be wife quietly, his righteousness left him open for divine intervention. Therefore, righteousness in God’s realm for his (fallen) creation entails accepting corrections, and willingness to get transformed.
The righteousness of Saint Joseph could be equated to that of prophet Daniel. The prophet’s proud response to King Belshazzar that God has found him “blameless” (Daniel 6:22) evidences his righteousness. However, that did not deter Daniel from admitting Righteousness is on your side O Lord (Daniel 9: 7); …..We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies (Daniel 9:18). More importantly Daniel admits that he is still a sinner as evident from his own words: While I was speaking, and praying and confessing my sin……(Daniel 9:20).
Saint Joseph, though a righteous man, humbled himself to God which prompted him to accept the message from God. There was no lengthy discussion, heated debate or arguments, or any kind of reluctance demonstrated by Saint Joseph. Instead, he unconditionally accepted the message from God and wiped out his thoughts and plans, and replaced them with divine thoughts and subsequent action (to accept Saint Mary). This kind of righteousness is what God expects, the acceptance of which is rewarded with a fatherhood that could procreate with imperishable seed instead of the perishable (1 Peter 1:23). In this sense, Joseph could be identified as the only person in the Bible to be rewarded with a glorious fatherhood, an achievement every righteous man should aspire. Whilst Abraham was honoured as the ‘father of the faithful’ (see Romans 4:16), Saint Joseph received the status of divine fatherhood, and came to be known as the ‘father of Jesus’. Whilst the fatherhood of Abraham was restricted by perishable seed, Saint Joseph enjoyed the first fruit (see 1 Corinthians 15:20) of imperishable seed.
Abraham’s seed was activated by God and was blessed with a historical fatherhood. The blessings continued with Isaac and his son Jacob who became the father of ‘the tribes’. Tolstoy’s fatherhood adorned thirteen children. However, about the patriarchs it is written, All of these died in faith without having received the promises….(Hebrews 11:13); and pointing to all Old Testament heroes, it is written Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised (Hebrews 11:39). These verses serve as a guiding spirit for a man’s journey from perishable to imperishable fatherhood. The life of Saint Joseph serves to help us discover that imperishable fatherhood can only be achieved when the righteousness within us is humble enough to be updated or even corrected.
May this Christmas season lead all men to a spiritual fatherhood that would see the children loved, cared and accepted, and not ignored. May the thoughts of all husbands be to accept their wives than to dismiss them quietly. Let no children be ignored or denied by their fathers. The same Joseph who planned to quietly dismiss his wife is later seen in a panicky situation for his son as we read in Luke 2:39 Look, you father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety…What a great transformation of a father who was in a denial mode a few years ago, to a responsible, loving and caring person.
May God bless you. Amen.
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Fr Dr Saji K Mathew 