God can do without human fatherhood; he managed to bring the Messiah into the world without even needing to use one of us as a sperm donor.
But just as Joseph’s story in Matthew 1–2 provides us with a deliberately humbling reminder of how dispensable we human fathers are, it also gives us an extraordinary example of how God uses us and our fatherhood in his plans.
Joseph’s story gives us an extraordinary example of how God uses us and our fatherhood in his plans.
When God breaks the news to Joseph that Mary’s child is from the Holy Spirit, he immediately gives Joseph two commands:
First, he tells Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary. Unlike his ancestor Ahaz, whose decisions were ruled by the fear of men, Joseph is to fear God and despise the social shame that he will incur by marrying Mary.
And second, he tells Joseph that when Mary’s child is born, “You are to give him the name Jesus.” The main emphasis in that command (as the rest of the verse goes on to explain) is on the last word: You are to give him the name . But the first word in the sentence is significant too: are to give him the name Jesus. Joseph is to name the child, and take on the responsibility of fathering him. Which he does (v. 25).
And then, in the following chapter (vv. 13-14, 19-21) it is Joseph’s actions as a husband and father that God uses to save the life of the Saviour of the world. All we know about Joseph’s life from the gospels is that he chose to marry Mary when God told him to, that he worked a job as a carpenter (Matt. 13:55) and that he acted to protect his family when they were in danger.
Marrying, working, protecting a family: nothing fancy or religious here. Just the basic, secular, ordinary realities of human fatherhood as God created it to function (under the pressure of some extraordinary circumstances and assisted by the odd dream), lived out by a man who feared God and trusted his word, and used by God as part of his plans to save the world.
