Joseph--Jesus'S Step-Father

[asbestosman]

I've been thinking about Joseph (Jesus's step father) a bit lately and wondered a few things about him. Do we know anything about his relationship with Jesus beyond that the Christmas story, and the incident when Jesus taught learned men as a boy by the temple?

I was pondering the atonement and remembered that Jesus had John the Beloved take care of His mother Mary. Now this seems interesting to me. Why did He do that instead of having Joseph take care of his wife?

What do we know about Joseph being a priesthood leader? In the Christmas story we read that Joseph had a vision and was commanded to go to take his family to Egypt. I wonder about some other things though. What would it be like to have family prayer when the Savior is there with you? I wonder in part because of the incident when Jesus was among the Nephites and they prayed to Him. Jesus prayed to the Father and said that they prayed to Jesus because He was with them. I wonder if there is any connection between that and what it would be like to have been raised in the family with Mary and Joseph as your parents.

[Hamba Tuhan]

Why did He do that instead of having Joseph take care of his wife?

The Lord was already 33 years old at that point. Taking into consideration the ages at which men (and women) typically married then, I think the assumption is that Joseph had already passed away.

[asbestosman]

The Lord was already 33 years old at that point. Taking into consideration the ages at which men (and women) typically married then, I think the assumption is that Joseph had already passed away.

That's certainly possible. Then again, Zacharias lived long enough for his wife Elisabeth to be past normal child bearing age. I'd be interested to know if we have any other clues.

[mathonihah]

The Bible tells us that as long as he was young, he remained subject to his parents; which means that he did what he was told, until he was old enough to become independent. His experience with the elders of the Jews at the Temple when he was 12 suggests that his parents at that time were not fully aware of his mission and purpose in life. His experience of turning water into wine at the request of his mother at the wedding ceremony suggests that by then his mother knew who he was, and what he was capable of; but by then he was a fully grown man, and probably the breadwinner of the family. How much Joseph knew about him and when, or how long he lived to become better acquainted with him, cannot be determined at the present time with the information available. JST also provides some interesting bits of additional information about his early youth.

Edited April 1, 2013 by mathonihah

[Hamba Tuhan]

I'd be interested to know if we have any other clues.

Clues are all we have. I know next to nothing about ancient Near Eastern culture (and so should probably wait for someone who does to chime in), but Wikipedia points out that had Joseph 'been present at the Crucifixion, he would under Jewish custom have been expected to take charge of Jesus' body, but this role is instead performed by Joseph of Arimathea. Nor would Jesus have entrusted his mother to John's care had her husband been alive'.

I've always found it suggestive that the gospels refer not only to Jesus's mother but also to His brothers and sisters, but no mention is made of Joseph after the Lord's childhood.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Hamba Tuhan

[Hamba Tuhan]

From the December 2006 New Era:

“The last mention of Joseph is at the Passover in Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years of age. At the wedding feast at Cana, when Jesus was about thirty, specific mention is made that Mary and Jesus were present, but no mention is made of Joseph (see John 2:1–10). Finally at the time of the Crucifixion, Mary is said to have stood at the cross with other women, but again no mention is made of Joseph. At this time Jesus gave his mother to the care of his beloved disciple, John (see John 19:25–27). The record of these events suggests that Mary was widowed sometime after Jesus was twelve years old and before he began his ministry” (Robert J. Matthews, Selected Writings, 233).

“There is a poignancy in the prospect of Mary’s widowhood with a family of children, all younger than Jesus. If this assumption is correct, it may be that Jesus was confronted with the responsibility in early life of providing for a widowed mother and several younger brothers and sisters. This makes most meaningful the scriptural statements that say the Lord is especially mindful of the widow and is a father to the fatherless (see Psalm 68:5; 146:9; James 1:27)” (Robert J. Matthews, Selected Writings, 233–34).

[Darren10]

What do we know about Joseph being a priesthood leader? In the Christmas story we read that Joseph had a vision and was commanded to go to take his family to Egypt. I wonder about some other things though. What would it be like to have family prayer when the Savior is there with you? I wonder in part because of the incident when Jesus was among the Nephites and they prayed to Him. Jesus prayed to the Father and said that they prayed to Jesus because He was with them. I wonder if there is any connection between that and what it would be like to have been raised in the family with Mary and Joseph as your parents.

Interesting scenario.

When Jesus appeared before the Nephites and commanded them to pray to Him because He was with them He was there in His full godly glory. By the time of His arrival in the Americas, He had already fulfilled the will of the Father and ascended unto Him. This is why in 3 Nephi 12:48 He could include Himself in the mandate for man to be perfect:

Therefore I would that ye should be ^aperfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

Perhpas this is one reason which qualified those gathered before Him to pray to Him and may not have applied in the old world where His command to man was to be perfect like unto the Father, only mentioning the Father and not Himself.

As for raising the Only Begotten Son of God in mortality, I imagine lots of faith, obedience to God, and even angelic visitations would be necessary to adequately raise Jesus on earth. That would be a hugh task.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Darren10

[Questing Beast]

I think that "raising Jesus" would be as easy as falling off a log. He would have raised himself, being perfect after all. Never lost his temper over pride or ignorance, never disobeyed out of a fit of childish stubbornness, never back-talked or went through the "teens" needing to go his own way, etc. and etc. Helpful and obedient and respectful all the time, while he learned day by day who he really was, and gently, insistently told his parents in obvious ways, like at the temple when he was twelve. His parents would have become more awe-struck as he grew, in the shadow of the Son of God. The hardest thing about "raising Jesus" would have been not telling family stories about his prodigies, that grew with the years into a treasure trove of anecdotes dispensing wisdom tales and sayings, and miracles. This kind of imaginative game that I am playing is what spawned the "miraculous childhood" stories that grew up around Jesus in the first couple of centuries of the new religion, all of them made up and increasingly fantastic, and undoubtedly out of character; the miracle child, the wonderkid kind of stuff. By association, Mary becomes also an unbelievably perfect female, incapable of carnal sex (despite the NT references to Jesus' siblings) or an angry word or wart or blemish, etc. That's the extreme view of the "Holy Family". Less fantastic views have Joseph die rather early, and remove himself conveniently out of the picture of further consideration (unless certain song writers insist on bringing him back in, so much in the background that all he can say is that he isn't Jesus' father, Jesus is Joseph's father), while Mary raises Jesus alone to manhood, yet never stands in his way and knows what/who he is and lives with that glory and sorrow....

[ERayR]

I think that "raising Jesus" would be as easy as falling off a log. He would have raised himself, being perfect after all. Never lost his temper over pride or ignorance, never disobeyed out of a fit of childish stubbornness, never back-talked or went through the "teens" needing to go his own way, etc. and etc. Helpful and obedient and respectful all the time, while he learned day by day who he really was, and gently, insistently told his parents in obvious ways, like at the temple when he was twelve. His parents would have become more awe-struck as he grew, in the shadow of the Son of God. The hardest thing about "raising Jesus" would have been not telling family stories about his prodigies, that grew with the years into a treasure trove of anecdotes dispensing wisdom tales and sayings, and miracles. This kind of imaginative game that I am playing is what spawned the "miraculous childhood" stories that grew up around Jesus in the first couple of centuries of the new religion, all of them made up and increasingly fantastic, and undoubtedly out of character; the miracle child, the wonderkid kind of stuff. By association, Mary becomes also an unbelievably perfect female, incapable of carnal sex (despite the NT references to Jesus' siblings) or an angry word or wart or blemish, etc. That's the extreme view of the "Holy Family". Less fantastic views have Joseph die rather early, and remove himself conveniently out of the picture of further consideration (unless certain song writers insist on bringing him back in, so much in the background that all he can say is that he isn't Jesus' father, Jesus is Joseph's father), while Mary raises Jesus alone to manhood, yet never stands in his way and knows what/who he is and lives with that glory and sorrow....

Where does it say that?

[Questing Beast]

The apocryphal "wonder kid" stories about Jesus' childhood are legion from that early period. The knowledge of Mary about her Son is mostly speculative. Certainly by the time of his ministry she knew who and what he was, but not his destiny? I think Jesus spared her that as long as he could....

[blackstrap]

By a bit of presentism.... would have been tough as Jesus' siblings going to school and have the teachers expect similar results.

[Calm]

By a bit of presentism.... would have been tough as Jesus' siblings going to school and have the teachers expect similar results.

That would depend on if they were older or younger. Some believe that not only was Joseph much older than Mary, but that Mary was his second wife and thus Jesus' siblings were older than him (seen as half siblings by the world, really 'step' since Joseph was not the actual father of Jesus). This allows Jesus to be Mary's only child and her to never engage in 'carnal' relationships with Joseph, etc. The sibling relationship might have been similar to Joseph of Egypt and his brothers. This could explain why there are no siblings mentioned being along for the trip to the temple when Jesus is twelve, they were old enough to stay at home on their own.