A second route, arguably the one they presumably traveled, would have taken them southeast across the Jezreel Valley to the Jordan Valley, down to Jericho, then up through the Judean Desert to Jerusalem, and finally, to Bethlehem. Whatever the route they chose, it would have been a very difficult journey for Mary. On most occasions, the inns of Bethlehem were filled with travelers coming and going from Jerusalem, five miles to the north. With the census, traffic would have been even more congested. When Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, due to the influx of travelers, there was no available lodging to be found. Joseph must have been frantic with worry as Mary informed him that the baby was coming. Over the years, we have romanticized the birth, which Luke describes as very beautiful and angelic; however, the reality for them was one of desperation and poverty. They were in a limestone cave used for a stable. There must have been concerns about the sanitary conditions of the environment. For Joseph, as the caretaker of his family, the scene must have given him pause. Imagine all the fear and anxiety that comes with awaiting the birth of your first-born! Certainly Joseph would have also been nervous and concerned about his business affairs while he was away now that he had a family to support. Again we see a common thread of “support” as key to understanding Joseph. By this time, Judea had become part of the Roman world and was ruled in the Roman interest by the client-king, Herod the Great. Herod was a paranoid tyrant who viewed the story of the coming messiah as a threat to his power and therefore ordered the immediate massacre of all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity under the age of two in a horrific act known as the “slaughter of the innocents.” Joseph, having been warned of the coming infanticide by an angel in yet another dream, fled with his young family to Egypt. Here we see another clear example of Joseph as a diligent protector and caretaker of Mary and Jesus. When Joseph heard of Herod’s death he decided it was time to return home to Israel. In a fourth and final dream, Joseph was warned that Herod’s son still presented a danger to Jesus’ safety. For that reason, Joseph decided to take his family north into Galilee and settle in Nazareth. After this, Matthew says nothing more of Joseph. Throughout his gospel, Matthew paints a consistent portrait of Joseph as a man who was, without fail, obedient to God, and a man who would do anything to protect his family. Luke’s story of Jesus in the Temple shows a Joseph who, though he knew that he was not Jesus’ father, knew what many parents know all too well, that we must love and support our children, and when the time comes, we must let them go - so that they may experience their own journey. It is believed that Joseph died peacefully in Nazareth somewhere around the year 18 A.D. In 1870, Pope Pious IX honored Joseph’s role of caretaker of Mary and Jesus, by declaring him to be, very fittingly, the patron saint and protector of the Catholic Church. Perhaps it is Joseph’s “supporting” role that is the greatest lesson for us all. Throughout our own journey, we must follow Joseph’s example of protector and caretaker of one another, as well as his examples of integrity, compassion and mercy. In the end, it hardly matters that none of his spoken words were recorded in scripture; after all, what we say is never nearly as important as what we do!
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