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Joseph....
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Nazareth Joseph & Mary House
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Joseph was the God-chosen human step-father of
Jesus Christ. There is
not a great amount recorded about him in The Bible, however from
everything that was written, we do know that he was a very good and
righteous man. Would God have chosen any less than the very best available
man for such a tremendous responsibility?
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Joseph was of line of
Judah (Matthew 1:3-16), a
direct descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:2) through
David (Matthew 1:6). He
was by trade a carpenter (Matthew 13:55) from
Nazareth (in photo) in Galilee
(Luke 2:4). The first that we read of Joseph involved the unusual
circumstances of his marriage to Mary: |
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"Now the birth of Jesus Christ
took place in this way.
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to
Joseph, before they came together
she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband
Joseph,
being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her
quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of
David, do not fear to take Mary your
wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will
bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save his people
from their sins." (Matthew 1:18-21) |
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Joseph was certainly older than
Mary at the time of
their marriage, some believe much older, perhaps in his thirties or
forties. Whether it was the age factor (at a time when the average
lifespan was far less than today), or something else, Joseph
apparently
died before, or shortly after, Jesus began His public ministry. His
presence is not mentioned at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee when
Jesus did His first public miracle, or at the Crucifixion when Mary, who
although she would have been only in her late forties, was obviously
already then a widow because she thereafter went to live with the apostle
John. |
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