Another Joseph 5

Another Joseph 5

Today, hopefully we shall conclude on the life of this “Another Joseph” with the concluding verses of Luke Chapter two.

When Mary and Joseph had completed everything required by the Law of the Lord,they returned to their hometown , Nazareth in Galilee.The child grew up and became strong .He was filled with wisdom and God’s favour was on him  Luke 2 :39-40

According to Scriptures by the time Joseph and Mary had completed all that was necessary, they returned back to their home town with Jesus. The thing that struck me about the next verse is the fact that it says Jesus grew. There was something about the home that Joseph and Mary had that created the  right environment which  fostered growth. There are certain basic things that a child needs to be able to grow and develop properly. If the parents of a child do not provide these basic things, there is a high probability that development will be hampered and this would show up later in the life of the individual as an adult. The progress of Jesus was all rounded and not lopsided.

Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.When he was 12 years old,they went up to Jerusalem according to their custom. Luke 2:40-41

The obedience of this another Joseph is seen with this very next verses. It was required that all men appear three times before the Lord in Jerusalem. These times were during the festival of Unleavened bread - Passover(  Deutronomy 16:16   ), the festival of weeks ( Exodus 34:20,23,24)  and the festival of Booths  (Exodus   23;14,17 ). Even as the years went by, the obedience of Joseph and Mary to this instruction was not hindered. Jesus was not the only child in the family but his parents did not use him as an excuse for absence from the temple or what was commanded.

After the festival was over , they were returning home, but the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t know it. Supposing that he was among their band of travellers,they journeyed on for a full day while looking for him among their family and friends. When they didn’t find Jesus ,they returned  .After three days they found him in the temple .He was sitting among the teachers ,listening to them and putting questions to them ,Luke 2:43-46

It was also in obedience that Jesus was taken to the festival when he was twelve years of age  and the above verses show that after the festival, Joseph and Mary  assumed that Jesus was travelling in the company of friends and relatives when they set off to return. This story also shows us the humanity of Joseph and Mary and the fact that they were not above error. They probably noticed Jesus absence and felt he was still in their company somewhere. It was not too long they found out that they were wrong in their assumptions. Someone has said that assumption is the lowest form of knowledge. And although they missed it initially and traveled for a good one day without their son, when it was noticed , they retraced their steps back.

This is another quality of the life of “Another Joseph” that is worth emulating. He did not continue going on towards his home town when he discovered that Jesus was not in their company. He was not too proud to retrace his steps to search for his son and most importantly we see his fatherhood exhibited here. Joseph did not ask Mary to go and search for her son rather he followed her back and they went in search of Jesus together .

He did this willingly as we see the persistence with which he continued in the search until they found Jesus seventy two hours later. What an example for godly fathers.

But here in this story is  a point for us to always take heed to as we conclude these series of “Another Joseph “. The whole family had gone to fulfil religious obligation and somehow had not noticed that Jesus was not with them as they journeyed. It may be that you may have been going on doing God’s work, church business, so many good things and did not notice that things have been so crowded that there is no space for Jesus. Jesus is no more in the house, somehow you have left him somewhere. Following what Joseph and Mary did, it is not too late to retrace steps back because like one of my mentors,Selwyn Hughes  who has gone to glory says, “If God seems far away , guess who moved?

It is never too late to retrace your steps back to Jesus, he is patiently waiting for you(Revelation 3:20).There is indeed in everyman a void that only Jesus can fill.

 #Love to hear from you

Grace Tom-Lawyer.