When a good author writes a story, they know their characters well. Even though they may not reveal the details, in their mind they know their past, their personality, their hopes and dreams. It is part of what gives a character immediate depth when the reader is introduced to them. Authors sometime call this information the character’s back story.
This year we will seek to explore the back stories of some of the real life people that played a role in the Christmas story. Admittedly when it comes to the specific biographical details of the people involved in Jesus birth, we do not know much biblically or otherwise. But as look back into the Old Testament, we encounter stories and prophecies that no doubt shaped how these people considered the world, stories that help us understand all that Christmas truly means.
Tonight, we begin by looking at Joseph. So, what is the biblical back story that we should know if we wish to understand him as he takes his place at the nativity. In Matthew’s Gospel we are given the genealogy of Jesus. And this genealogy is traced through Joseph. While we know that Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father, he was Jesus’ legal father. So Jesus’ genealogy would be Joseph’s genealogy. In Matthew, this genealogy traced Joseph’s lineage all the way back to Abraham. But it is clear that easily as important as Abraham to this list is the inclusion of King David.
In 2 Samuel 7 we find that God promised David that one of his descendants would always rule on the throne as king. And for a long time, the fulfillment of that promise was easy to trace. David to Solomon. Solomon to Rehoboam. Rehoboam to Abijah and so forth all the way down to the final king at the time of the exile, Jehoiachin. All heirs of David and all kings. But after all of the confusion of the exile and the return, the situation became much more blurry. A descendant of David named Zerubbabel was named governor of Judah, but was never really a king. And ever after that point, finding a Davidic king ruling the people of God was a losing endeavor.
But the men of Judah never gave up the hope that one would come. The oracles given to the prophets lifted up these hopes. God proclaimed through Amos that he would rise up the booth of David that was fallen. Through Ezekiel he promised a shepherd for the people, his servant David. Through Jeremiah he foretold that he would rise up a righteous branch for David who would rule as King.
Israelite men were always looking for this Davidic King. And it seems that in Joseph’s day the anticipation had reached a fevered pitch. With each birth in the lineage of David, there was the hope that that King who would rule forever might be found. Joseph was one such man. He knew that each of his male children could be that one since he was of the house and lineage of David.
So when an angel arrived to tell Joseph that he should marry his pregnant fiancée and be father to the child in her womb, hope was stirred. When he was told that the child was of the Spirit, it had to make him wonder. When the angel proclaimed that this child would save his people, surely it has to stoke his expectations.
We often just think about the immediate turmoil in Joseph’s life when he found out his fiancée Mary was pregnant. But the biblical back story assures us that there was much more at play than this questionable circumstance. Joseph is a man in the royal lineage of David the great king. Once he finds out that this child would his child, the story truly becomes interesting.
This is Joseph’s back story. He is more than just a floundering fiancée. He is an heir of a great promise: that a Davidic king would come who would rule forever. He is the father of a child who well could be that king.
Come let us go to Bethlehem, the city of David, to see this child king be born. Amen.
