For some, Joseph, stepfather of Jesus, is no more than a biographical footnote in His life. If we look a little deeper at the Scriptures and at the dangerous time when God sent His Son, we realize that the Babe needed a stepfather like Joseph who was a tender, wise, and resourceful earthly protector.

But Joseph did something more. For the Child Jesus whose identity was like no one else in history, the awesome responsibility to make certain that Jesus knew who He was would rest on Joseph’s broad shoulders. Despite fashionable leanings that underrate the importance of a father’s influence, study after study underscores that a father — or rearing stepfather — gives a boy his identity.

Jesus also needed Joseph to help Him grow in wisdom and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52).

Joseph the Protector
At the time of Jesus’ birth, it was dangerous to be of the House of David. Reflecting his ambition to be the Jewish messiah, the megalomaniac Herod the Great was minting coins with Star of David on them. For those in David’s ancestral line, Joseph and Mary’s hometown of Bethlehem, a few miles from Jerusalem, was too convenient to Herod’s reach. Pioneering ninety miles away in the Galilee village of Nazareth seemed a safe alternative for this religious espoused couple — until dangerous rumors about Mary began.