Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

Whoever coined the phrase, “on the horns of a dilemma,” was clearly thinking of him when they said it. He embodied those words. Right now. Staring blindly out the window at the retreating back of the now leaving messenger, he struggled to digest their words. Tried to make his heart feel something. Sadness. Grief. Anger. Rage. Numbness blanketed his heart, stole his voice, silenced his words. Disbelief warred with the absolute certainty of the delivered words. The heaviness of betrayal settled around him like a thick fog. Mary was pregnant, and Joseph had nothing to do with it. 

The one who bore the message stated Mary had been visited by an angel who informed her that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t a task she had asked to undertake. She hadn’t applied. Hadn’t attended auditions. Hadn’t daily bombarded God’s throne in prayer that she would be the virgin spoken about by the long ago prophet Isaiah who would carry and birth the Messiah. No. She never dreamed of such a thing. Had never wanted it. Hadn’t hoped for it. Never once raised the idea, even in jest, while chatting with her friends by the well. She also hadn’t said no. When the angel told her of God’s plan for her life, Mary quickly acquiesed, apparently giving no thought to how it would affect the rest of her life. 

As the ice around his heart started to thaw, Joseph began to contemplate the entirety of the situation. Mary was pregnant. To whom made no difference. He had some decisions to make. Difficult ones. Painful ones. Life-altering ones. Should he marry her? Should he not? Would she be faithful? Would she not? Was the baby really the Son of God? Was it not? How could he know? How could he choose? How could he forgive the indiscretion if the woman he married was eventually revealed to be both a liar and a cheat? Fighting the urge to immediately terminate their betrothal, Joseph sat in his feelings, his questions, his fears and carefully considered the options. 

Yes. You read that correctly. When everyone else would have released their seething rage on the girl and her family regardless of the public humiliation or social implications, Joseph stilled his soul and carefully considered the issues and options before him. Before he fell asleep. Before the angel visited. Before the words of God drifted into his unconsciousness, convincing him to do the “right thing”, Joseph was already doing the right thing. He was being quiet. Being slow to speak. Slow to give in to his righteous anger. He was thinking. Not just of himself and his own vindication. He was thinking of Mary. Her reputation. Her future. Her family. He didn’t want to do anything that would ruin her life or make her a pariah. Even though Joseph couldn’t come up with a scenario in which it seemed wise to continue their arrangement, he wouldn’t do anything public. It would have to be done secretly. It would have to be kept quiet. Joseph would have it no other way. As hurt as he was that Mary was pregnant to another man before their marriage, Joseph’s righteousness wouldn’t allow him to embarrass or mistreat her. Not because it hadn’t crossed his mind. It probably had. He was human. He was tempted. He held all the cards. But he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. The righteous integrity with which he lived his life would not allow it.  

We often miss that part of Joseph’s account. Somehow he has been relegated to a bit player, a rarely spoken about man mentioned only in passing as we read the Christmas story. He’s just a carpenter. Just Jesus’ stepdad. Just the guy who kept Mary’s reputation in tact. Except he wasn’t. There was more to Joseph than that. So much more. Joseph was righteous. He was upright. He lived with integrity. Before the angel ever illuminated Joseph’s dreams to point out the proper path, his life and actions reverberated with the truth. Joseph was a righteous man. 

Did you notice that? According to Matthew, upon hearing the unsettling news of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph, being righteous, checked his emotions, throttled his ego, reserved his opinions, and held his decisions until he was in the proper headspace to consider the situation through the lens of righteousness. He waited until he could breathe again, until his mind could clearly weigh the consequences of his decisions. Consequences for everyone. Him. Her. Them. No matter how hurt and offended and humiliated he deserved to be, Joseph’s spiritual integrity refused to allow him to treat another person disrespectfully. Male or female. Right or wrong. It wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t say disparaging things. He wouldn’t ruin her chances. He wouldn’t publicly disgrace her by spouting his frustration to every listening ear. Just as his righteousness would not allow him to make a snap decision based on his own feelings, that same uprightness wouldn’t let him tear Mary down or tarnish her reputation. That’s how righteousness should look. (Matthew 1:18-20) 

Righteousness should look like decisions made after careful, prayerful consideration. Righteousness should look like exquisite care for others. It is never selfish. It never seeks to bring attention and sympathy to itself. It doesn’t spread rumors or gossip or slander. It isn’t talking about something rather than praying about it. It isn’t enlisting a group of sympathizers to help you make a decision. It doesn’t seek to harm. It doesn’t try to teach lessons by causing pain. It doesn’t speak out of turn or prematurely. True righteousness comes from a heart cleansed by God, ruled by God, that waits on God before it acts or speaks. It is not a pious face covering a petty heart. True righteousness that comes from God must be more than an outward appearance legalistically following a list of rules and regulations. It must be more than rote words and phrases meant to show others your Christianity. True righteousness must flow naturally from the heart in springs of love and mercy and grace. (Isaiah 32:17; James 3:18)

Jesus said as much to the disciples. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said if their righteousness was simply that of the scribes and Pharisees, outward acts with no inward grace, they would never see the kingdom of heaven. It was a stern warning. The scribes and Pharisees weren’t known for being authentically righteous.They were known for being legalistic rule followers, attempting to earn their way into heaven one religious adherence at a time. This careful obedience had cultivated a sense of self-righteous hypocrisy and superiority in which they felt it appropriate to judge others by the measuring stick they deemed appropriate. There was no love or mercy or grace in their righteousness. It was all man-made. It was all works based. There was no wonder, no power, no Jesus in it. And it would never get them to heaven. Jesus said so. (Matthew 5:29)

We really aren’t a lot different. We, too, get righteousness confused with self-reliance and superiority. We think because we repented as a child, attend church, and reluctantly live by the rules, we deserve to be treated with awe and reverence. We believe it is our job to judge others, often attempting to determine their level of spirituality by their outward appearance. It isn’t. Jesus said not to judge others. At all. He said that if your righteousness is simply that of going to church, speaking Christianese, and living by a little black book of manmade rules, then you are no better than the scribes and Pharisees. They weren’t getting into heaven on that and neither will you. Those aren’t my words, they are His. And they are confronting. Because we tend to think our righteousness is our own doing, when in reality, all our personal attempts at righteousness are simply filthy rags. (Matthew 7:1-2: Isaiah 64:6)

You see, friend, true righteousness cannot be faked. Even if you manage to fool some people part of the time, you won’t fool God any of the time. He sees your heart. He knows the motivation behind your words and actions. He knows when true righteousness would hold its tongue, but you let yours wag. He sees when true righteousness would prayerfully wait, but you choose to rashly act. God knows what true righteousness looks like. And so does everyone else. It looks like treating others with the same grace and mercy God has given you. It looks like undeserved forgiveness. It looks like respectful boundaries. It looks like taming your tongue, holding your opinions, and pursuing peace with your neighbor. It looks like the love of God spread so thickly in and over and through your life that everyone who comes in contact with you knows you are righteous. It looks like being recorded as righteous in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And it can only be accomplished by the daily, active work of God in your heart and life. Just like Joseph. (Revelation 21:27; Isaiah 33:15-17; Psalm 139:1-2; Colossians 3:13; Matthew 7:12; Proverbs 4:23; James 3:1-12; Hebrews 12:14; John 13:34: Galatians 5:22-23)

Not one line of the Bible is devoted to delineating Joseph’s admirable works as a man of God. There is no history behind his name. We know very little about him. His part of Jesus’ story is lived in the shadow of Mary. As far as humanity goes, Joseph is forgettable. But not to God. God knew his heart. God knew his works. God knew how he handled himself in rough situations. And God was clearly impressed. He thought so much of Joseph that He had him recorded as righteous for every generation to read. It was the adjective by which God knew him. Righteous. Upright. Trustworthy.

Would He say the same about you? If He were looking for people on earth to parent the Christ-child today, would your name make the short list because the power of God at work in your heart has made you live righteously and uprightly in a world that doesn’t? In this present age of purposeful apostasy and appalling complacency, are you someone God can trust to protect and promote the true teachings of His most precious gift to humanity? Are you righteous? Truly righteous? Not by words or works that can be twisted and tweaked. Not by the opinions of friends or family. Not by your own shallow measure, but by God’s deep one? Are you righteous according to Him? Has He recorded your name that way? Does the righteousness of God fill your heart and spill out of your life on earth? Is your name recorded as righteous in Heaven? (Luke 10:20; Revelation 3:5; Ephesians 4:24; Proverbs 12:26; 21:3; Psalm 1:6; 11:7; I John 3:7; Micah 6:8)