RIGHT OF CENTER: YOUNG CARPENTER IS UNSUNG HERO OF CHRISTMAS

"Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." -- Matthew 2:20-21

It puzzles me that Joseph, Mary's betrothed, isn't given a more prominent place in the Christmas story. In my opinion, the young carpenter from Nazareth is the most unheralded and unappreciated character of the nativity.

Joseph, a hard worker devoted to his family and to Yahweh, the God of Israel, probably was well-respected in his small hometown. I can imagine old Levi, one eyebrow raised speculatively and bearded chin cradled in his thumb and forefinger, eyeing Joseph as a prospective son-in-law. "You could do a lot worse than that one, Sarah," he tells his daughter.

But there was only one lass for Joseph. Her name was Mary. A beautiful girl, not quite a woman, she was a faithful and humble servant of God. Apparently Mary felt the same way about Joseph, and the two were engaged to be married.

Then an angel of God visited Mary, telling her she was blessed among all women and would bear in her womb the son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit. She became pregnant, but Mary hardly noticed the sneers and hushed gossip that went on behind her and Joseph's backs. She was going to give birth to Messiah!

But Joseph noticed. Regardless of Mary's assertions, it was all pretty simple to Joseph. His girl was pregnant, and he wasn't the father. But to argue that would only bring more shame upon Mary, and he loved her. But who was the father, anyway? He wanted to believe her story, but really. The Messiah? Here in Nazareth? Mary?

Despite his ambivalence, Joseph did what he thought was most sensible. Not wanting Mary made into a public spectacle, he contemplated sending her away to have the child. That was when he had the dream in which the angel verified Mary's story. The dream restored his faith in Mary, who became his wife.

But that didn't stop the ridicule and sniggering that seemed to increase in proportion with Mary's waistline. Joseph must have had his doubts. After all, it was only a dream. Who's to say it was God?

It came to pass that Caesar Augustus sent out a decree that all the Roman Empire be taxed. Because Joseph was from the lineage of David, he and his pregnant wife left Nazareth and went to the city of David, Bethlehem, in Judea. Although there was no room at the inn, the innkeeper had pity on the couple and allowed them the use of his stable.

At this point, Joseph must have been at wit's end. A less devout man might have thrown one of the guests out of the inn to make room for his wife, who was ready to give birth. And what about God? If this was the Messiah, why must He be born in a feeding trough for animals?

Exhausted, Mary and Joseph did their best to make the stable as clean as possible. There was no midwife, no physician -- only a young, frightened couple in a strange town. Mary was comforted by her promises. She knew, amid the tortuous labor, that she was "blessed among women." But what about Joseph?

His own doubts likely were magnified by his feelings of helplessness. He was unable to find a bed for his wife's delivery, and now he was powerless to allay her labor pains.

Then it was over. And Jesus lay not in a manger -- that came later -- but cradled in the thick, sun-baked arms of Joseph the carpenter. It was at that moment, as he gazed into the tiny newborn baby's face, that Joseph's knew: Christ, the Saviour, is born.

~Jay Eastlick is the news editor of the Southeast Missourian.