Joseph was a carpenter from Nazareth. He was engaged to be married to Mary. Probably he was just a little bit older than her, though it is not likely that he was such an old man as you sometimes see in pictures of the Holy Family. In those days marriages would be arranged by the family. The parents of two young people would get together and decide that they should get married.
Joseph found out Mary was going to have a baby, and he knew he wasn’t its father, so he decided that he would not get married to her. Instead he would break off the engagement and divorce her. Because Joseph liked Mary he decided that he would do things quietly and not get her into trouble. However, when he was asleep one night, Joseph had a dream. In the dream an angel appeared to him and told him not to worry, that Mary’s child was very special, a child not of another man, but of the Holy Spirit. So Joseph believed what he had been told in his dream was true and decided to marry Mary after all. Everybody naturally thought that Joseph was the father of Jesus.
Joseph taught Jesus how to be a carpenter. Joseph would fix your door if the hinges broke, put roof timbers on your house, or make a wooden pen to keep your animals. Jesus was known by many people as the carpenter from Nazareth.
Working it Out
1. Where in the world do they still have ‘arranged marriages‘ – marriages arranged by the parents?
2. What relationship to Jesus did Joseph have?
3. Describe your most vivid dream?
4. If you were brought up in the family of a carpenter, would it be a very poor or a very rich family?
5. Why do you think Joseph considered breaking off the engagement with Mary? (or ‘divorcing’ her)
