Who Were Mary and Joseph
Who was Mary, the mother of Jesus?
According to early church writer sources, her parents were of the lineage of David, Joachim and Anna. Her Father, Joachim was a keeper of the scroll. They lived in a city called Sepphoris in Northern Galilee. Nazareth was a bedroom community of Sepphoris just 4 miles away, a walking commute. According to Jewish History, Sepphoris was the headquarters of the Sanhedrin. There was an extensive collection of Hebrew Scrolls. Her father was one who read and attended to God’s Holy Word. In modern day understanding, he was a man who studied God’s word and dedicated his life to being a disciple.
We also know through the early church writers her parents dedicated her to be a handmaiden for God. She was raised too in understanding and memorizing God’s word. In Jesus day a child before the age of 12 had memorized the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. This why in Luke’s gospel when the Angel Gabriel announced to her she would conceive Jesus by Holy Spirit her response in Luke 1:38 was, “Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
In Jewish Tradition a Jewish girl would be espoused(arranged marriage) by parents when they were 12 years and 6 months. An espousal was an engagement where the bride to be would have moved into the groom’s parents house. During that year they would be taught about marriage and how to be a good partner to each other. They would not have had sexual relations. This is why Mary said, how can this be since I’ve not known a man.
Knowing this culture, Mary would have been 13 in a half to 14 years of age when she conceived Jesus.
Luke said, she pondered these things in her heart. The word ponder in the Greek means, ““to meditate and think deeply, often upon the scriptures or other things of God.”
Who was Joseph, the earthly Father of Jesus?
Joseph was born to Jacob who was of the lineage of David in Nazareth according to Matthew’s gospel chapter 1. His family were devout worshippers of God probably in the Temple of the city of Sepphoris were Mary’s family worshipped. Joseph was raised knowing the Torah and understanding the worship of God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
His family would if known Mary’s family from attending church together. Read my earlier posts about Mary. When children were teenagers marriages were arranged by their parents. According to Matthew Mary and Joseph were engaged (espoused) to be married when Gabriel.
Joseph was accustomed to hearing God’s voice via dreams. Matthew tells us God told him in a dream His plan to conceive Jesus by the Holy Spirit and not to divorce her. Once a couple was espoused in Judaism to be divorced it would have to be done legally by the Sanhedrin.
Matthew tells us that he was a carpenter for his career. But this is a stretch interpretation of the Greek, the Greek for carpenter is “tekton” where we get the English word technical or technology from. So Joseph was a highly trained artisan. While he lived in Nazareth, he would have worked in the city 4 miles north of Sepphoris. Sepphoris was considered by one of the church early writers, the “Jewel of Galilee.” Herod of Antipas had his palace built in Sepphoris. Because of Joseph skill set he would have been highly compensated. The early church writers used the term “tekton”, “one who could create wonders out of matter or one who could manipulate materials in a marvelous way that surpassed ordinary technical skills.”
Because of his highly technical skill set and preparation along with his love of God and his ability to hear and follow God’s voice, God chose Joseph to be Jesus’s earthly father. Joseph raised Jesus and apprenticed Him in the same earthly skill set too.