AN ACCOUNT OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS

By Fr. Felix (African Times Guest Writer)

Matthew begins his gospel about the birth of

Jesus with a long and elaborately formal

genealogy of Joseph. But Jesus is the son of

Mary, not of Joseph! The whole point of this

story is that Joseph is not the genealogical

father of Jesus, but adopts Jesus into his line

of David.

At first he is hesitant to do so, presumably

thinking that he is unworthy to acknowledge the

child as his own, and unworthy to bond with

Mary who is with child by the Holy Spirit.

But the angel insists (‘Do not be afraid’) that

only Joseph can do this job. As soon as the

child is born, he is given the name Jesus, and

given it by Joseph. It is the father’s prerogative

to name a son, and by so doing Joseph takes

the child as his own.

We hear little more of Joseph, but what a joy it

must have been to have Jesus as a son! What a

relationship there must have been! What

responsibility too! When Jesus calls God his

‘Father’, he is using the concept which must

have been formed in his mind by his adoptive

father, Joseph, the perfect ideal of the loving

father.

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