Living in the Image of God M04S20
God called Mary-Joseph to a ministry of parenting the Messiah through pregnancy, childhood care, and transition to adulthood. Mary was called as Mother of the Messiah and Joseph to lead the ministry as the earthly father of the Messiah. As overall leader, Joseph received family-care instructions: such as the escape to Egypt, return to Israel several years later, and redirection to Galilee instead of Judea. Their interactions in the events illustrate unity in parenting through honor and support for family leadership. Further, their unity and purpose in parenting showed through annual trips to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover; which provided opportunity for the child to develop community sensitivity, as he mingled and interacted freely with friends and relations during the celebrations and long trek to and from the festival. The study indicates that God calls every husband-wife union to a parenting ministry and provides them family-care instructions: such as seeking unity in parenting through honor and support for family leadership; teaching same to the children through their observation of parents; and exposing the children to community sensitivity by honoring customs and practices important to their people in fulfilling God’s purpose for the community, similar to the Festival of the Passover in the case of Jesus.
This study is the second of two segments on the Mary-Joseph ministry as earthly parents of the Messiah, in continuation of the bible study series on understanding the individual responsibility regarding family leadership. The series is based on bible examples of husband-wife interactions and relationships: including the Shunammite couple; Adam and Eve; Abraham-Sarah; Isaac-Rebekah; and Mary-Joseph, the parents of the Messiah.
Previous Studies in the Series
Previous studies in the series led to understanding that God created marriage to combine a man and woman into a union of seamless complements for a mission of representing him among all creation. The man and woman constitute a husband-wife union or family with a leadership structure based on the husband as overall leader and the wife as spiritual gateway and occasional leader in specific matters. God uses the family leadership structure to communicate his will to the family, calls on the husband-wife union to honor and support each other’s contributions to family leadership, and blesses those that do.
Please see the Isaac-Rebekah segment (Isaac-Rebekah Individual Responsibility Honor-Support Family Leadership) for a more-detailed summary of lessons learned.
Current Study in the Series
The current study continues the series as the second of a two-part segment on the Mary-Joseph union. God called Mary-Joseph to a ministry of parenting the Messiah: through pregnancy, childhood care, and transition to adulthood. He fulfills his promise of the Messiah through the ministry, by sending the Messiah as a natural person through the human family of Mary and Joseph. The first part of the segment (Mary-Joseph Pregnancy and Individual Responsibility Honor-Support Family Leadership) discusses the initial stage of the ministry, when God called Mary to become pregnant with Jesus, and called Joseph to support Mary in the pregnancy. Joseph’s support for Mary began his responsibility as overall leader of the husband-wife ministry.
The current study focuses on the period of their ministry starting from the birth of Jesus, showing that God provided family-care instructions through Joseph. We will discuss the birth of Jesus, the family’s escape to Egypt and return to Israel several years later, and their redirection to Galilee instead of Judea. Also, we discuss the family’s annual trip to Jerusalem to participate in the Festival of the Passover. The discussion leads to understanding that Mary-Joseph interactions during the childhood of Jesus illustrate unity in parenting through honor and support for family leadership.
Birth of Jesus
Jesus was born during a census ordered by the Roman empire, which required all people under Roman rulership to return to their home to be registered: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world” [Luke 2:1] and “everyone went to their own town to register” [Luke 2:3]. Joseph travelled to Bethlehem with Mary to register. They were living in the town of Nazareth in Galilee and travelled to Bethlehem in Judea, the town of David, which was Joseph’s home town: “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David” [Luke 2:4].
Mary followed Joseph. She was pregnant with Jesus and engaged to marry Joseph. Therefore, she followed him, to register where he would register: “He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child” [Luke 2:5]. They were a family and Joseph was the leader. Therefore, Mary followed him to register where he registered, in honor and support of family leadership.
Joseph as Leader of Mary-Joseph Ministry
The bible describes three occasions during the childhood of Jesus when Joseph received instruction from God regarding family care. The first occasion resulted in their flight to Egypt and the second led to their return to Israel several years later. The third occurred during the return trip to Israel when God directed the family to Galilee instead of Judea. In each occasion, Joseph led the family through implementation of God’s instruction and Mary gave full support. Their interactions regarding the instructions illustrate unity in parenting through honor and support for family leadership.
Flight to Egypt
God instructed Joseph to hasten out of Israel and relocate his family to Egypt in order to escape from King Herod that hatched a secret plan to kill Jesus: “… an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt” [Matthew 2:13–14].
Joseph received the instruction, communicated with Mary, and the family left immediately to relocate to Egypt. Their interactions in the event illustrate honor and support for family leadership, seamless husband-wife communication, and unity in parenting.
Return to Israel from Egypt
Several years after Joseph moved his young family to Egypt, the king that had threatened the child’s life in Israel died. Thereafter, God instructed Joseph to return his family to Israel, because those that threatened the child’s life there had died: “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead” [Matthew 2:19–20].
Joseph packed up his family and headed back to Israel: “So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel” [Matthew 2: 21]. Again, Joseph received the instruction, communicated with Mary, and the family left immediately to return to Israel. Their interactions in the event, like the previous event, illustrate honor and support for family leadership, seamless husband-wife communication, and unity in parenting.
Redirection to Galilee
During the process of returning to Israel, Joseph realized that the new king in Judea was the son of the king that had threatened to kill Jesus. Therefore, he was concerned about going to Judea and was warned in a dream to go to Galilee instead: “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee” [Matthew 2:22]. He took his family to the town of Nazareth in the district of Galilee: “and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene” [Matthew 2:23].
Again, Joseph received the instruction, communicated with Mary, and the family went to the town of Nazareth in Galilee instead of their originally intended destination. Their interactions in the event, like the previous events, illustrate honor and support for family leadership, seamless husband-wife communication, and unity in parenting.
Annual Participation in Festival of the Passover
Mary and Joseph took the child Jesus to Jerusalem annually to participate in the Festival of the Passover: “Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover” [Luke 2:41]. The child’s participation in the events was important to the parents. Therefore, they took him there annually and allowed him to mingle and interact freely with friends and relations during the long trek to Jerusalem, celebrations there, and long trek home. We know these based on the accounts of their participation in the festival when Jesus was 12 years old.
The parents allowed the child to mingle and interact freely with friends and relations but were usually aware of his whereabout, except during the return trip from the festival when Jesus was twelve years old. They traveled for one day thinking he was among them but he was still in Jerusalem [Luke 2:44–45]: “Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.”
They looked for him for several days until they found him: “After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions” [Luke 2:46]. After they found him, his mother talked to him as his father listened [Luke 2:48]: “When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’”
The interaction provides clear evidence of their unity in parenting. The mother took leadership of “talking to the child” while the father provided support by listening silently. That is, Mary took leadership and Joseph supported her, on this parent-son interaction.
Summary of What We Learned
God called Mary-Joseph to a ministry of parenting the Messiah through pregnancy, childhood care, and transition to adulthood. Mary was called as Mother of the Messiah and Joseph to lead the ministry as the earthly father of the Messiah. As overall leader, Joseph received family-care instructions: such as the escape to Egypt, return to Israel several years later, and redirection to Galilee instead of Judea. Their interactions in the events illustrate unity in parenting through honor and support for family leadership.
Further, their unity and purpose in parenting showed through annual trips to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover; which provided opportunity for the child to develop community sensitivity, as he mingled and interacted freely with friends and relations during the celebrations and long trek to and from the festival.
The study indicates that God calls every husband-wife union to a parenting ministry and provides them family-care instructions: such as seeking unity in parenting through honor and support for family leadership; teaching same to the children through their observation of parents; and exposing the children to community sensitivity by honoring customs and practices important to their people in fulfilling God’s purpose for the community, similar to the Festival of the Passover in the case of Jesus.