Oh Holy Night

Dear Joseph and Mary,

First, I thank God, our Father, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, for the testimony of your faithfulness which is proclaimed throughout all the nations and for a thousand generations. It is with joy that I remember you even now. As we as the church of Christ remember together the birth of Christ, we must also remember you. As you brought our redeemer and model into this world, so you model for us what He would have us do. As you were both faithful to the calling of God, so we remember that we are so called as well.

Joseph, you have been and continue to be an example to me and many others as a just and upright man. I thank God for the obedience He has granted you. When you heard that Mary was with child, you were understandably concerned and your protective instinct was to divorce her privately, not wanting her to bear public disgrace. But you did all that was commanded when the angel of the Lord came to you and told you not to be afraid and to take Mary as your wife, that the Child conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and to call the Son, Jesus. You believed, and you obeyed.

As it was promised, Mary gave birth to her first-born son in the city of Bethlehem, the city of your fathers. After eight days were completed, you took the Child, Jesus, to the temple to be circumcised and presented before God. Later, you were obedient again in protecting the Child from Herod's slaughter by moving your family south to Egypt. After Herod had died, you safely moved your family home to Nazareth. You believed, and you obeyed.

Our brother, Saint Matthew, accounted that Jesus was supposed to be your son. Our Father placed His own beloved Son under your care for a time. As the covenant head of your home, you loved and taught your wife. You went out into the world to make a living for your family. You fed them. You sheltered them. You kept them safe and protected. You were responsible for remembering His Commandments and His promises, and teaching them diligently to those children placed under your care. God's grace and mercy was on you, as you embraced your covenantal responsibilities. I pray that He may grant me and my sons a similar grace in our callings, that we would believe and obey.

You passed on your heritage, because you understood that it does not belong to just you. A heritage belongs to a family, a community, or a nation. Part of that heritage was His genealogy and family history. He was taught your language and the culture of your family and people. You raised Him to be a Nazarene. In teaching Him carpentry, you taught Him a trade, one of the greatest gifts a father can pass on to his son.

Carpentry is hard work, I know. More importantly, it is honest work. In other words, may I say, it is creative work. You taught Him to work with His hands, and the virtues of hard work. You raised Him to be a man. Because you loved God the Father, you loved His son, Jesus.

Mary, indeed we do call you blessed. O, how God blessed you with a quiet and obedient spirit. When the Word of the Lord came to you through the angel, Gabriel, that you would bear the Son of the Most High, you responded, "Behold the hand maid of the Lord, be it unto me according to Thy Word." You believed in the fulfillment of the promise and pondered in your heart the responsibility to which you were called. The Church has several great mysteries, but the Incarnation may be one of the greatest. Perhaps this was the subject of the pondering in your heart.

O, blessed Mary, the riches you treasured in your heart when watching our Lord grow in wisdom and stature. As you nursed Him or washed His clothes, how could your humble heart bear it? When you bathed Him or rocked Him to sleep how could such things have rested in your heart? As I try to imagine, now, the humanity of our great King of Kings and Lord of Lords depending on you, I can hardy grasp such treasures.

You were a keeper of your home, obeying your husband and faithfully following his lead whether to Bethlehem for the census, or to Egypt, fleeing the wrath of Herod, or to Jerusalem for Passover Feast and other customs of the Law. At the wedding at Cana, Jesus' first miracle of His public ministry, you had the faith in Him to tell the servants to do exactly what He tells them, knowing that He had all power to repair the situation. But did you really know how he would? You were often present during His ministry and you were even there at our Lord's crucifixion. You cared well for our Lord and His people. Present with her at

Pentecost, you were a faithful supporter and member of the early Christian Church. The example of your love and compassion is for us to follow. Your labors of love and works of faith were not in vain.

"He sent redemption unto all His people:
He hath commanded His covenant forever:
Holy and reverend is his name.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:
A good understanding have all that do His commandments:
His praise endureth forever." Ps.111:9,10

I thank you both for the faithful part you played in God's redemption plan. May the testimony of your faithfulness, for the glory and praise of our God, live forever. May the church of Christ grow as she hears of these accounts and may His kingdom come. In Him is all our forgiveness, repentance, obedience, and faithfulness.

Yours,

Jonathan S. Daugherty