Meeting Mary and Joseph, the Parents of Jesus

Mary and Joseph both came from educated families who saw to it that their children receive a solid and above average education as well.

Mary was a brown-eyes and blond-haired beauty with a cheerful disposition. She was fearless about expressing her emotions and easily adapted to hardships and unusual circumstances.

Joseph was one of nine children in a pious Jewish family. He had black eyes and dark brown hair, a mild manner and he was very meticulous about his affairs and faithful in every way to the religious and cultural practices of his people. He was a quiet and contemplative man who suffered the plight of the Jews wordlessly.

Mary and Joseph met when Joseph worked for Mary’s father on building an addition to their family home. And their courtship began when Mary brought Joseph a cup of water to wash down his evening meal. They became engaged and courted for two years which was the customary time in those days, but during that time Mary became pregnant.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph became extremely upset when he found out that his betrothed was pregnant and he wanted to break off the engagement but to avoid embarrassing her publicly, he was willing to do it quietly. However, before taking any action an angel appeared in his dream and assured him that the pregnancy was God’s doing. The angel also told Joseph that this birth will fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy of “the virgin will be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’” [The Greek version of Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25]. This gospel also states that Joseph did not have marital relations with Mary until after Jesus was born [Matthew 1:25].

Then again, the Gospel of Luke states that the angel came into Mary’s, not Joseph’s, dream to tell her of God’s plan before the conception. Mary became very upset but the angel calmed her fears. Mary finally responded, “May it be done to me according to your word.” [Luke 1:26-38].

Whichever of the two gospels is closer to the truth we shall never know but there was an obviously very strong message in both of them.

Mary and Joseph wed according to tradition in Mary’s home on the outskirts of Nazareth. At the time, Joseph was twenty-one years old and Mary was considerably younger. With the help of his two brothers, Joseph built a new home for his expectant wife to which they both moved as soon as it was completed. This home is where Jesus was raised as were a half a dozen of his younger siblings.

Jesus inherited his extraordinary gentleness and the great sympathetic understanding of mankind from his father but from his mother He inherited the talent of a tremendous teacher and the amazing capacity for righteous indignation. From both his earthly parents Jesus inherited the meditative and worshipful demeanor and the inclination for gloominess on the one hand, while the optimism, the determination and the cheery disposition on the other hand. Generally speaking, however, Mary’s personality was more dominant in Jesus than that of Joseph as He matured into adulthood. In some aspects of his personality, Jesus seemed to have a good mix of both his parents’ traits while in different aspects He favored the traits of one over the traits of another.

As parents, both Mary and Joseph were great teachers and they made sure that their children were well educated. Jesus acquired Joseph’s strict training in the practices of the Jewish religion and the exceptional knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and from Mary he got a wider range of religious point of view as well as the more liberal concepts of personal and spiritual independence.

The great majority of Joseph’s family followed Jesus’ teachers and Joseph himself believed more in the spiritual concept of the Messiah as he leaned toward the Eastern or Babylonian views of the Jewish religion. In contrast, very few in Mary’s family believed in Jesus until after His crucifixion. Mary and her ancestors tended to lean toward the more liberal Western or Hellenistic understanding of the Jewish law and its prophets.