A/N: My first Bible story. I doubt it's historically accurate, but oh
well. How I think Joseph would react to being told about Jesus.
I walked along the crowded streets that morning in high spirits. I had no reason not to be happy; I was to be married in two days. My name is Joseph. I'm a carpenter, same as my father before me. Though my family was just as poor as the tradesmen around us, I had the amazing luck to have found a beautiful girl that my parents had arranged for me to be wed to. Her name was Mary.
Even now, as I'm thinking her name, I see a plain, earthen-colored garment headed in my direction. Under the hood of it I see the bright blue eyes of my betrothed. I glanced away, because it goes against custom to look at your wife to be before you're married. A second later, though, I felt her grab my hand. I looked at her, startled.
"Wait a moment, then follow me." She whispered and slipped away without a sound. Bewildered, I did as she said. She led me to a small deserted place behind an old, mud-brick building.
"Mary, what's going on?" I asked, not sure why she would break custom like this. She seemed nervous, and was kind of playing with her fingers as she looked at me.
"Joseph," She hesitated. "I'm not really sure how to tell you this....."
"Tell me what?"
"Ummm...."
"Mary, please. Just tell me. Is it about the wedding?"
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm going to have a baby." she said.
I was confused. "Yes, of course we'll have children when we're married. What made you think we wouldn't?"
"You don't understand." She said, seeming nervous but determined. "I'm pregnant. Now, at this moment, I am carrying a child."
It took a second for this to sink in, but when it did, it hit me like a hammer. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. It was now Mary began talking very fast.
"Please, Joseph, listen to me. I was in the kitchen baking bread this morning when a tall man came and stood there. He had giant silver wings and he was glowing, Joseph, really glowing. He said his name was Gabriel and that he was an angel of the Lord. He told me that I was going to have the son of God, and that I should trust in Him. It's true, Joseph. I promise you it's true." There was a note of pleading in her voice and a conviction in her eyes that told me she at least thought this was true.
'But it's impossible.' A voice in my head said. 'Is anything impossible?' another mocked.
I couldn't think clearly. Not here, in this place, with Mary staring at me, looking like she was about to cry. I left. I turned away and just walked, not looking back, even when she called after me. I walked in a daze. My feet didn't know where they were taking me, but apparently my heart did.
I found myself standing on a small hill dotted with simple, unmarked stones. I found my self standing in front of one particular one, the one that marked the spot where my grandfather rested. I sat down and leaned against his stone. Grandfather had always been a source of comfort to me, and now that he was gone, this was as close as I could get to him. I closed my eyes, the coolness of the stone feeling good on my hot face. The heat of the sun beat down on me as my breathing evened out. I relaxed, and the world around me darkened....
I was standing in a field on a starry night. It was filled with dirty white puffballs. Sheep. Three men with hooked staffs stood staring in wonder at a tall man dressed all in white. His wings were silver.
A blinding flash of white light, and I stood next to three well dressed men, probably scribes, each holding the reins of a camel, staring with the same awe at a group of men in front of them, each with a white robe and silver wings.
Flash.
I was outside of a dinky old barn that was badly in need of repair. A baby's wail pierced the night, and I felt a strong sense of familiarity.
Flash.
I was standing on a familiar hill. Looking around me I saw, to my amazement, myself, leaning against my grandfather's stone, fast asleep. A glow behind me made me turn. There was a tall, dark man dressed entirely in whiter with silver wings. He carried a torch in one hand that glowed with a golden fire that was impossible to look directly at. In his other hand he carried a beautiful, curled horn that glowed with an intensity even greater that that if the torch. Then the angel spoke to me.
His voice was firm but gentle and had a melody that was so beautiful, at first I didn't comprehend the words. The angel said:
"I am the archangel Gabriel. The Lord has sent me with a message: Your betrothed, Mary, will bear His son, whose name will be Jesus. You will care for the boy as if he were your own. Raise him well, and trust in the Lord."
Flash.
I woke with a start on the hill top, still digesting what I had been told in my dream. 'No.' I thought. 'It's impossible. It was a dream, nothing more.' With this final thought to myself, I stood and began brushing the dirt off my clothes. Suddenly, mid-stroke, I stopped, and looked with wonder in front of me. There, on the ground in the same spot the angel had stood in my dream, lay a single, shining silver feather. I picked it up, half dazed. "Jesus." I said quietly to myself. "Yes, Jesus is a good name for my son." And I went home.
"Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Give heed to him and harken to his voice."
-Exodus 23:20
I walked along the crowded streets that morning in high spirits. I had no reason not to be happy; I was to be married in two days. My name is Joseph. I'm a carpenter, same as my father before me. Though my family was just as poor as the tradesmen around us, I had the amazing luck to have found a beautiful girl that my parents had arranged for me to be wed to. Her name was Mary.
Even now, as I'm thinking her name, I see a plain, earthen-colored garment headed in my direction. Under the hood of it I see the bright blue eyes of my betrothed. I glanced away, because it goes against custom to look at your wife to be before you're married. A second later, though, I felt her grab my hand. I looked at her, startled.
"Wait a moment, then follow me." She whispered and slipped away without a sound. Bewildered, I did as she said. She led me to a small deserted place behind an old, mud-brick building.
"Mary, what's going on?" I asked, not sure why she would break custom like this. She seemed nervous, and was kind of playing with her fingers as she looked at me.
"Joseph," She hesitated. "I'm not really sure how to tell you this....."
"Tell me what?"
"Ummm...."
"Mary, please. Just tell me. Is it about the wedding?"
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm going to have a baby." she said.
I was confused. "Yes, of course we'll have children when we're married. What made you think we wouldn't?"
"You don't understand." She said, seeming nervous but determined. "I'm pregnant. Now, at this moment, I am carrying a child."
It took a second for this to sink in, but when it did, it hit me like a hammer. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. It was now Mary began talking very fast.
"Please, Joseph, listen to me. I was in the kitchen baking bread this morning when a tall man came and stood there. He had giant silver wings and he was glowing, Joseph, really glowing. He said his name was Gabriel and that he was an angel of the Lord. He told me that I was going to have the son of God, and that I should trust in Him. It's true, Joseph. I promise you it's true." There was a note of pleading in her voice and a conviction in her eyes that told me she at least thought this was true.
'But it's impossible.' A voice in my head said. 'Is anything impossible?' another mocked.
I couldn't think clearly. Not here, in this place, with Mary staring at me, looking like she was about to cry. I left. I turned away and just walked, not looking back, even when she called after me. I walked in a daze. My feet didn't know where they were taking me, but apparently my heart did.
I found myself standing on a small hill dotted with simple, unmarked stones. I found my self standing in front of one particular one, the one that marked the spot where my grandfather rested. I sat down and leaned against his stone. Grandfather had always been a source of comfort to me, and now that he was gone, this was as close as I could get to him. I closed my eyes, the coolness of the stone feeling good on my hot face. The heat of the sun beat down on me as my breathing evened out. I relaxed, and the world around me darkened....
I was standing in a field on a starry night. It was filled with dirty white puffballs. Sheep. Three men with hooked staffs stood staring in wonder at a tall man dressed all in white. His wings were silver.
A blinding flash of white light, and I stood next to three well dressed men, probably scribes, each holding the reins of a camel, staring with the same awe at a group of men in front of them, each with a white robe and silver wings.
Flash.
I was outside of a dinky old barn that was badly in need of repair. A baby's wail pierced the night, and I felt a strong sense of familiarity.
Flash.
I was standing on a familiar hill. Looking around me I saw, to my amazement, myself, leaning against my grandfather's stone, fast asleep. A glow behind me made me turn. There was a tall, dark man dressed entirely in whiter with silver wings. He carried a torch in one hand that glowed with a golden fire that was impossible to look directly at. In his other hand he carried a beautiful, curled horn that glowed with an intensity even greater that that if the torch. Then the angel spoke to me.
His voice was firm but gentle and had a melody that was so beautiful, at first I didn't comprehend the words. The angel said:
"I am the archangel Gabriel. The Lord has sent me with a message: Your betrothed, Mary, will bear His son, whose name will be Jesus. You will care for the boy as if he were your own. Raise him well, and trust in the Lord."
Flash.
I woke with a start on the hill top, still digesting what I had been told in my dream. 'No.' I thought. 'It's impossible. It was a dream, nothing more.' With this final thought to myself, I stood and began brushing the dirt off my clothes. Suddenly, mid-stroke, I stopped, and looked with wonder in front of me. There, on the ground in the same spot the angel had stood in my dream, lay a single, shining silver feather. I picked it up, half dazed. "Jesus." I said quietly to myself. "Yes, Jesus is a good name for my son." And I went home.
"Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Give heed to him and harken to his voice."
-Exodus 23:20