"Bookends!"
As I finished reading Mark 15:
42-47 the word popped into my mind. This can't be an original thought. Have you
noticed that two men named Joseph were called to care for Jesus at His most
vulnerable times?
Joseph, the husband of Mary, cared for Jesus at the
beginning of His earthly life. This Joseph
was called to be the earthly father of Jesus.
He is the one and only person that we know the name of who was present
at Jesus' birth. We don't know much
about Joseph the father. He was an
obedient man. When the angel gave him
instructions about Mary's situation, he obeyed, against social norms of that
day. ( see Matthew 1:18-25). Later when
the angel told him that the child was in danger he took his family to Egypt. After Jesus is 12 and stays in the temple
while both His parents were headed home, we don't hear of Joseph the father
again.
Joseph of Arimathea cared for Jesus just after He ended His
earthly life. As evening approached on
the day Jesus died, this Joseph approached Pilate and asked for Jesus'
body. After the centurion verified His
death, Pilate released the body to Joseph.
He bought linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the cloth and
laid it in a tomb. Finally he rolled a
stone against the entrance.
These two Josephs have a few attributes in common. They were
J ust -
O bedient -
responded to God's call
S ervant - put
Jesus' physical needs before their own
E xpectant - eagerly awaited The
Kingdom
P roper - followed the laws of the land
H ad a small but very important role in
His mission.
I ponder why
these two men were selected and remembered for their common yet vital ministry.
A third
Joseph answers my query. The Joseph in
Genesis who experienced betrayal and slavery at the hands of his brothers and
rose to power in Egypt reminds me that God is control of the "Big
Picture". "You intended to
harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the
saving of many lives." Genesis
50:20
God has The
Plan. God is in control of The
Plan. God calls ordinary people to play
a small part in His Plan, even people like the Josephs, you and me.
God is faithful from
beginning to end. I have couple of other
bookends that remind me of His control and His faithfulness. The sun comes up every single day and sets
every single day. His faithfulness will
continue until the very end of time. The
bookends remind me.
Thanks Jan! I hadn't thought of the 2 Joseph's together, as bookends before. Makes you go 'hmmm...'��
ReplyDelete~HB