Who is this carpenter Joseph?

Today we joke about our friends being nail-benders and wood-butchers, but who was Joseph of Nazareth? And, why was he entrusted with the care and discipling of the Messiah?

Some suspect he died at a young age after fathering several other children through Mary. Other than that, we’ll never know the answers to most of our questions. But we do know one thing–he was entrusted with the job of discipling Jesus of Nazareth during his most formative years on earth.

Consider that Jesus had the capacity to sin else his sacrifice would have been meaningless. A robot’s death on a cross wouldn’t have meant much.

That capacity to sin made Joseph’s job terribly important.

What we do know is that the man carried the task well. Everything turned out as it should have.

I know that Carl and Ruth Moore were called to disciple a little boy named Ralph. Because they did their job I sit writing this to you. I can’t think of disciplemaking without remembering my parents. I know my job is to be a father-figure to younger people as they seek God’s plans.

Jesus would have been thinking of Joseph when he said to “Make disciples of the nations…”

I guess this all leaves me with a single question, “Can you name two or three people you are actively discipling as of this moment?” Doing so is the central issue of the New Testament.