Joseph...in the greatest adoption story EVER!!

Family traditions are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. There is one that has been added in recent years after I read the book, Adopted for Life by Russell Moore. There’s a chapter that goes into great length about Joseph’s incredible role in the adoption of Christ. The first time I read it - I cried. I seriously couldn’t believe that I had NEVER heard the gravity of Joseph’s role. Maybe I had heard it, but my heart wasn’t ready to receive it? Either way, his role was heavy and is still so real today. Obviously, Joseph wasn’t perfect. He was in need of the Savior, same as you and me. One major difference being, he chose to raise THE Savior of the world as his own! It would’ve been socially acceptable for him to quietly divorce Mary and move on with his life. Nobody probably would’ve thought less of him. He had a choice. Joseph, sweet Joseph, chose obedience - most likely to his detriment.

One of our Christmas family traditions is to place the key players around the stable in our Nativity. The shepherds get their day. Then the wise men get theirs. We even have a day for the animals. Because let’s be real, how cool is it to try and tell the story of Jesus’ birth through the eyes of a donkey. We used to group Joseph and Mary together, focusing mainly on Mary. But the last three years, we’ve done it differently. We give Joseph and Mary each a day. They both had such a unique role to play in the birth of our Savior. Joseph’s day has become my favorite, next to Jesus of course. His choice to adopt the Christ resonates with my family so intimately. I tell my children that Joseph was the one who gave Jesus his lineage, His human birthright. Without Joseph, Jesus would not have fulfilled the prophecies in the Old Testament. Adoption is such a big part of our family story that it just makes it that much cooler to talk about Jesus’ adoption and what that meant for the rest of time. Adoption is a call that has echoed through history and one that is still calling. To care for widows and orphans in their distress. 

So our sweet Joseph is no longer a prop or a generous chauffeur that brought Mary to Bethlehem. Instead he’s a hero in our Nativity scene. I pray that the Spirit can open our eyes so that, like Joseph, we can stand ready to answer a call that at times makes no sense but mirrors the heart of a God that made a way for us over 2000 years ago. His lineage is ours. And that lineage is through Christ. And that my friends is salvation, the greatest gift ever given!!! 

“What better way is there to bring the good news of Christ than to see his unwanted little brothers and sisters placed in families where they’ll be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?” - Russell Moore