Matthew 1:24-2:1: And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called his name Jesus. Now . . . Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king.
By his very name, Joseph the adoptive father of Jesus brings to mind the Joseph of Genesis, and, as we have seen, there are many similarities between them. Both receive dreams and act on them. Both go to Egypt in order to protect their families. Both are righteous men, threatened by their own countrymen, by brothers.
Within Genesis, Joseph ben Jacob fulfills the promises to Abraham. Yahweh told Abraham that through his seed, all the families of the earth will be blessed. Though this promise is fulfilled completely in Jesus, it is also fulfilled within the book of Genesis itself. Joseph is the seed of Abraham who blesses the nations by providing food for a famine-stricken world.
Joseph the father of Jesus too fulfills the promises to Abraham, and in much the same manner. He goes to Egypt in order to ensure that the promises to Abraham will be fulfilled. He follows the Lord’s instructions to ensure that there is food for a hungry world. Jesus is the true bread that has come down from heaven, and Joseph acts repeatedly to ensure that this bread is preserved for the nations to eat.
Joseph son of Jacob became a great ruler, the second ruler of Egypt. Joseph the father of Jesus does not rule Egypt, and he does not even rule in Israel, but he is still a king. He is called “son of David” (Matthew 1:20); he administers the law with mercy; he receives revelation by dreams, as Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, and others kings did.
And as a king, Joseph ensures that the people have bread. Joseph the father of Jesus is obedient to the vision so that the bread of life born at Bethlehem, which is the house of bread, can be preserved as bread for the Gentiles.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
