The Family in the Creche

At the center of the Christmas crèche is a family, usually Jesus in a manger, Mary seated, and Joseph standing. When God sent His Son into the world, He gave Him to a father-mother family to raise. There are four things to observe about Jesus' earthly family. First, Joseph was of the House of David, so his legal son would have a legal claim to the throne of Israel. The first thing said about Jesus Christ in the New Testament is that He is the Son of David (Mt 1:1), and the last thing that He says about Himself is that “the root and offspring of David (Re 22:16).” The second thing obvious from the crèche itself is that Jesus grew up in a family with a married father and mother. Joseph married his virgin wife Mary according to God's instructions in a dream, and she remained a virgin until Jesus was born. Joseph was the head of the house. He named Jesus, he took the family to Egypt to protect Jesus, he raised Jesus as a faithful Jew, and he taught Jesus his trade of carpentry. In some circles it was fashionable for a time to describe Mary as an unwed mother, but that is false. She was married to Joseph and bore him at least six children. The four sons are named in Matthew 13 and sisters are referred to. So Jesus grew up in a large family of at least seven children. But his brothers did not at first believe on Him, so from the cross he entrusted his mother Mary to his disciple John, not to one of His brothers. Jesus' entrusting of His mother to John brings us to the fourth thing about Jesus' family: it was not the most important loyalty in His life. Obedience to His Father in Heaven came first.