Hi, I'm Dr. Nick Liebitz, with ScriptionTradition.com. I just want to talk with you a little bit about St. Joseph.
And the question that often comes up, why did St. Joseph die before Jesus' public ministry? I mean, if you think about it, it's kind of heartbreaking. You kind of want to see St.
Joseph there during the three years of his public ministry when he was teaching and preaching and healing, and you want to see St. Joseph be at Mary's side at the foot of the cross, consoling her, who have St. Joseph witness the resurrection and be there at Pentecost, all these fantastic things. And St.
Joseph was not there. And you kind of wish you were. And so the question is why he wasn't St. Joseph present during all of these very significant events.
And there are various reasons that are offered out there, like when Jesus is talking about his father, but you didn't want people to be confused about, well, is this St. Joseph, you know, Jesus' father there, Nazareth, or is this his heavenly father? And so St. Joseph needs to be kind of out of the scene, out of the story.
So people kind of think, oh, yeah, he's talking about his heavenly father. And there's something to that. But I think there's more to it. And it occurred to me actually in prayer, doing a consecration to St.
Joseph. There's a couple of them I really, really like. And I was thinking about this question. Why couldn't St.
Joseph be present at all these public ministry, the public ministry? And what I realized was, well, I think the answer is in a couple of different places. Number one, you have to consider who St. Joseph is.
Number two, what St. Joseph does for Jesus and passing on this legal role? So who is St. Joseph?
Well, if you open up to Matthew chapter one, you read all of the genealogies there. It basically Matthew is proving in a variety of different literary ways that Jesus is descended from David. Jesus is the son of David, even like in Luke, the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary he is the son of David. He will take the throne of David's father.
But in Matthew, the genealogy is very clear. Joseph is in genealogy. Joseph is descended from David as well. And so David is giving, passing down the line all the way through Joseph to Jesus, this title as King of Israel.
And that's part of the reason why Joseph is the foster father of our Lord, because he gives to Jesus legally, completely, totally and legitimately the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the King of Israel. So those are two considerations. Now, when you apply this to the public ministry of Jesus, you have to consider that since Joseph is descended from David and he is the rightful heir and the descendant, hey, St. Joseph the King.
Nobody knows this. Everybody's like seeing Joseph there, working with wood and he's a carpenter doing his thing very humbly, very virtuously. But the fact of the matter is Joseph is the King. While he lived, he was the ruler of all of Israel.
He's going to pass on this authority to his son, Jesus Christ. So it's very fitting if you think about it. While Joseph lived, he's the King. So it makes sense then that before Jesus begins his public ministry, it makes sense that Joseph would need to pass away because that title and that role now goes to Jesus.
So the first word out of Jesus's mouth is repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. He is simultaneously saying, I am the son of David. I am the legitimate King and I am restoring the Kingdom. If Joseph was there, he would still be King.
So Joseph, to a certain extent, passes the baton down to his son. So Jesus is the de facto ruler and King of Israel and he's restoring the Kingdom. So I hope that makes sense. It just kind of came to me.
I wanted to share that with you because the question just come up in classes. Why wasn't Saint Joseph around? Well, it's fitting that he passes away because he's the King. While he lives, he's the King.
And now Jesus is the true King and it comes from Joseph. It comes right through from David, Solomon, all the way through Joseph to his son. So it's a beautiful thought. Hopefully that helps you in your reflections on the Gospels.
God bless you. If you get a chance, I appreciate you like, subscribe, share and comment. And we'll see you at ScriptRingsHush.com.