The topic of where Joseph was when Jesus died is extremely popular. In fact, everything surrounding Joseph's life sparks interest in many scholars' minds. Not much is said about Joseph in the Bible, which is one of the main reasons, so many people are interested in Joseph's life. Joseph was an important person in the life of Jesus as well as an important person in the New Testament.
The Life of Joseph
As mentioned, not much is recorded in the Bible about Joseph. We are told that Joseph was a carpenter, and most likely, he raised Jesus in this profession. Also, we are told a great amount about Joseph's character through his actions.
Going back to when Mary was pregnant with Jesus, not many people would have remained engaged to Mary. Mary was a virgin, yet she was pregnant with a baby boy.
She was pregnant by divine intervention as she would be the mother of Christ. This is known as the miraculous conception within Christianity.
Many men during this time would have shamed Mary and made the whole town aware of her "infidelity," even though Mary had done nothing wrong. Even though pregnancy before marriage has become normalized in the modern day, back then, it was seen as horrific and terrible.
There was not much in the way of grace back then. Not to mention Mary would have been a teenager, with some scholars speculating around the age of 13 years old.
Instead of exposing Mary to a lifetime of embarrassment and shame, Joseph had in mind to separate from her and call off the wedding quietly so as not to ruin Mary's reputation.
This alone shows Joseph had a kind and gentle nature. We also see Joseph's nature in the sense that when Mary tells him she is pregnant divinely, he doesn't leave her. He decides to stay with her.
How many people in the present day, much less in the days of the New Testament, would have chosen to remain with Mary? Not many would have stayed as Joseph did. This shows us, yet again, how kind Joseph is and how much he loves Mary.
While Mary is in the end stages of her pregnancy, she and Joseph had to travel because of the census. Shortly after they arrived in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Jesus.
Joseph was present the entire time and most likely would have helped Mary deliver the baby. Joseph helped in every way he could, and he rejoiced that the baby was being born into the world.
Joseph would have been older than Mary. Scholars have differing views on this, with some saying 10 years older to some arguing up to 50 years older. It is more probable that the former view is more accurate than the latter view.
Nevertheless, Joseph would have been older than Mary. During Jesus' childhood and upbringing, Joseph would have fulfilled his fatherly role to his child and raised Jesus as his own. As mentioned, he would have taught Jesus his trade, which was carpentry.
By the time Jesus started His ministry, He was an adult. It is worthwhile to mention that throughout Jesus' ministry, Joseph is never mentioned again.
Mary was mentioned many times throughout Jesus' ministry, and she is present at Jesus' death as well as at His resurrection and after in the early church.
However, Joseph is not mentioned. The reason Joseph is not mentioned any time after Jesus' adult life and ministry is that He had probably already passed away.
The Bible doesn't tell us specifically when Joseph died; however, it would be most accurate to say Joseph died sometime before the genesis of Jesus' ministry.
The last mention of Joseph is when Jesus is 12 years old and stays behind at the Temple. The gospels mention his parents began looking for him. After three days, they find him, and Mary admonishes him saying, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you” (Luke 2:48).
Where Was Joseph?
The matter of knowing where Joseph would have been when Jesus died is straightforward to us. As we have established, Joseph would have already passed away before Jesus' earthly ministry. This would tell us that Joseph would have already been dead at the time of Jesus' death.
As kind and supportive as Joseph was to Jesus, he would have been present at the crucifixion if he was alive just as Mary was present. However, as it is, Joseph was not at Jesus' crucifixion because he had already passed away.
Joseph displayed incredible trust and faith in God throughout his entire life. He had faith in God and listened to the angel when he told Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to a different town.
Joseph didn't shrug this warning off, but rather, he took the warning to heart and did all he could to protect Jesus. As sad as it is, Joseph would not have been present at Jesus' death, yet Joseph is now with his son in heaven.
What Can We Learn from Joseph's Life
We can learn much from Joseph's life. He displays incredible trust in God and trusts in God's way even when it makes no sense to Joseph personally. Most of the time, everyone likes to comment on Mary's great faith, and she did have great faith, but often Joseph is overlooked.
He also showed his great faith and trust because, similar to Mary, his entire reputation could have been ruined as well. Despite the bad things that could happen, Joseph chose to trust God no matter the outcome.
Also, from Joseph's life, we are taught what it means to be truly caring, compassionate, and kind to others. Never in all the instances of Joseph's interactions with Mary is ever harsh or mean to her.
He is always gentle and kind. In the same way, never are we told that he treats Jesus in an unkind manner. He truly fulfills the role of an earthly father figure to the Lord. While Jesus did know who His true Father was, He also respected his earthly father.
While we are told that many of Jesus' own brothers didn't believe He was who he said He was, we are never told Joseph believed in this way.
While it is true that Joseph would have passed away by this point, Joseph would have most likely believed Jesus was the Messiah who was to come.
Through everything Joseph had seen and experienced, it would be highly unlikely for Joseph to not believe Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.
Thus, Joseph was most likely already dead by the time Jesus died. Since Joseph is never mentioned in the gospels after Jesus' earthly ministry starts, it is most probable that Joseph died sometime before the start of the Lord's ministry.
It is also important to note that if Joseph was still alive during the time of Jesus' crucifixion and death, He would have been present just as Mary was present.
Even though Jesus wasn't Joseph's true son, Joseph loved Jesus greatly and raised Him as his own. It is disheartening that the Bible doesn't tell us exactly the time Joseph died, yet we can tell from the surrounding context in the gospels when Joseph most likely would have passed away.
Why Does This Matter?
While the Bible doesn't tell us the exact details about every single person's life, it does tell us everything we need to know about Jesus, salvation, and how to live to bring glory to God.
What we do know is that Joseph passed away before Jesus' earthly ministry and was not present at His death. This is sad; however, Joseph is once again with Jesus now in heaven.
For further reading:
Why Did an Angel Speak to Joseph about Mary and Jesus?
Did Mary and Joseph Really Stay in a Cave?
What Is the Significance of the Women at the Cross?
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