Expert: Rev. Frank Ricketts - 12/31/2007

Question
I saw Ms. Lyons answer to a similiar question I had, but only confuses me more. The thing is I saw a movie about Joseph and Mary before Jesus was born and in the movie Joseph had been married before.......I am Catholic and have never heard this before,logically it makes sense, but was he and was he older like the movie showed.

Answer
Joseph, best known as the husband of Mary and earthly father of Jesus, is found in the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke. Joseph was a man of strong beliefs. He not only strived to do what was right but also to do it the right way. When his betrothed Mary came to him with the news of her pregnancy, he knew the child was could not be his.

Joseph decided he would break the engagement but determined to do it in such a way that it would not bring shame to Mary. He wanted to be just, acting with fairness and love. He had great respect for Mary’s character but her story of being miraculously impregnated by God’s Holy Spirit was difficult to believe. During this time of consideration, he was visited by a messenger from God confirming Mary’s story and convincing Joseph that Mary had not been unfaithful. God instructed Joseph to marry the young woman and honor her virginity until the baby was born. Joseph obeyed the Lord.

This must have been initially very difficult for Joseph to reconcile in his natural mind. But Joseph had to be a very spiritual and faithful man of integrity. It is not known how long Joseph was in the life of Jesus but he realized from the moment of the heavenly visit that Jesus was to be very special. The last time Joseph was mentioned in the Bible was when Jesus was 12 years old. We can assume, that being the honorable man he was, Joseph fulfilled the role of earthly father to the best of his ability with all the love any man can have for his son. Joseph was given and fulfilled the role of protector, provider and teacher, raising the young boy without any further reservation. God provided Joseph with assurance, strength, and the abilities of leadership to raise the child who was brought to be Savior.


There is no record in the bible of joseph being married before.

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