Thank you readers of Think-Biblically.com for your feedback and valuable questions regarding our Christmas timeline. At your request we’ve put together a chart that shows much of what was discussed on Christmas Eve day and the Scripture passages that match the events. This probably should have been part of the article in the first place.

Another reader question: What happened to Joseph? Jesus’ earthly father appears throughout the birth narrative, and again when Jesus is age 12, but then disappears from the story altogether. Mary appears to be a widow at the time of Jesus’ first miracle (turning water into wine); Jesus asks John to care for his mother at his execution, indicating there was no husband to care for her. The Bible does not tell us what Joseph’s fate was.

According to the Eastern Orthodox Church Mary was Joseph’s second wife. His first wife, Salome, had passed away. Jesus’ “brothers”, then, were from Joseph’s first marriage. The Catholic church believes in Mary having remained sexually inactive throughout her life, interpreting Jesus’ “brothers” as cousins instead. Protestant churches do not hold to Mary’s perpetual virginity and largely teach that his brothers were half-brothers, the offspring of Mary and Joseph.

We know from Luke 2.22-.24 that Jesus was considered a “first son” and was dedicated at the temple as such. This would be unlikely if Joseph had other sons, even if they from a previous marriage. This makes the Protestant position more likely, and would indicate Jesus is the eldest son. What does all this have to do with Joseph? It could indicate that Joseph was older than Mary by more than just a few years and may have died of natural causes.

There is no tradition or explanation of Joseph’s death any time near his lifespan, indicating that at some point from the time Jesus is 12 years old to the time of his first miracle, roughly an 18 year span, Joseph passed away. We do know that he passed along his skill as a tradesman to Jesus, and that he was a very faithful follower of God. Unlike John the Baptist’s father, who first doubted the angel Gabriel’s message, Joseph believed and followed the angel’s direction without question.