St. Joseph & the Virtue of Disobedience
The Earthly Guardian of Jesus Teaches Us About Which Calls to Reject & Which Calls to Accept
Despite faux-pious claims to the contrary, obedience isn’t a virtue. If it were, then obedience to evil would be a virtue. After all, you’re being obedient!
Clearly, it’s not the “obedience” that makes an attitude or act virtuous. The virtue comes from whom or what you obey.
Anarchists know this all too well, as anarchism is defined by its refusal to recognize imposed, hierarchical social orders and their baked-in violence. Following the path of humane ethics and dignity, means disobeying the most dominant social pressures.
Christians would do well to understand this, too. Obedience is only good if what you obey is good. There’s no genuine virtue in being disciples of evil forces.
These principles were on my mind when I attended an event a few days ago about Saint Joseph, the betrothed/husband to Jesus’ mother Mary and the earthly guardian of the child Jesus. Joseph’s heroism is often lauded as examples of “obedience.” But such a label tells merely half the story.
St. Joseph’s obedience requires blatant disobedience
The Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke each include brief accounts of Jesus’ lineage, Mary’s pregnancy, and Jesus’ infancy/childhood. Luke focuses on events from Mary’s perspective and notes some of Mary’s thoughts explicitly spoken. Matthew concentrates on Joseph’s vantage point, attributing no words to Joseph, only actions.
Matthew records two major instances in which Joseph is in spiritual angst and wakes from a “dream” in which he heard a call from God to take drastic — and counter-cultural! — action to save Mary and Jesus from danger.
First, from Matthew 1:18-25, Joseph learns that the woman to whom he is betrothed (betrothal is an early, legal stage of marriage) is pregnant. And Joseph isn’t the biological father! According to the Law of Moses, Mary could be killed by stoning for what appears to be the crime of adultery (Deuteronomy 22:20-21).
Joseph initially decides to “divorce her quietly” and spare her any “shame” (and the awful penalties of the law). But then Joseph goes even further down the roads of both obedience and disobedience, when he hears a call to “[take] his wife into his home.”
In doing so, he subjects himself to some of the same disapproving social reactions that Mary endures, due to a pregnancy during betrothal (when the man and woman weren’t yet supposed to be sharing a home).
And this is only the beginning of Joseph’s struggle with competing loyalties!
Because after Jesus is born, a second major sequence of events happens (Matthew 2:13-23). Joseph gets a sense that something is especially amiss in the government of King Herod the Great. Joseph accepts the hardship of leaving his community and way of life to escape with Mary and Jesus to Egypt.
Soon after, the loyal residents of “Bethlehem and its vicinity” suffer the Massacre of the Infants, which I covered in greater depth in an earlier Substack article.
For Joseph, obeying God’s good calls means disobeying the corrupt calls of the Law of Moses, coercive civil authorities, tribalism, nationalism, and his known surroundings. His virtue rests in whom and what he follows.
Insourcing vs. outsourcing ethics
In these important examples, Joseph lives the same lessons on virtue and moral behavior that Jesus will eventually model and teach in astounding ways.
As I highlight in the Introduction of my book, Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen (Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Lulu), the difference between neighbor and citizen is one of deepest loyalties and values:
Good neighbors “insource” their ethics; charity and friendship are the key virtues of their relationships. Good citizens “outsource” their ethics; compliance with the commands of rulers and enforcers is a fundamental and necessary aspect (some might call it a “civic virtue”).
Good neighbors consent. Good citizens conform.
In a world of competing influences, every act of obedience is also an act of disobedience. To be virtuous, Joseph must discover which calls to accept and which calls to reject.
He chooses wisely.
He’s a good father, good husband, good protector, good provider. He’s a good believer, and a believer in good.
He’s a Good Neighbor. And in at least two major, long-term examples, a Bad Citizen.
Is God calling you … to the Comments?
How do you navigate rival influences?
What do you think of Joseph’s willingness to sacrifice for the good of Mary and Jesus?
Whom or what are you obeying/disobeying in your life?
Anything else interest you from this article?
There’s never any requirement that you obey me, heh; Comments are totally voluntary! I’m always grateful for all of you who make the time and effort to share your thoughts …
"In doing so, he subjects himself to the some of the same disapproving social reactions that Mary endures, due to a pregnancy during betrothal (when the man and woman weren’t yet supposed to be sharing a home).”
I think the first “the” can be deleted.