by Tarcisio Stramare

Our imagination can hardly enter into the mystery of the Incarnation. Even though we believe that God truly became man "in every way" similar to us, except in sin, we instinctively think that there must have been some exceptions. The apocryphal literature of the first centuries, in fact, could not help but present Jesus as the protagonist of many wonderful episodes, which the Church, however, instinctively rejected, even if not irreverent, but simply because they went "out of the norm" of life of man, as Jesus wanted to be considered: citizen of an obscure country, Nazareth; son of a craftsman, Giuseppe. Even the iconography to which we are accustomed was unable to resist the exception, always depicting Jesus with a luminous halo, which was certainly not part of his figure. The Gospel of Matthew clearly points out the divine origin of Jesus, conceived by Mary through the work of the Holy Spirit. In this case it is a necessarily exceptional event, because it concerns the divine "pre-existence" of the Person of Jesus; it, however, was not at all flashy and consequently Jesus was considered “the son of Joseph”. The stories immediately following that of the conception immediately clearly show us the "fragility" of this God made man, who makes no use of his power, but like all other human beings "flees" from the dangers that threaten the life of he.
We do not want to enter here into the biblical theology of Jesus' escape into Egypt, his entry into the "land of Israel" and his home in Nazareth, stories of great interest for the evangelist Matthew, who sees in such episodes the realization of a divine plan already contained in the Old Testament. Instead, let us focus our attention on the "behavior" of Jesus, who totally relies on the decisions made by his putative father Joseph, clearly guided by the divine will, transmitted to him through the ministry of an angel, but "without discounts" on their execution; this behavior highlights his faith, which brings him closer to that of Abraham, the introducer of the Old Covenant, as Joseph was of the New, according to the happy intuition of John Paul II in the Apostolic Exhortation "The Guardian of the Redeemer" ( n.32).  
Origen (183-255), one of the most important personalities of the ancient Church, had already focused on this behaviour, which is typical of the mystery of the Incarnation. What need did Jesus have to flee to Egypt, given that God had the possibility of using other means? None, but "it was necessary that he who had decreed to live in a human way among men should not inconsiderately expose himself to death, but should let himself be guided by nourishment... What is absurd about him who had assumed human nature , provide in a humane way to face dangers? Not because this could not have been done in another way, but because Jesus' salvation had to be provided for in a certain way and order. It was certainly more than enough for the child Jesus to avoid Herod's snares, fleeing to Egypt with his parents until the death of the attacker." In short, for the defense of Jesus, who wanted to live in a human way, following the ordinary path, paternal protection had to be enough. Obviously Joseph could not be the old man created by the imagination of the apocrypha, consequently forced to invent an uninterrupted series of miracles to reach the happy ending. It follows that the invention of the "old man", despite its long success, must be rejected for the simple reason of its contradiction with the law of "normality", which must characterize the mystery of the Incarnation.
Even the bishop Saint Peter Chrysologus (380-450), a distinguished theologian of the incarnation of the Word, after having described with great eloquence and richness of comparisons the dangers and difficulties faced by the Holy Family, asks himself the question about an appropriate intervention of God to avoid them or at least limit them. “He whom virginity did not stop in his birth, whom reason did not oppose, whom nature was unable to resist, what power, what force, what danger now prevails to force him to flee?... Christ yes save by running away!”. After an engaging description of Christ's flight, the speaker concludes: “Brothers, Christ's flight is a mystery, not the effect of fear; it happened for our liberation, not because of any danger from the Creator; it was an effect of divine power, not of human frailty; this escape does not aim to avoid the death of the Creator, but to procure the life of the world." In short, we must take into account that God's plans are not ours.
In a sixth century homily, erroneously attributed to Saint John Chrysostom, the same theological problem returns. The speaker puts the question into Joseph's mouth to the angel about the reason for the command to flee: “How does the son of God flee from man? Who will deliver from enemies, if he himself fears his enemies ”. Here is the answer: “First of all, he flees to fully respect the rule of human nature, which he had assumed; in the particular case, because it suits human nature and childhood to avoid threatening power." The question is actually ours, because in fact Joseph didn't ask any questions, so prompt and generous was his obedience. The same author's comment on the angel's order is interesting: “Take the child and his mother” (Mt 2,13.20). “Do you see that Joseph was not chosen for an ordinary marriage with Mary, but to serve her? On her journey to Egypt and back, who would have helped her in such great need if she had not been married to him? In fact, at first glance, Mary fed the Child, Joseph looked after it. In fact, the Child fed his mother and Joseph defended her. Therefore he does not say: Take the mother and her child, but Take the child and her mother, because this child was not born for her, but she was prepared as a mother for that child. Nor was it her son's glory to have that mother, but her blessedness to have this son." In short, Mary and Joseph exist and live only for Jesus, who occupies the central place.
How many useful teachings come to us from the Gospel text, a true school of daily life. First of all, the importance of institutions, marriage at the forefront, assumed by the Son of God himself for his incarnation and consequently the first human reality "sanctified" by his divine presence. Furthermore, the role that is assigned to spouses in marriage in relation to children, who are not a simple programmable and available product. In the case of Mary and Joseph, it is true, it is the same Son of God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity; however, as far as we are concerned, it is equally true that every human person is an adopted child of God. Finally, we must believe that "divine Providence" is always present and active, even in cases where its action is not always understandable and, at times, even disconcerting.
Saint Joseph remains an "outstanding example" of faith and obedience for all spouses and fathers. The fact of not taking it into sufficient account in the past, marginalizing or even ridiculing its presence and figure, today has heavy repercussions on the image of marriage and its components, headed towards the commodification of their values.