Joe was not just your average Joe - he was of royal descent; if not ennobled, he was threaded and blooded - and he was successful; so successful that he probably did during tax-time what I used to at work when there was a fire drill - locked himself in his office doing whatever it was he did with his hands until The Man came by to tell him he'd better get his type A together and head for Bethlehem or there just might be some PENALties in it for him. The reservations were never made, he showed up feeling like the mule he found out he was going to have to share quarters with. The Son of God's Stepdad (The Divine Cuckold) - that gets me - hey, if my wife had sex with God, I'd at least want a little, too - anyway, all things considered there had to be some sort of compensation; ergo, success. By the time they got to Nazareth, Joe needed a job, and he got one - bear with me.
With all of the travelling they did for the first year of Jesus' life - they had to have money - bribes paid to the Romans, the Jews, any bandits they may have come across (what do you think they payed their taxes with, VISA? The Temple changers, mose likely - but a bank note from a Temple could be sold or stolen without too much of a fuss)- unless you say that Jesus' divinity did the deal; which is as good, if not better - if you didn't have the gold or lambs to pay the banditos, you'd get your throat cut for a good eatin' mule; that's some hard country out there. They had to camp, which meant support staff; especially with a pregnant and then recently delivered woman. Nobody mentions the help, but, they had it - so, if Joseph was 'average', then the standard of living must have been damn near that of a water-fat Utopia.
He was wealthy, and he was skilled -
The Jews were struggling to eat - and it was never indicated that Jesus grew up in squalor. No way, they took him to Passover feast every year - and when he went to hang out in Temple, his parents didn't even know he wasn't with them, for a whole day - they must have been really busy keeping track of the support staff and stuff that were with them - some of whom were supposed to keep an eye on the kid (kids, by then.) I know I can't afford to go to NYC for Chrimas every year, and there is equivalency in these analoguous ideas; Passover means lotsa food, lotsa presents, lotsa schmoozing; and ritualistic
everything.Luke reported that, after the fast and feast and fest with the rich and famous at Temple (2:52) "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."
By this verse alone, it's pretty obvious that Jesus ate well (grew in stature), didn't have any major problems, and learned his learnin' well (the wisdom part); a divine child should be King's College material (hey, they let Maugham and Tolkien in), and he impressed people with his either his skill in his trade - who taught him? Nazareth was a village that might has well have been in BFE.
Whatever the case, there is every indication that Maslowe's hierarchy of needs was being met pretty solid.
The idea of a hungry, rag-wearing, desperate kid growing up to be a learned Rabbi, prophet, and Incarnation of The Divine One a bit twisted - that's just church propaganda to help people feel complacent int their post-tithe poverty (sure, 10% goes to the church, but you're not considering the huge amount spent of Yahweh knows how many feast days, offering days, etc. ad alcohol - it numbs the pain.)
So, I think I've established that; for Jesus to be BMOC with the priests, he had to have some background - he wasn't fully transfigured until after the temptation in the wilderness almost 18 years later - he had to get his education the meat way.
Another point people sometimes overlook - there wasn't a lot of wood in that area - if Joseph was a tekton, someone who worked with his hands building things; someone who made a good living doing it, while living in VBFE then he was probably working for the Romans, wealthy citizenry who probably lived in Jerusalem, or for that craven idiot Herod, someone like him, or, at least, one or the court pets that were always hanging out wherever favor or money might be had.
King Herod's Temple was begun in 19 BCE. This was more like a total refit of Zerubbabel's Temple, (also known as
The Second Temple built around 515 BCE), with some major additions. The project requred 10,000 skilled workers; and around 1,000 Levites (hereditary Temple workers) who were trained as carpenters, masons, etc., to service the areas of the temple where laymen were not permitted to go.
Did Joseph work on any part of Herod's Temple? Jose Saramago believes so.
Bob Corbett wrote:
excerpted from
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST
By Jose Saramago. Translated from the Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero from the 1991 O EVANGELHO SEGUNDO JESUS CRISTO.
...
how do Joseph and Mary eat? Jesus is feeding at the breast, but Jewish law requires a 33 days laying-in period for the woman followed by an animal sacrifice in the temple for purification. Joseph and Mary are quite poor and young with no savings. Joseph must find work and Saramago puts him to work in the reconstruction of the temple in near-by Jerusalem. The angel messenger turns out to be a disgruntled soldier talking with his buddies about this crazy job Herod has given them. Joseph overhears this complaint of the madness of Herod, the horror of having to kill these young children, but the impossibility of resisting his order without getting themselves killed. When Joseph hears that the slaughter is to be in Bethlehem he races off to save Jesus and hides Jesus and Mary deeper in their cave.
...and he goes back to work - in the midst of some 11,000 skilled people who are being underpaid and oppressed, not just by the Romans, but by Herod, as well - the kind of place where
secret societies pop up. They couldn't do much about Herod, but the Romans were another matter - this particular instigation developed over several decades to rebellion, and was put down (rather nastily) in about 70 CE.
He was God's step-dad, had a good amount of respect, if not influence among his peers - and people liked his son. He certainly knew about the plumb line, the level, the compass, and the square- I'm sure, like anyone doing any kind of construction, he used them ever day.
My conjecture - Joseph was not an average Joe, a nobody - he was one of, if not The progenitor of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
