Discounting the viability of virgin birth, the speaker of Malcolm M. Sedam's "Joseph" poses as Joseph to act as an iconoclastic myth buster.
Malcolm M. Sedam’s poem “Joseph” from The Man in Motion consists of fifteen free-verse lines. The speaker takes on the character of “Joseph,” husband of Mary, Mother of Jesus in order to offer his opinion that while the virgin birth story is likely not true, the fact that Joseph raised the child Jesus, in fact, renders Joseph the father of Jesus.
This speaker’s stance is that of an avowed agnostic. Although he enjoys what he would consider “myth busting,” he would never go so far as to profess outright atheism.
What Joseph Actually Knew
The following important lines from the Gospel of St. Matthew 1:19-20 must be born in mind as the reader experiences this poem: “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”
In the same dream, it was further explained to Joseph that these bizarre events were, indeed, already spoken of in prophecy, which he had heard: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son.” Thus, Joseph understood his role in the coming of the messiah, and he behaved accordingly.
The Secular Postmodern Mind
The pseudo-scientific principles that became widespread with the rise of Darwinism led to the failure to grasp spiritual truths that appear in scriptural texts. Thus the notion of a virgin birth becomes, not only not debatable, but the object of scorn and ridicule.
The speaker in Sedam’s poem, posing as “Joseph,” therefore puts words in that ancient wise man’s mouth whose ideas Joseph would find outrageous: “Some things were never explained to me.” Everything he needed to know was, in fact, explained to him by the angel that appeared to him.
Choosing to Believe
The speaker declares, “I believed in her / because I chose to believe.” No, Joseph believed because the angel explained it to him, supporting her claim that she was, in fact, a virgin with child. Joseph had been mulling over the idea of divorcing her privately, but the angel made him realize that he had a part to play in this cosmic drama.
A Man’s Biology
This postmodern speaker, posing as Joseph, is blinded by his own testosterone; thus, he disingenuously proclaims with false modesty and an outright prevarication: “A man’s biological role is small / but a god’s can be no more.” God’s role can be no more than a man’s? It takes an astronomical amount of hubris to make such a claim.
And then the little human secularized mind commandeers the remaining lines as the speaker asserts, “I . . . was always there.” “I fed him, I clothed him, I taught him, I nurtured his growth.” I, I, I—until his last preposterous claim, “I was the father of Christ.”
The real Joseph would be astounded that anyone would ever have the temerity to characterize him this way.
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