The “ever greater God” who is always greater and invites us to follow him is a Lord who takes us seriously, takes up our weakness, our pusillanimity. It will do us good to listen to the Lord’s “Do not be afraid!” When he says to us, “Do not be afraid!” it is as if to say, “Have confidence!” This word reaches our hearts and saves us.
In the infancy narratives, God often tells Joseph and Mary: “Do not be afraid.” “The angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and said to him, ‘Joseph, son of David, have no fear about taking Mary as your wife. It is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived this child’ (Mt 1:20). Do not be afraid to recognize him, to bring him into the lineage of David, because he comes from the Holy Spirit and will save his people. In essence, the angel tells him, “Do not lack confidence in Mary.”
What is said about Joseph can be summarized like this: accept [this] mission from God, let yourself be led by God, embrace the hardship and danger in order to save the Savior. Joseph saves Mary’s reputation, the lineage of Jesus, the integrity of the Child, his rootedness in the land of Israel. … But at the same time he is the first one saved by God from a false conception of justice, closed God’s designs. Joseph is also saved from an isolated life, from a life that would have been perhaps less turbulent, but that would have lacked the consolation of carrying God in his arms.
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