Nazareth
The death of Joseph. It has come as a shock to the family.
A shock. Think of it: a shock!
Of course, the funeral has to be done as soon as possible. The climate in Palestine is forcing the inhabitants thereof to hurry up. The corpse of the old carpenter of Nazareth is covered up with white linen from Egypt. The face is bound with a scarf. His wife, now a widow, Mary (her name means "bitter"), could not but wail at the death of her husband! How can this happen? Why did God let this happen?
Now the adolescent men of the wayward city get a cot and take the body of Joseph carefully to the stretcher. They are worried that they would die and so leave their families alone in this cruel world. But they cannot prevent death from coming.
Mary is about to collapse to wail on the floor, but her grown son could not let her. "Oh, dear woman," he says. "Look, I understand you. Believe me."
Jesus and his brothers and sisters try to get Mary to control herself. But she cannot help it. "Oh, Joseph!" she would exclaim time and time again. "Why, God? Why must he die?"
Mary is at the point of gloom. She at least has 7 children with her: 1 son, 4 sons—James, Joseph Jr., Simon, and Judah—who was brought over from Joseph's earlier marriage, and 2 daughters from her. Those 4 sons were from the same Joseph after he was widowed.
Now it is Mary who is widowed. "How I hate that disease! It took away noble Joseph from me!" Mary moans.
"Mother," replies James, the eldest of the children, "it is time to carry him to be buried."
Now he turns to the 2 young men. "What are you waiting for? Let's go! On with it!" James has a voice that sounds like he has authority.
Jesus sighs. How can he be so sure of himself? I am certain James wants to be a leader someday... someway.
Now the stretcher with the body is carried out of the chamber, then out of the house. Mary and the children follow them out. Jesus is right at his mother's side. He is sympathetic with her concerning her loss, especially regarding Joseph. He remembers working with him at the carpenter's shop with his step-brothers. He was like a father to Jesus.
But Jesus knows Joseph is not actually his father.
There are wailings from those haunting the funeral. As they pass the city gates, the Jews have to pass through the Roman soldiers dressed in red suits and with iron armor and helmets. They are commissioned at the gates.
Oh, how the Jews hate the fact that they are not independent anymore. They had lost that precious independence some 85 years ago, and the Romans now dominate them! Their land is part of the powerful Roman Empire, but the Jews never asked to be part of the Roman world.
There have been seditions, and there will still be revolts against the iron fist of Rome. But they will fail! But that does not stop the Jews from trying. There is now a sect that does not believe in Rome ruling the Jews: the Zealots.
Nazareth's people are often associated with the Romans, since many soldiers are housed nearby the city. Jews hate even mentioning the city. Those in Jerusalem call it a wicked city, just as much as Magdala, a major fishing center where Romans also rule.
Now the funeral parade exits out of the hilly town of Nazareth, with mourning and displays of sobbing. People walk shoeless. Others shred up part of their woolen garments. And still others splash dust all over their heads. People beat their breasts to express their customary grief concerning the town carpenter. They cross by fig trees, olive trees, and some cypresses.
They finally arrive at the place: an already dug grave on the ground some four feet deep. The elder of the synagogue at Nazareth is there too. He was a friend of Joseph. He just is not of Jesus, since Jesus refuses to accept the oral and sacred traditions. Jesus would ask, "Is this what the Lord says?" or "Where is it written in Scripture?" or "Does this fall in line with the Word of God?"
Ugh. The rabbi can't take enough! He thinks Jesus is irritating for his refusal to comply with their traditions.
Before the body of the carpenter is laid to rest in the earth, the elder, rabbi Joel, has everyone stop. Now he makes a speech. "You know, it's really quite impressive to me. Joseph."
Mary is at the point of wanting to wail.
Joel continues, "This... Joseph was a pious man, committed to the Law of Moses. He became a carpenter because of his father, Jacob. Jacob was also a devout man. Yes, His whole life was spent being virtuous. Now, Joseph had married a woman, Judith. He had four children from her. When Judith died, he engaged with—"
"Me," says Mary softly, now sobbing harder, yet still quieter.
"—Mary, over there."
Everyone turns to Mary; everyone knows her. The rabbi proceeds, "But if you were around years ago, you'll remember that she was... already pregnant.
"Yet Joseph married her anyway. That's when... when Jesus was born. Yes, him."
Mary and Jesus knew Jesus was born at Bethlehem of Judea, but of course the rabbi is going to drop that detail. He does not want to give the impression Jesus might be the Messiah, who, Scripture says, should be born in Bethlehem.
Joel notices that James is not emotional like the others. "James," he says, "go ahead and wail."
James, surprised by the sudden mention of his name, tries to wail.
Joel resumes. "Anyways, when the family returned, there Joseph continued in his carpentry. He still matched the Law of Moses. It's just that neither he nor Mary sent Jesus to synagogue school. But, Jesus, how. He did not match with the traditions of the elders—which ought to be kept at all times." Then he makes a slight scoff. "And no wonder he's so stubborn in his defiance of the traditions, which must be honored."
This comment makes Mary, Jesus, and even the whole family, look bad before others. Indeed, James and the other sons of Joseph had multiple times tried to get Jesus to follow the traditions and not to discredit the family. They always get the response: "But is this what God commands?"
The rabbi says, "But Joseph is—was still honest and upright. And yes, I'm certain God has him a place."
Mary closes herself up to the hole, her son Jesus helping her in every step.
The widow had teary eyes as she hears the rabbi say "Amen" and the body is being laid down into the crypt. The rabbi adds, "I have hope that one day there will be a day when men can be free from sin."
The people say their "Amen"s.
Especially Jesus of Nazareth.
Soon the hole will be covered up and the site marked with some stones that are coated in white.
"Jesus, I'm sorry you had to hear that," says Mary to Jesus, "again. Again and again, you had to hear that, son. You had to put up with the village gossip."
Jesus at first says zero. Then he speaks silently to Mary. "And thank you for caring so much. I'll need that, but you know someone else cares for me; you know."
Now Joseph is buried as the shrouded body gets covered up by the brown dirt. Finally, the hole is covered up.
"Joel, if you—" says Mary.
"Yes, yes," says Joel, turning to the widow, "It's true. Oh, it's true. So much. Yes, we must cover the grave with whitewashed stones, that none may be defiled touching a grave. Because in that grave—"
Mary signals for Joel to stop. Joel finally turns to the others.
"Get at it, then!" says Joel in an impressive voice. "No one ought to be unclean touching a grave!"
So the whitewashed boulders are placed about where the hole used to be. But Joseph is still there, resting, waiting to be rejoined to the dust.
"It is done," says the rabbi.
Now Joel turns over to Mary. He snubs Jesus and says to her, "Take courage. You are a lucky widow. Think of all the widows with no descendants. Lucky you."
Joel walks on his way. Jesus finally lets go of Mary. She falls on her knees; now she's praying to God. "Oh, God! I do not... grasp why you let noble Joseph die. But, but may your will be done!"
"Now that's my mother," says James in the distance.