Joseph is considered the patron of a happy death because the Bible implies that he died in the company of Jesus and Mary, before Jesus' ministry and death. But in life, too, Catholicism sees Joseph as an encouraging ideal: a man who carried out his important role in the family with hope and joy.
The text states that Joseph was miraculously blessed with mental and physical youth, dying at the age of 111. His oldest sons (Justus and Simon) get married and have children, and likewise his two daughters get married and live in their own houses. Joseph's death takes up a substantial portion of the text.
Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt as refugees.
A careful look at the New Testament shows that Mary kept her vow of virginity and never had any children other than Jesus. When Jesus was found in the Temple at age twelve, the context suggests that he was the only son of Mary and Joseph.
Her age during her pregnancy has varied up to 17 in apochyphal sources. Hyppolitus of Thebes says that Mary lived for 11 years after the death of her son Jesus, dying in 41 AD.
In another early text, The History of Joseph the Carpenter, which was composed in Egypt between the 6th and 7th centuries, Christ himself tells the story of his step-father, claiming Joseph was 90 years old when he married Mary and died at 111.
The High Priest ordered them to each bring a rod; he that owned the rod which would bear flowers was divinely ordained to become Mary's husband. After the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and caused Joseph's rod to blossom, he and Mary were wed according to Jewish custom.
Most of the ancient commentators of the Bible interpreted it as meaning that Joseph was law-abiding, and as such decided to divorce Mary in keeping with Mosaic Law when he found her pregnant by another.
According to Christianity.com, Mary was 46 to 49 years old when Jesus died. Britannica states that she “flourished” from 25 B.C. to A.D. 75. Assuming this is in reference to her lifespan, according to Britannica, Mary was approximately 54 to 59 years old when Jesus died.
God chose Mary for the special privilege of being the mother of His Son Jesus, and He chose Joseph for the special privilege of being Jesus' adoptive father. It was not necessary for Jesus to have an earthly father.
According to Mark 6:3 Jesus had four brothers (and two sisters): "Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?
After Jesus' death, the most controversy around Mary Magdalene's life would unfold. In all four Gospels, she is the first to witness Jesus after his resurrection. Believed to be the Jesus' favorite by the apostles, Mary is asked to reveal secret teachings given to her by Jesus while consoling the apostles.
The brothers of Jesus or the adelphoi (Greek: ἀδελφοί, translit. adelphoí, lit. "of the same womb") are named in the New Testament as James, Joses (a form of Joseph), Simon, Jude, and unnamed sisters are mentioned in Mark and Matthew.
Some scholars believe that Jesus' father Joseph died when he was about 12 and that this traumatic event could have been the catalyst for him, still as a young boy, to begin a personal quest to attain spiritual enlightenment. This 'walkabout' lasting nearly two decades may have started shortly after he was 13-years-old.
Later, in the same spot, an angel appeared in Joseph's dream telling him to return to Palestine as Herod was dead. The Holy Family took almost the same route on their journey back to Palestine, after spending over three years in Egypt.
Jesus is sometimes referred to as Jesus Christ, and some people assume that Christ is Jesus' last name. But Christ is actually a title, not a last name. So if Christ isn't a last name, what was Jesus' last name? The answer is Jesus didn't have a formal last name or surname like we do today.
Joseph and Mary were distant cousins. They each fulfilled the prophecy that the messiah would descend from the house and lineage of King David. Jesus' legal title to the throne of King David was through Joseph, but his blood title to the throne was through Mary.
Mary as the masterwork of God
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraphs 721–726, claims that Mary is the first dwelling-place of God in salvation history. As such, she is the masterwork of God and the start of God bringing mankind into communion with Jesus.
Description. Mary is supported as she cries when Christ is condemned to death.
He was born of a Jewish mother, in Galilee, a Jewish part of the world. All of his friends, associates, colleagues, disciples, all of them were Jews. He regularly worshipped in Jewish communal worship, what we call synagogues. He preached from Jewish text, from the Bible.