By his response to God’s prompting, Joseph makes the Christmas story possible. A father’s trust creates a space where children can grow and flourish.

I always feel rather sorry for the figure of Joseph in traditional nativity scenes. Christian art has traditionally represented him as older than Mary, but the sculptors of crib sets – at least the catalogue sort one normally sees outside churches – seem to be at pains to reinforce that he is definitively past it, with the result that he often looks implausibly decrepit.

I prefer the fourth century representation of Joseph in the Coptic icon that hangs in the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Cairo, depicting the flight into Egypt. Mary is seated on a donkey, with Jesus looking comfortably regal in her lap. Jesus’s left hand, supported gently by Mary’s, is pointing towards Joseph, who is walking behind. He is cheerful, protective, his eyes fixed on Jesus. There is something significant and touching in that moment of communication between Jesus and Joseph: Jesus pointing as if to say, “It’s thanks to him that we’ve escaped!”, and Joseph’s friendly shrug and open hand saying, “Hey, it’s nothing. You’re worth all the trouble in the world.”