Joseph Wolf

Our story is about a little Jewish boy who lived just a few hundred years ago. Little Joseph was born into a Jewish family and as he grew, his parents taught him Hebrew. Joseph learned to read the Hebrew Bible and to speak the Hebrew language. When he was 7 or 8 years old, his parents arranged for him to attend a Christian school in the neighborhood, but with the agreement that when anything from a Christian point of view was taught, Joseph would be excused from class and be allowed to stay home. He was just going to school to learn mathematics, reading, and science but nothing about Christianity because, remember, Joseph was a little Jewish boy.

As Joseph grew, he made friends in his neighborhood, and when he was a teenager, he made friends with his barber who was a Christian. The barber asked Joseph questions about the Old Testament, especially about the book of Daniel, for which Joseph really did not have the answers, but Joseph knew his father would know! For you see, his father was a rabbi and his father knew “everything” about the Old Testament! So, Joseph took his perplexing questions about the prophecies in the book of Daniel home, but Joseph’s father did not seem to have the answers and, instead, sent Joseph away. Joseph finally thought that if he wanted to understand anything about the book of Daniel, he was just going to have to study for himself. And he did! He studied (remember he could read and understand the original Hebrew), he asked his barber questions, and do you know what? Joseph realized that although the Jewish people were looking for the Messiah to come, the Messiah had already come! He learned this from the book of Daniel, and he knew that if he were going to be honest with his faith and to God, he had to accept Jesus as his Saviour. And he did! And he became a Catholic.

Joseph was a very intelligent young man. By this time, he was fluent in Hebrew, German, and Greek, and now he began to study Arabic because Joseph had a great desire to be a missionary to the Muslim world, as well as to the people of his birth. He wanted to tell them all about Jesus, the Messiah, but he was also going to Muslim lands, too, to tell those people about the Messiah.

The Catholic Church realized the talents Joseph had and wanted to use him in work for the church, so they sent him to school. While he was attending one of the Catholic universities in Italy, he had a friendly visit with the Pope! The Pope told Joseph that he was very happy Joseph was in Italy (Joseph was born in Germany) and that he wanted Joseph to stay in Italy and continue studying at the Catholic universities. Joseph put his hand on the shoulder of the Pope and said that he would be happy to learn at their universities. And he did.

While at the first Catholic university, he told a fellow student his story of meeting the Pope and putting his hand on the Pope’s shoulder. That student stood back aghast and said, “You didn’t touch the Pope, did you? Why the Pope is infallible! Anything he says is true!” Joseph looked at his friend and said, “He is a human being like you and me. He is not infallible! The only one infallible is God!” When Joseph’s teachers learned of the conversation with his friend, they realized they had someone on their hands who wasn’t quite under their wings, so to speak, and they thought it best to send Joseph to different Catholic school. While there, Joseph became friendly with one of the teachers and learned from him that the Catholic Church burned martyrs. Joseph said, “That’s not right! You are not supposed to burn people!” But the teacher said, “No, the church has the authority to do that.” Joseph responded by saying, “The Bible says ‘Thou shalt not kill!’ You cannot burn martyrs. It is wrong!”

Once again the teachers knew Joseph still was not under their wing, so they sent him to another school because they wanted Joseph to learn Catholic ways and be a help to the church, for he was very intelligent and energetic and knew many languages. So, they sent him to another school. That did not quite work out either because Joseph stood up for what he knew the Bible said. He knew the Old Testament in Hebrew backwards and forward, and when he was taught things that were not biblical, he spoke up.

Well, Joseph made a friend while he was attending school who was from England, and this person was a Protestant. This friend also recognized Joseph’s worth and said, “You should come back to England with me. We can study the Bible and make a plan for your life.” Joseph, however, was not quite ready to leave Italy, but he could see that his teachers were becoming more controlling and were trying to get him to accept their doctrine and teachings, even if they were not biblical.

One day Joseph was in his room and went to leave but found the door locked. He thought it was because it was night and the doors were locked for safety. He knew he would be fine for the night, and he just went to bed and slept. But the next morning the door was still locked. He did not understand what was happening, but something in the back of his mind made him a little anxious. Well, his teachers were getting ready to send him to another school, this time accompanied by a guard.

Joseph went to this next place of higher learning with letters of recommendation from the cardinals at his former school, and everything seemed to go smoothly. But while there, he met another person from England and this person asked him, “Are you Joseph?! Joseph Wolff? The Joseph Wolff?!” Joseph said that he was, and this new person said, “Well, I have a letter for you,” and it was from his friend in England. The letter said, “You need to come to England and study with me. This lady is a Christian, and she will help you make arrangements to travel.”

Joseph decided it was time to go to England, and the long story made short is that Joseph left the Catholic Church, became a Protestant, and then he went on his missionary journeys to the Far East and to Jerusalem. While he was on these journeys, he was chased by pirates, and he was captured by Turks and Muslims, who thought, at first, he was their friend because he could speak their languages, but when he began to talk about his God in heaven, about the Bible, and about Jesus Christ, then things changed. At one particular camp, the commander was a strict Muslim and said, “What are you doing teaching these things and speaking to my people about them? You are an infidel!” And he ordered for the soles of his feet to be lashed 200 times. Because of this, Joseph was not able to stand for three weeks, but he did not give up! If you see drawings of Joseph riding on a mule with nothing on his feet and his hands tied, it is because he had been taken captive and he could not wear anything on his feet.

On another occasion, Joseph was invited into the tent of the Turkish commander because Joseph spoke Arabic and he was thought to be a friend, but when it was learned that he was a Christian, they said, “You’re an infidel! We are going to kill you!”

Joseph said, “You cannot do that. The Koran says you can’t!”

“What do you mean!? The Koran says we are to kill infidels!”

“But I am your guest, and the Koran says you do not kill your guests,” answered Joseph.

And, so, they could not kill him. The commander said, “All right! You will buy your freedom with everything you have. It is ours.” And they stripped him of all his clothes, took everything he owned, and then put him on a mule and sent him away. And he traveled that way until he found someone who was willing to give him clothes. But Joseph was of good courage, and he did not mind being treated like this because he was a missionary for Jesus.

Joseph shared his faith and told everyone he could about the God in heaven and that the Messiah had come! And that he is coming again and they needed to be ready! It did not matter to him if he could not stand because his feet were badly wounded. It did not matter if all his clothes were taken from him or if he was chased by pirates. Many things happened to Joseph as he witnessed for Jesus, but his friend was Jesus. He did not travel alone, and he did not give up! Maybe you will be a missionary one day like Joseph.