Joseph’s dream

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Matt 1:18-25, NIV

I have hesitated to write this one (just because it includes a potentially significant shock), but it is, on the one hand, a good example of the “smoothing over the hard bits” tendency in our English translations; and on the other hand, a testimony to just how important dreams and other communications from God’s Spirit are in the successful execution of God’s assignments.

And as it happens, a planned execution is what has been papered over here.

Mary is betrothed to Joseph, and is found to be pregnant. Joseph is a just man and doesn’t want to expose her to public disgrace, so – as the English versions all say – “he had in mind to put her away quietly” or “to divorce her quietly”.

This ignores both the Greek and the context. Betrothed Jewish girls who lay with another man willingly (ie without screaming for help) were not divorced publicly or privately. They were stoned to death, in public. In Luke’s version, we hear the conversation between Gabriel and Mary, and her question: “how will this happen since I don’t know (in the sexual sense) a man?” What we don’t pick up is the implication of what Mary was saying ‘yes’ to; in her culture, extreme peril.

Let’s look at the Greek of verse 19 and 20:

Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν δειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν. ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου κατ’ ὄναρ ἐφάνη αὐτῷ λέγων· Ἰωσὴφ υἱὸς Δαυίδ, μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαρίαν τὴν γυναῖκά σου, τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου·

“Joseph her man (in this case as in ‘betrothed future husband’), being observant of custom (δίκαιος) but not willing to make a show of her, meant (which I suggest is best rendering of ἐβουλήθη, 3rd sg aor ind pass) to do away with (ἀπολῦσαι) her by stealth (λάθρᾳ). (While he was) planning (ἐνθυμηθέντος) these matters of his, behold a messenger (angel) of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t fear to take to yourself Mary your wife, for that which has been engendered / begotten / created in her is from Holy Spirit.”

So firstly, Joseph was observant of custom (meaning, as far as he could see, that Mary had to die) but he wasn’t willing to make a public show of her (which public stoning most certainly would have been). So he planned to have her done away with by stealth. We aren’t told how, or whether Joseph planned to do it himself; but clearly it could happen in those pre-CSI Miami days, and she and he would both be spared the shame (or at least that was his perspective).

But while he is making his plan, one of God’s messengers appears to him in a dream and does three things:

• He references Joseph’s descent from King David;
• He addresses Joseph’s fear of disgrace as an observant Jew; and
• He tells Joseph that the child conceived within Mary is from the Holy Spirit.

He then goes on to tell Joseph that Mary will give birth to a son, specifies His name (Yeshua, “the Lord saves”) and its relevance, ie that this child will save His people from their sins.

And here is the extremely relevant and widely applicable message of this passage: left to his own cultural and customary assumptions, (as it might be you or me and our cultural and customary assumptions and opinions, for example), the best Joseph could come up with is to kill his betrothed wife without putting her to shame.

High five, I don’t think.

But with a message from God, delivered in a dream, Joseph found a place to stand (son of David), a reason to take courage (don’t fear to act) and a reframing of his situation (the child in Mary is from the Holy Spirit). And a promise about God’s purpose: this is not just any child, but a son called Jesus who will save his people from their sins.

As far as we can tell, Joseph didn’t live to see Jesus fulfil His ministry, but he lived long enough to father Jesus’s many brothers and sisters with Mary, and in the meantime, protected God’s chosen one from Herod and others who meant to kill him.

Which was a good deal better than becoming the well intentioned man who killed God’s anointed; which is where his own instincts would have taken him.

So: how useful do you think Joseph’s dream was? And (assuming we would like to play our assigned parts in God’s plan rather than attempting to derail it), could we do with that kind of help, ever?

God’s word: don’t leave home without it.