Context No. 2799 of 4322 · Matthew
Context · Reflection
Matthew 1:17-25: in context
17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the exile to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon to the Christ, fourteen generations. 18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: After his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, intended to put her away secretly. 20But when he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take to yourself Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.” 22Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, 23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.” 24Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself; 25and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.
After tracing the generations in three sets of fourteen, Matthew tells the nativity from Joseph's side. Mary is found with child before they come together, and Joseph, a righteous man unwilling to expose her to shame, decides to divorce her quietly. Then an angel meets him in a dream: do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child is from the Holy Spirit. You shall name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All of it fulfills the old promise, Immanuel, God with us.
Notice Joseph. He never speaks a word in the whole Gospel; he simply does what he is told. He absorbs a costly, bewildering situation, sets his own reputation aside, and takes on a fatherhood that is not biologically his because God asked it of him. His righteousness turns out to be obedience and mercy woven together. And the names carry the whole gospel in miniature: Jesus, the LORD saves; Immanuel, God with us.
When God asks me to take on something costly and confusing that I did not choose, can I obey as quietly and fully as Joseph did?
Sources
- Matthew 1:21: "She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins."
- Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
- Matthew 1:24: "Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took his wife to himself."