Matthew 1: Joe’s Christmas – Part 2

Word of the Week

December 20, 2025

Matthew 1: Joe’s Christmas – Part 2

 

But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. . .”

Matthew 1:20 NASB2020

Last week we began a look at the Christmas story through the eyes of Joseph, the most easily overlooked character in the narrative.  The Gospel of Matthew presents the birth of Christ from Joseph’s perspective, and we can see his predicament even more clearly when we consider the original Greek version of the story.

Joseph has his future all planned: marriage to a local girl and a nice career as a carpenter.  But that dream collapses when he discovers that his fiancée is pregnant.  What happens now?

Verse 19 describes a young man agonizing over the decision he must make.  He is a righteous man, who wants to do what is right.  But he is also a caring man, who wants to minimize the shame and the consequences that Mary could face.  So he comes up with a plan: he will cancel the marriage arrangements as unobtrusively as possible.

That’s where matters stood as we ended last week’s study.  But now God has another surprise in store for our friend Joe.

In Matthew 1:19, Joseph tries to settle down for a solid night’s sleep, but the Lord has other ideas.

An angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

Most angels start their messages by saying, “Fear not,” because people are cowering at the sight of an angel!  This time, the word is “Don’t be afraid to marry Mary.”  Joseph sees her pregnancy as a massive roadblock to their wedding plans because of her apparent unfaithfulness.  But the angel declares, “You don’t have to back off in fear.  Go ahead and marry her!”

Joseph, you see, has a false picture of the situation.  The angel goes on to explain, “The Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”  In the Greek text, the word order is significant.  The last word in the angel’s pronouncement is the word “holy.”  In fact, you might legitimately render the verses as “the Child conceived in her by the Spirit is holy.”  Regardless of the exact translation, the word underlines the importance of that word “holy.”  Joseph saw something sinful; God says it is something pure and holy – no sin involved!

Verse 21 sketches God’s plan.  First, Mary will give birth to a Son – that’s her part.  Second, Joseph will name the baby Jesus.  In this culture, fathers had the role of announcing the name of each new child.  (You can see how it worked when Zacharias named John the Baptist in Luke 1:63).  However, God takes over this time, prescribing the name for Joseph.

Why “Jesus”?

Because the Greek Iēsous [yay-SOOSS] was the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Joshua,” which means “Jehovah is salvation.”  The choice of name forecasts His mission.  This was no ordinary baby; he will grow up to be the Savior of the world.

Verses 22-23 explain that this miraculous conception is a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 which predicted that a virgin would have a baby. For a fuller explanation of this verse, see the Word of the Week article on “Virgin.”

Now Joseph awakes from his dream and faces a decision:  what is he going to do about this strange vision?  Is it real?  Is it actually a message from God?

The closing verses of the chapter make it clear that he chooses to believe the angel.  Even though it seems outlandish, contradictory to everything he has ever experienced, he accepts it as something coming from God Himself.

So he obeys the angelic instructions.  He took Mary as his wife.  He abstained from sexual relations with her until the baby was born.  And he named the baby Jesus.

A tidbit of Greek grammar dramatizes the situation:  when the verse describes Joseph taking Mary as his wife and naming the baby Jesus, it uses the aorist tense.  Aorist is the standard verb tense for describing an action.  It simply means you did the thing.  However, the story switches to the imperfect tense when it says that he avoided intimacy with Mary for the duration of the pregnancy.  Imperfect is the verb tense that describes action that continues over a period of time.  In this case, it stands as a reminder that a healthy young man living with the woman he loved exercised months of self-restraint, seemingly without complaint.  Here is a man committed to doing what is right!

The story of Joseph reminds us that there are times when we must follow God’s instructions, even if we don’t understand the divine plan.  Joseph trusted God enough to set aside his preconceptions and to carry out the Lord’s directions.  What a good example for us!

 

Study Hint:

For those who love to study the book of Genesis, there is a nice surprise in the Greek of Matthew 1.  The Gospel opens with the words “The record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”  However, the Greek text literally says, “The book of the genesis of Jesus.” (Matthew 1:1)

So just as the Old Testament begins with a Genesis, the New Testament opens with the “genesis” of our Savior.  Many New Testament manuscripts also use “genesis” in Matthew 1:18 – “Now the genesis of Jesus was as follows. . . .”

 

Coming Up

As we move into the beginning of a new year, it seems appropriate to consider the Greek word “genesis,” a natural signpost to beginnings.

©Ezra Project 2025