Morning Moments

The Chronological Life of Christ presents some interesting thoughts about Mt 1:22-25
that are certainly worthy of our attention -

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ”The virgin will be with child and will 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 had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

This prophecy is from Isaiah 7:14. There a word is used [alma] which may mean either virgin or young maiden. When the prophecy was first fulfilled about 732 b.c., the word meant “maiden.” God offered Ahaz a sign for the coming judgment upon Judah through Egypt and Assyria (Isa 7:11-19). A little boy would be born to a young woman. God said, “He will eat curds and honey at the time he knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken” (vv. 15-16). This has obvious meaning for Ahaz’s day. Some propose that this son is Hezekiah or some other member of the royal line. Others suggest it to be Judean boys in general. But the best contextual suggestion seems to be Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Isa 8:3).

With all of these suggestions, however, none will suggest the necessity of a virgin birth. This prophecy saw its greater fulfillment in the birth of Jesus, as is suggested from the context of the prophecy (Isa 8:17-18; 9:1-2, 6-7), as well as its inspired interpretation (Mt 1:23). Here, as well as in Luke, we are obviously talking about a virgin. Gabriel told Joseph that the life in Mary’s womb came from the Holy Spirit, not sexual union with a man. This virgin-born child would be called “Immanuel,” “God with us.”

The implication is that the transcendent God would dwell among men. The Israelites had seen a type of that in the Holy of Holies. But even then, only one man could speak with him and only once a year. There was also the picture of Adam walking with God in the cool of the day. Then there was this “human-looking” Son of Man in the clouds of heaven (Dan 7:13). However, God incarnate, in the person of Jesus, was beyond the wildest dreams of any Jew at that time.

When Joseph woke up, he knew that God had spoken to him in a dream. But how would Joseph have been able to distinguish this angelic message from a normal dream? The answer is quite simple—he could not and would not. The fact is that dreams were generally viewed by the Jews of the first century as divine communication, that is, as favorable omens from God. They were so common that the Talmud (Ber 55 b) says, “If any one sleeps seven days without dreaming (or rather, remembering his dream for interpretation), call him wicked” (as unremembered of God), (Edersheim, I:155). Consequently Joseph, in obedience to the dream, was willing to accept Mary as his wife.

Beyond the elaborate and legal betrothal, nothing was left but the wedding ceremony. After the ceremony, the woman would move in with her husband. We’re not told what kind of a ceremony they had. But once Joseph brought Mary to live with him, they were considered husband and wife. Still, Joseph doesn’t have sexual relations with her until after the birth of Jesus. This is not because sex is evil, but so that no one could deny the uniqueness and holiness of Jesus’ birth.

BLESSINGS!