The genealogy that began the chapter is necessary for framing Matthew’s story of Jesus’ birth. Somehow, Matthew has to demonstrate that Jesus rightly inherits the pedigree of Joseph even though Joseph is not his biological father. Yet, he still has to explain how it is that Mary is pregnant while upholding her honor. Having established Joseph’s ancestry, Matthew now turns to the matter of Mary’s unexpected condition.
1: 18-21. Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Mary and Joseph are not engaged in the modern sense, but have a formal contract of betrothal. Formal betrothal can only be broken by a bill of divorce, and it usually permits the couple to live together until the marriage is celebrated. So, Matthew feels it necessary to say that sexual intimacy hadn’t happened yet.
Twice in this paragraph, Matthew says that Mary has been made pregnant by the Holy Spirit. As such, this is virginal conception.[1] Those who want to say that this has parallels in Greek and other Ancient Near Eastern mythologies are stretching the point. Yes, there are stories of Zeus and other gods impregnating women, but they do so by taking the form of men, or in one case Zeus took the form of a goose (or swan) to seduce Leda, a queen of Sparta. The story of Jesus’ virginal conception is just that, virginal, no sexual intercourse. And, that condition continued until Jesus’ virginal birth. Keep moving; no parallel to see here.
That Joseph came from a conservative Jewish family is confirmed by the descriptor that he was a righteous man. That means that he lived by the Law. The sentence goes on to imply that he was also a gracious man, which is also prescribed by the Law, in that he was not willing to put someone he loved in a position to be shamed. Betrothal involved the exchange of money between families. In order to set that right in the case of a betrayal of trust, a formal appearance at court was required and a bill of divorce issued. Joseph will lose the money he has already paid since he has decided to divorce her quietly. He is willing to do that. The divorce papers will allow Mary to wed another man, so Joseph is treating her well.
As soon as Joseph has resolved on this gentle solution, God visits him in a dream. As in the Old Testament, the appearance of an angel who represents God is equivalent to the appearance of God. Joseph is like his namesake, Joseph the son of Jacob, to whom God appeared in dreams.
Once again, by the salutation, Joseph is identified as a son of David, thus reinforcing the idea that he is in a kingly line and his son will be a proper candidate to be king.
The directions for Joseph are clear. First, change your mind and take Mary as your wife after all. Second, accept that her pregnancy is the mysterious work of God. Third, when Mary does give birth to a son, you will name him Jesus. In effect, God is telling Joseph to go ahead and perform the duties of a godly husband and father. Joseph may endure gossip about this unusual pregnancy, but he will protect his wife as a husband should. Joseph may not be the biological father, but he is to assume the duties of a father, and that begins with exercising his right to name the child.
Still, it was God who chose the name and gave it to Joseph to bestow. The name is Jesus, or in Hebrew, Joshua. This comes from Yehoshua, ‘Yahweh saves’, which is shortened to Yeshua.[2] The explanation is given in the text, with the addition that it means that God will save his people from their sins. In this sense, the child will be ‘God’s salvation’.
1: 22-23. All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us’.
This is an interesting choice. Matthew himself decided that this interpretation applies to the current situation. Earlier we said that Matthew seems to be writing to Jewish Christians in the north of Israel and in Syria. This is the first of many citations from the Old Testament, so Matthew provides citations to back up his claims. In this case, he references only ‘the prophet’, but for first century Jews ‘the prophet’ was Isaiah.
The old story begins when Syria and Israel (the northern kingdom, called Ephraim in the text) conspire to conquer Jerusalem and replace the king. God sends Isaiah to King Ahaz to reassure him that this will not happen. Ahaz is afraid, so Isaiah says: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. … For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted” (Isaiah 7: 14-16).
We do not know who the young woman (Hebrew almah) was that Isaiah was referring to, but likely it was the king’s wife. She did give birth to Hezekiah who did good things as king. The Hebrew word here is not the usual one for ‘virgin’, so there is no hint here of a virgin birth or that that would be the sign. Instead, the woman is already pregnant. Isaiah says that before the boy begins to eat solid food, both Syria and Israel will be no more. Why not? Because Assyria will rise up and defeat them both. So, the prophecy first meant something to Ahaz and the people of Judah.
This tells us that Jews were not necessarily looking for a Messiah to arrive from a virgin birth. Matthew must have searched for this story and presented it in Greek with the word for ‘virgin’ (Greek parthenos). Nothing wrong with that. Any prophecy is capable of having several fulfillments. The woman in Ahaz’s court did give birth, and within two years the threat from Syria and Israel was gone. Now there is another situation to which the prophecy can be applied.
Now Matthew repurposes the prophecy with added meaning to the throne name, Immanuel. God was with Hezekiah when he pushed out pagan worship practices and purified the temple for the worship of Yahweh alone. Now, God will be with the people in a new way, in the person of Jesus. And, the purposes of Temple ritual will be fulfilled, God’s people will be saved.
1: 24-25. When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.
Joseph is presented by Matthew as an observant Jew, righteous in that he follows the Law, full of grace in that he forgives Mary of suspected indiscretion and protects her from charges against her character. This is very important in this culture that is built on notions of honor and shame.
Joseph is also presented as wise enough to be open to God’s redirection when he faces a problem. Joseph was seeking the will of God and thought he might have found it (Don’t expose her to disgrace, instead, divorce her quietly). But, Joseph received a new revelation from God.
Joseph’s wisdom and integrity are shown in that, what God through the angel asked him to do, he did. Joseph (1) took Mary as his wife, (2) took the role of a protective husband without engaging in intercourse until she had given birth, and (3) took the responsibility of a father to name his son, and named him Jesus.
Notice how carefully Matthew has positioned the birth of Christ as a respectable event in Jewish culture. Later in the New Testament, we will consider what the Incarnation meant (Try Philippians 2: 5ff). The point now is that God came to earth not as a generic human without any particular culture, but as a proper Jewish child in a proper Jewish family. That is the way that God so carefully deals with us. Incarnation is the model. As we witness to others, and as missionaries preach and perform the gospel among unreached people, Jesus must emerge in that language and that culture as Immanuel: God who comes specifically to them. We must not present an American Jesus who will not resonate with the people. By the missionary’s actions and words, Jesus becomes incarnate in a new language and culture. Then they understand that God comes to their community for them.
[1] A point emphasized by Witherington as well as Keener and Walton.
[2] Keener and Walton, The NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, (2019). Page 1622.