Day 17—Tuesday, December 16

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25

JOSEPH’S DREAM
Put yourself in his sandals: the woman who is to be his wife, Mary, is with child. Initially, Joseph considers the responsible move, the action that will prevent both of them from public shame. He ponders taking Mary far away, to a place where they won’t be harassed or have to explain their situation to anybody. Without an angelic intervention, it is likely he might have had some doubts. And as Gaetano Gandolfi’s painting depicts it, an angelic intervention is exactly what he got.

The cherub-like angel of the painting gently touches Joseph’s arm, his other hand pointing to the horizon, to the future. One of Joseph’s hands holds up his head, signifying the multitude of thoughts running through his understandably confused mind. Another arm dangles down at his side, as he resigns to overwhelming exhaustion. Joseph is surrounded by shadow, though he himself baths in the angelic messenger’s illuminated glory. This was all a lot to take in. Joseph seems overwhelmed by the circumstances, overwhelmed by this angelic dream vision. Both Joseph and the angel (who is never named, though I want to think it might be Gabriel) have their legs crossed: the man with his legs somewhat in a knot, the angel with legs poised as if ready to launch back off into the air. The angel sits on top of a boulder, suggesting the huge boulder of an event that will bring Joseph’s life to a standstill. Gabriel points to a hazy space between the boulders and trees, the unseen future he explains to the perplexed, sleeping husband who has never been intimate with his young bride. The angel wears a red wrap that foreshadows the blood that will be required of our Lord. The future is glorious, but the present will be difficult, for Joseph, Mary and the soon to be born Child.

As many have noted, Joseph mostly drops out of the gospel narrative after the birth of Jesus. Though we can speculate, nobody knows for sure how or when his life ended. Joseph was a man who received some of the most incredible information in all of world history: his wife is with child, and God is the Father! The gospel tells us that Joseph was a righteous man, and we know he was because he did exactly as the angel had commanded. The boulder of belief that Joseph was expected to carry was surely too heavy for anybody, without God’s loving intervention.  The angel makes it clear that this moment was part of God's plan from the beginning, and reflects the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. However Joseph’s life ended, he serves as a model of someone who was able to travel the invisible, unshakable bridge of faith in something not seen but only promised. We are told that Joseph, earthly husband to the woman who bore our Lord, listened to the angel and answered the call to name the Savior of the entire universe: God's son, Jesus, the Lamb of God.

May the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the perseverance of the wise men,
the obedience of Joseph and Mary,
and the peace of the Christ child
be yours this Christmas.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always.
Amen.

Marc Malandra, Associate Professor of English