“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream”
We have had occasion to think about Mary keeping all the things that were said about her son and “pondering them in her heart”. We, too, like the Shepherds have had occasion to come to Bethlehem and “see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us”. Now we hear about Joseph, Joseph thinking “on these things”.
Matthew provides us with a window to behold the mystery of Christmas through the eyes of Joseph. What things was he thinking? Curious and difficult things, actually, disturbing and troubling things really. He has just discovered that his betrothed, Mary, is with child. Matthew quickly adds “of the Holy Ghost”, but that is something not yet known by Joseph. He “being a just man”, Matthew tells us, “and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily”. What does this mean? Well, he is thinking about the scandal of Mary’s being with child and not through him. He is aware that according to Jewish law and custom this means she is guilty of adultery and, therefore, subject to the public act of being stoned to death! His thought is to “put her away privily”, which does not mean to kill her but to have her sent away to somewhere private and hidden. There is a quality of sadness about the thoughts of Joseph.
“But while he thought on these things”, these dark and disturbing things, these things which must have troubled him greatly, as greatly, perhaps, as Mary being troubled at the Angel’s words that “the Lord is with thee” and that she should “conceive and bear a son” and all without knowing a man, “behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream”. What follows is explanation that only an angel of the Lord could provide.
Mary is with child of the Holy Ghost, a Son, whom Joseph is to call Jesus, Saviour, “for he shall save his people from their sins”. Matthew adds the editorial comment that “all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet”, and goes on to quote Isaiah’s prophecy about a Virgin being with child and bringing forth a Son whose name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us. Emmanuel – God with us; Jesus, Saviour. What a marvellous collocation of terms! Jesus is Saviour because he is God with us.
It speaks volumes about the character of this quiet man that he “did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him”. It speaks volumes, too, about the nature of God’s dealing with each of us. Matthew has given us a glimpse into the soul of Joseph, into the very human dilemma which confronts him. His doing what the angel of the Lord had bidden him is not about acting out of mindless obedience. He is presented to us as thinking on these things, questioning, as it were, ‘how could this be and what does it mean?’ Not unlike Mary at her Annunciation.
We are allowed to see something of the will of Joseph acting in response to the will of God; acting in parallel to Mary’s active yielding of herself to the divine will and purpose. “Be it unto me according to thy word”, she said. Joseph simply “did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him”. For both it is an act of thoughtful obedience which defines their character.
Joseph and Mary. What is striking in the mystery of Christmas is the humility of each in response to the amazing humility of God. This is the great wisdom of Christmas. It is the wisdom of humility. It places us in the company of angels; even more it places us with the God who has willed to be with us. Such is the meaning of Christ’s holy birth.
It changes everything. Joseph goes from the sorrowing sadness of feeling betrayed and duped, perhaps, to taking Mary as his wife, and becoming the protector of her first-born son whom he names Jesus. A rather sad and yet ordinary human story, a kind of human tragedy, has become the beginning of something more and something greater, namely, the divine comedy of human redemption. Comedy, not in the sense of something funny and amusing, but as a deep and serious and holy good. It happens through the wills of Mary and Joseph and not apart from their active involvement. It happens because each of them is open to the will of God.
Mary and Joseph. Each thinks about the things that have been revealed to them and then each acts upon what they have received. Such is the logic of salvation. Here in the proclamation of the Gospel and in the celebration of the Sacraments the great and wondrous things of God are presented to us. The challenge for us is the same as the challenge for Mary and for Joseph: to will what we have received or to reject it.
It is our highest freedom to will what God wills for us and yet it is all God’s grace at work in us. “Apart from me”, Jesus will say, “ye can do nothing”. Joseph and Mary show us the freedom of our humanity that is found in our being at one with the will of God. They show us the wonder and the blessedness of the Christmas mystery. Jesus, Saviour, is Emmanuel, God with us, to be sure, but his being with us is accomplished through us, through our willing the divine will. It is the highest freedom and the greatest dignity of our humanity. Without it we are nothing.
“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream”
Fr. David Curry
Second Sunday after Christmas
January 2nd, 2011