Real Hope: Christmas StorySample

An Angel Visits Joseph

Almost embarrassed to confess that I didn’t realise the bit where the angel visits Joseph is ONLY recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. I pictured it in Luke as well, close by to Mary and her angelic visitation (Luke 1:26–38). Nope. It’s just in Matthew, hiding in plain sight after Jesus’ potent family tree.

Matthew seems to want us to grasp the astounding truth that Jesus was in the line of David AND was also the product of virgin birth. Wait. What? How is that possible? The angel neatly explains in Joseph’s dream that Mary’s child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, not any other man. Just as this divine intervention was foretold (Matthew 1:23 quotes Isaiah 7:14), so too was the promise that this ‘Saviour of His people from their sins’ would be a descendant of King David.

All of that is amazing and jaw-dropping. So too is Joseph, a decent and considerate man who was crucial to ensuring the miracle birth of the Messiah.

Written by BEN MCEACHEN