20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:20 English Standard Version
I enjoy an active vigorous dream
life. Most nights I dream, and the vast majority are spectacular pleasant
affairs. Occasionally, I endure a tense dream, usually about being late to some
activity or other; however, most of my dreams are innocuous and sometimes quite
entertaining. I do not give my dreams much in the way of deep thought. I
consider them just part of my nighttime brain scouring. You know, my
subconscious sorts thought the detritus accumulated as part of my daily
activities. Eventually it, my subconscious, must make certain decisions about
the ordering and storing of materials…at least that is what I tell myself. But,
Joseph, and many of the ancients, thought otherwise.
We do not know much about Joseph.
He traced his lineage back to David’s house. He worked as a carpenter, or
tradesman. He was a just man, enjoying some status in the Synagogue of
Nazareth. We assume he was older than Mary; but, we do not know this from scripture.
Apparently, he died before Jesus entered His public ministry. He had several
other children through Mary. He carefully observed the Law of Moses, taking his
family to Jerusalem for Passover every year. And that’s about it. Scripture
just does not provide us with much more detail about Joseph. One thing we do know,
he willingly made significant life decisions based on dreams or visions.
Think about this for a few
minutes. Joseph is engaged to Mary. He finds out she’s pregnant, telling him
that this is a miraculous event. He decides to divorce her quietly, avoiding
the public outcry which might well have ended in her execution through stoning.
We may surmise that he’s a compassionate man. Then he has the dream.
In his dream an angel comes to
him, telling him to go ahead and marry Mary. Going ahead with the nuptials involves
serious considerations for Joseph. He will have to contend with continual
rumors of his being cuckhold before his marriage. In a small community such as
Nazareth, tongues will wag. Not only will he face ridicule from his
compatriots, but he might also lose good standing in the Synagogue. After all, he
willingly married a sinful woman. He must endure at least nine months of celibacy.
When in the Army, Christy and I endured multiple deployments lasting a year.
Enforced celibacy is not fun; however, Joseph accepted that challenge. He will
raise a son, not his own. Joseph exhibits great grace and trust, trust in Mary
and trust in God. All of this due to a dream in the night.
What kind of faith enables a man
to make such a life altering decision based on a dream. Eventually, Joseph will
make a series of decisions based on dreams. He will leave Bethlehem based on a
dream, fleeing to Egypt in order to escape political terrorism. He will return
to Palestine, again based on a dream, moving on to Nazareth also due to a
dream. All of these significant life events stem from dreams in the night. I
probably would have considered adjusting how much garlic I put in my Falafel.
Joseph, being a man of faith, considered taking radical actions based on
dreams. In many ways, Advent is a dreamy time. A time in which we consider
strange and unusual circumstances, such as God becoming man and all the marvelous
implications stemming from that.
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