Joseph's Perspective on Christ's Birth

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 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. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25).

Matthew tells the story from Joseph’s perspective of what is more correctly termed the “virgin conception” (since our Lord’s birth was normal). Joseph and Mary were engaged (betrothed), a relational status only divorce could break. Before they came together in sexual union as husband and wife, “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (v. 18). Mary had conceived a baby without Joseph’s involvement; the pregnancy was “from the Holy Spirit” because God himself caused Mary to become pregnant through a supernatural conception. By this means the Son of God became a human being. The second person of the Trinity took to himself a human nature in Mary’s womb and was born as the God-man with a human body and soul.

Ignorant of the truth, Joseph assumed the worst. No doubt confused and despondent, he planned to divorce her quietly to avoid shaming her. While he was in this state of mind, an angel of the Lord came in a dream and explained matters to him. The child Mary conceived was “from the Holy Spirit” (v. 20), and Joseph was to name the baby Jesus, which means “Yahweh saves.” The very name of Jesus, then, signifies that “he will save his people from their sins” (v. 21). Matthew indicates that these events fulfilled Isaiah 7:14, which foretells the virgin conception of “Immanuel . . . God with us” (Matt. 1:22–23). Awakening, Joseph obeyed the angel, took Mary as his wife, abstained from sexual relations until the baby was born, and named him Jesus.

The virgin conception of our Lord’s humanity highlights his supernatural character, for Jesus’ conception was the work of God alone. Humanity cannot rescue itself from sin’s plight. Only God can—and did—beginning with the virgin conception. As Luke records, the result of the miraculous conception was the divine sonship of the man Christ Jesus (Luke 1:35).

Adapted from the ESV Systematic Theology Study Bible