4 Important Things We Learn from Joseph and His Dream in Matthew 1
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It’s a familiar story many of us hear again and again at Christmas: How God, through the Holy Spirit, chose to impregnate a young virgin, Mary, with the Christ child, who was eventually born in a lowly manger in the town of Bethlehem one holy night.
Joseph also models what it looks like to make a decision in faith even when we don’t know exactly what to do. Sometimes we can be paralyzed by indecision, especially when a matter is weighty and carries numerous consequences. In this situation, he would have been legally justified to vilify and stone Mary, but he didn’t want to do that—yet he didn’t want to be married to an unfaithful woman, either.
Instead of doing nothing, he considered the matter and decided to divorce her quietly. The fact that he made a decision after careful consideration reflects his thoughtful faith. It doesn’t matter that it was the wrong decision—it was a decision. And he stepped out in faith to make that decision, trusting God would provide.
We know Joseph did make the wrong decision—that is, a decision not in line with God’s plan—because that night, after he fell asleep, God sent an angel to him in his dream. The angel told him exactly what to do: Don’t be afraid, take Mary home, and name the baby Jesus.
That’s an important lesson here. Many times in life we hesitate to make any decision because we don’t know what to do. We don’t understand God’s plan, and we don’t see the whole picture. We have certain tools that guide us—for Joseph, he had Jewish Law and a host of well-meaning Bible experts he could have asked, while today we also have the Bible and perhaps a pastor or some strong Christian friends—but the right thing to do isn’t always clear. Perhaps we ask God to send us a sign or give us a word to push us in the direction to take, but we get no answer.
In times like this, we can trust that whatever we decide, if it’s wrong, then God will steer us back on track. He did it with Joseph, and God will do it for us, too.
Joseph could have been stubborn and stuck to his own plan, but he didn’t. When the angel visited him that night, Joseph listened—and followed directions.
As Scripture tells us, “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus” (Matthew 1:24-25).
If this isn’t example enough, we see Joseph’s obedience again after Jesus is born, when the Magi had just visited the new family with gifts. The Bible tells us Joseph had another dream where an angel spoke to him yet again: “‘Get up,’ (the angel) said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt” (Matthew 2:13-14).
Joseph was clearly a good man, and while Scripture tells us little else about him, we can infer he was likely a good stepfather to the Messiah. We can also reflect on Joseph and his actions as we make similar difficult decisions today. We won’t always make the right decision, but when God reveals His true plan to us, we see from Joseph’s life what to do: treat others with compassion, contemplate our actions with a faithful heart, and obey God’s commands. Always.
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