A MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION TO SAVE HUMANKIND
Exegetical Preceptorial on Matthew 1:18-25
By Marlene L. Johnson
Matt.1:18-25, is the story about the miracle of the conception of Jesus and the actions of his earthly father, Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, a virgin. Joseph, a descendant in the line of David, is shocked to learn that Mary is pregnant and considers “divorcing” her, but doesn’t want to publicly shame her. Joseph changes his mind after having a dream in which an angel reveals that the child Mary is carrying comes from the Holy Spirit and will fulfill the prophecy of salvation for mankind.
The preceding text, Matt. 1:17, gives “an account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham, linking Him to the royal line of David through Joseph. The focal text is followed by Matt. 2:1-12, the story of Jesus’ birth. These two pericopes and Matthew 28:1-20 are the bookends of Jesus’ life. They prop up the stories of his infancy, escape to Egypt, Herod’s massacre of infants, his return to Nazareth—from where his ministry begins—his crucifixion and death.
Jesus is miraculously conceived v. 18
Matt. 18 “sets the stage for the miraculous conception with the Greek words for: ‘Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus’,” and ties the Old Testament to the New Testament. Shifting the attention from Joseph to Mary is “the biggest surprise in the genealogy” because it was unusual for most genealogies to include women’s names. The identity of the author of this Gospel is still in dispute among theologians, but many attribute it to Matthew, a Levite tax collector. Many scholars believe Matthew’s pericope, which borrows heavily from the Gospel written by Mark, is based on his interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures (Midrash). Matthew “makes no attempt to reconcile” the facts, but expresses them as he found them in his tradition, namely that “Jesus was the messiah, and so he was son of David, and Jesus was conceived and born in a wholly miraculous manner.” Matthew’s record of Jesus’ ancestors indicates that his purpose was “not only to establish Jesus’ messianic credentials—by right of descent—from Abraham and David—but also to present Jesus’ birth as the climax of Israelite history.”
Joseph is important because it is his genealogy that is traced, although “he is not important as the physical father of Jesus, but as his legal parent.” I believe the theological importance of the text is in the phrase “by the Holy Spirit.” The phrase in Greek eliminates “the pagan notion of a God having sexual relations with a woman.” It also points to the “creative power of God at work within Mary in order to accomplish his purposes.” My interpretation of this narrative is that it appears to emphasize not only the miracle of Jesus’ conception, but the miracle of all human beginnings. God through Jesus allows humans to experience the miracle of creating other humans.
Joseph’s Problematic Situation and Plan is set forth in v. 19. Mary's pregnancy seemingly
presents a quandary for Joseph, who is described as “righteous” (dikaios), which in Greek means “to live by the law, God’s revealed will.” When he learned of Mary’s pregnancy Joseph did not know God’s revealed will. Joseph’s righteousness apparently impels him “to act faithfully,” but under standard law Mary should have been exposed as an adulteress and punished by being stoned to death (Deut. 22:20-21, 23-24). Joseph plans to divorce Mary secretly to avoid public scandal (deigmatisai—shame or disgrace). Hagner believes Joseph’s plan expresses his “righteousness and his charitable kindness.”(Hagner) But there are questions about this interpretation. “Matthew 1:19 reports that Joseph was just, but there is little effort to be precise, other than explaining that Joseph wanted to avoid bringing shame on Mary and therefore wanted a discreet divorce. Here, as in many other texts, the meaning could be either ‘just’ or ‘righteous’.” (Felder)
I believe Joseph handled the situation responsibly and compassionately so as to cause the least harm to Mary, his betrothed. We can only speculate about what would have happened to Mary had he divorced her. Would Mary have been shamed as an unwed mother and left alone to raise her child, as are many young mothers today whose male partners abandon them and disparage them as “baby mamas”? In Mary’s case, “…those who rejected Jesus claim of Messiahship also rejected the claim that Mary gave birth to him while still a virgin. The real issue is that gossip concerning Jesus’ father made Jesus impure in the eyes of the ‘pure’ Jewish race.” (De La Torre) posits that “Jesus’ ethnic purity was also suspect as his contemporaries questioned his ‘legitimacy.’ A controversy within the early Christian church revolved around the mestizaje (a mixing together—Acts 8-9, 11, 13) of Jesus, who was accused of being the bastard child of the Jew Mary and a Roman soldier named Panthera. The title Jesus ben Panthera (Jesus son of Panthera) is not uncommon in rabbinical writing.”
Angel as Divine Messenger vv. 20-21. Joseph is released from his secret plan when "an 'angel
of the Lord’ appears to him in a dream with a revelation that overturns his strategy by casting an entirely new light on Mary’s pregnancy.” Scholars agree that dreams are often the vehicle used throughout the Bible to impart information from God to humans. I believe God still speaks to us through dreams. Sometimes he speaks to us in a still, small voice. Direct revelation, here in a dream, conveys the hidden purpose of God. The angel announces to Joseph that Mary will have a son and tells him “you shall name him Jesus” (Yeshua/Yehosua in Hebrew), which means “Yahweh is salvation.” Joseph obeys and names the child Jesus as instructed by the angel (God). The name ‘Jesus’ was popular in the 1st century and was included in Jesus genealogy by Luke (3:29). “Thus the savior receives a common human name, a sign that unites him with the human beings of this world rather than separating Him from them.” (Alexander) asserts that the importance Matthew attached to the
name ‘Jesus’ “is clear from the fact that he inserted it 80 times into his sources.”
Prophetic Fulfillment vv. 22-23. All of the reviewed commentaries agreed that the prophetic fulfillment passages are the focal point of Matthew’s narrative, and the phrase “so as to fulfill” (hina plereothe) is the first of 10 formula quotations used throughout this Gospel. By using a literary formula, Matthew underscores the fulfillment of ancient prophecies and repeatedly emphasizes continuity between Jesus and the promises made to Israel, particularly to the royal dynasty of David. “All this happened in order to fulfill what the Lord declared through the prophet…,” Matthew writes, then cites a biblical passage to support his contention. (Alexander) disagrees with Matthew’s use of Isa. 7:14 as the basis for fulfillment, asserting that the original text refers to “the promise that Judah would be delivered from the threat of the Syro-Ephraimitic War before the child of a young woman who was already pregnant would reach the age of moral discernment. The child would be given a symbolic name 'God is with us'.”
One scholar asserts that this passage is obviously an insertion, which represents an intrusion “in the flow of the narrative,” and that vv. 24-25 is the real continuation of the angelic appearance in vv. 20-21.” In his book The Birth of the Messiah, Raymond Brown posits that Matthew could have inserted vv. 22-23 after vv. 24-25 for continuity, but didn’t because he wanted the episode to end with “He called his name Jesus.” In naming the infant, Joseph acknowledges Jesus as his own, something not normally done unless the man was the child’s father. “The [Jewish] law prefers to base paternity on the man’s acknowledgement.”
I agree with the commentaries that pair vv. 22 and 23 because the phrase “all this took place” in v. 22 seemingly cannot stand alone, but must be followed by an explanation as to what took place and why—namely, that as prophesied “the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” It also appears to set up vv. 24-25 in which Joseph obeys instructions the angel gave him in the dream.
Joseph’s Obedience v. 24-25. (Mann's) explanation focuses on the Greek for imperfect
—“eginosker” (did not know her)--which he agrues "appears to militate against the tradition
of Mary’s perpetual virginity.” (Alexander) agrees saying “until” in v. 25 implies that after Jesus’ birth Mary and Joseph had a normal marital relationship and that the ‘brothers and sisters’ of Jesus (v. 13:55-56) are their children. I believe that because Mary’s conception was from the Holy Spirit and Joseph obeyed the instructions given him by the Angel/God, the couple was blessed by being able to resume normal marital relations. Jesus was both human and divine. Mary was just human. Jesus is the savior, Mary is his earthly mother.
Theological Key. In my opinion, v. 18 is the theological key to Matt. 1:18-25 because without verse
18 there wouldn’t be any miraculous conception or birth story of Jesus. This verse introduces all the key players— Mary, Joseph, the expected child and the Holy Spirit—and turns on “conception by the Holy Spirit” to set the stage for what follows. My interpretation of v. 18 is that life begins at conception—an issue hotly debated today by both pro-life and pro-choice advocates. If Christians believe in the “miraculous conception” at all it seems logical to believe life begins at conception, not weeks or months later.
Hermeneutic application. Obedience, kindness and sexual restraint are among the lessons we
can take from this narrative, but I believe the main focus is the gift of conception. God has created human beings in his likeness and we have been endowed by him to create human beings in our likeness. Joseph came to understand the miracle of Mary’s conception and despite his surprise at the news was faithful to her and practiced sexual restraint.
Bringing a child into the world is a momentous act to be celebrated no matter what the circumstances. But indiscriminate sexual behavior (1 Cor. 6:13b) can result in the problems of illegitimate children, divorce, child abuse, abortion and dysfunctional families.
Women are all "Marys" made pregnant by God’s grace. Rather than ostracizing women who find themselves facing unplanned pregnancies the church should be a place of refuge. “Today the institutional church often seems casual, inept, or rigidly moralistic in relating to the needs and problems of Black families and households. “To hear the voice of God as the cries of our victimized Black families and households is not to present our faith as a religion of don’ts and moral condemnations. Rather, it becomes an agenda of presenting the faith in light of the contingencies of their situation. It means struggling to discern how the Church can become the healing, understanding, and loving agency of God’s mercy to those who cry out, irrespective of how much those cries seem at times to be but a whisper from the churched and the unchurched in the Black community.” (Felder)
As Christians we should not rest until all of our children are nurtured and celebrated as our everlasting legacy. If we fully understand the miracle of conception, we will not rest until we lovingly guide our children through the morass of this world and return them to God who loaned them to us in the first place.
(c) Marlene L. Johnson 2007
SOURCES:
Meeks, W. A., The Harper Collins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 1993, p. 1859.
Hagner, Donald A., Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 1993, p. 12.
Albright, W. F. and C. F. Mann, The Anchor Bible Commentary, Vol. 26, Matthew. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1982, p. 9.
Harris, Stephen L., The New Testament: A Student’s Introduction, 4th Ed., Sacramento, Calif: McGraw Hill, p. 149.
Alexander, Neil, New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 8. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1995, p. 134.
Felder, Cain Hope, Troubling Biblical Waters: Race, Class and Family. Mary Knoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2004, p. 69.
De La Torre, Miguel A., Reading the Bible from the Margins. MaryKnoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2003, p.116.
Brown, Raymond E., The Birth of the Messiah:A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., p. 144.
