Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
Waking from ordinary physical sleep, Joseph obeyed the angel's command and took Mary to himself as his wife instead of putting her away privily. The angel had convinced him that Mary was pure and innocent, and in taking her he accepted that what was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost and that her Son would be Jesus the Saviour, Immanuel, God with us. By this taking, Joseph became the reputed and legal father of Jesus under Jewish law, preserving the lineage of Jesus as a Jew of David's family and tribe of Judah through both Joseph and Mary. The act belongs to the virgin birth that fulfilled Isaiah 7:14 and brought forth the promised seed of the woman of Genesis 3:15 to bruise the serpent's head and provide an atoning body. That miraculous conception is a fundamental and cardinal doctrine of the gospel, establishing the real deity of Christ's person and His fitness as an adequate Redeemer, and its truth stands with the trustworthiness of Matthew and Luke as historians.
Words and Historical Setting
The word sleep denotes ordinary, unconscious physical sleep, a natural condition expressed by the Greek word hypnos. The verse belongs to the birth of Christ at Nazareth and Bethlehem in B.C. 5, to be studied with Luke 1:26-35 and Luke 2:1-7. It stands within the society, life, and intellectual and religious development in Palestine that frames the picture of Christ.
Before this verse Joseph, her righteous husband, was unwilling to make Mary a public example and was minded to put her away privily. He had decided against marrying her when he learned she was pregnant. Instead of putting her away, being raised from sleep he took Mary unto him as his wife.
An angel of the Lord had appeared to him in a dream, calling him son of David and telling him not to fear taking Mary his wife because that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. The verse thus establishes that Joseph was Mary's husband and that Mary was married to Joseph. This confirms husband rather than father in the genealogy.
Joseph's Obedient Response
Being raised from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took Mary to himself as his wife instead of putting her away. His waking obedience was to take her after the dream-command, accepting her and the child conceived by the Holy Ghost. The verse thus belongs within the sign that Christ was born of a virgin in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.
The verse shows the effect of God's word through the angel upon Joseph's mind: he obeyed what he was commanded. That effect was that being raised from sleep he took Mary unto him as his wife instead of putting her away.
Joseph's familiarity with, prayerful attention to, and expectation of the prophecy that a virgin would bear Immanuel enabled him to understand the angel's words. So God could trust him with his part as the husband of the Lord's mother.
The angel confirmed Mary's account and her innocence, and Joseph obeyed and took her as his wife. The message convinced him that she was pure and that Jesus' birth was supernatural. Her pregnancy was not the result of guilt, and his acceptance of her vindicates her purity and supports faith in the divine plan for Jesus' birth.
In taking Mary, Joseph accepted that what was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost. He accepted that her Son would be called Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. He accepted that this fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet that a virgin would bear a son called Immanuel meaning God with us. After which he kept her untouched until she brought forth a Son and called His name Jesus.
Legal Fatherhood and Genealogy
Joseph stands in the account as the reputed and legal father of Jesus, counted as His father under Jewish law. Physical descent came through Mary, while Joseph by marrying her was also reckoned in the genealogy as the son of her father. Matthew traces the lineage from David through Solomon to Joseph, while Luke traces it from David through Nathan on Mary's side, each following descent through the male line, and the two lines meet in the course of time. Joseph and Mary, His parents, were Jews of David's family and of the tribe of Judah.
Despite attempts to destroy the promised line, it was preserved so that earthly lineage could be traced literally and legally through the line of promise back to David, Judah, Jacob, and Abraham, and from Adam, showing Christ entered the human family by birth unlike Melchizedek who had no human birth pedigree. Matthew preserves the genealogy through the tribe of Judah, one of two lines whose records were kept while the other tribes were scattered and their genealogies lost, so the lineage of Jesus as Shiloh the ruler can be traced and He is shown as the center to whom the gathering of God's people comes. The chapter's account of human lineage shows He was born according to the flesh in David's line into a human family that included sinful people whose iniquities were common to humanity, and He took human nature, was tempted as people are, and nevertheless lived a perfect life.
Dismissing the birth account leaves Jesus simply as the son of Joseph. After waking Joseph obeyed the angel's instruction and took Mary as his wife, belonging to the account of Jesus' birth as a landmark in the fulfillment of the Old Testament's gospel promises. The opening record assures believers that Abraham's promises belong to his spiritual descendants, since natural descent offered privilege and opportunity but did not itself guarantee heirship. Through faith in Christ believers share Abraham's inheritance and are joint heirs with Christ in David's throne.
Prophecy Fulfilled in Birth
Matthew 1:24 belongs to the account of Christ's virgin birth which fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy that a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son called Immanuel. That fulfillment served as a sign that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Joseph's obedience in being raised from sleep and taking Mary to himself as his wife stands within that sign that Christ was born of a virgin. In that taking, Christ was born of the virgin Mary as her first-born Son, laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
Matthew 1:21-25 records the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah's birth given in Isaiah 7:14. It shows that Jesus born of Mary is the promised seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15, together with the declarations that Christ was made of a woman and that God shall bruise Satan underfoot. The seed of the woman whose head crushes the serpent is the Messiah, and the serpent is that old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceives the whole world, the being who in the guise of a serpent beguiled Eve and led Adam and Eve into sin. This birth provided the body prepared for Christ, whose blood could make an adequate atonement for sin, and fulfilled the promise of the woman's seed bruising the serpent's head.
The verse is part of the account of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that literally fulfills prophecy. His first advent was literal and personal, which proves the equally literal predictions of His second coming will not be fulfilled in some mystical way but will certainly and literally come to pass. His coming was announced by angels.
Doctrine of Christ's Birth
Matthew 1:24 belongs to the biblical account that declares the birth of Jesus miraculous through supernatural conception by the Holy Spirit. That account is part of the truth of God and of divine revelation given in its entirety, not a fable, not a mere moral story, not an uncertain claim, and not something to be minimized or explained away. The miraculous conception and virgin birth is a fundamental, essential and cardinal doctrine of the gospel and of old orthodoxy. It is an old landmark of Christian faith, standing with the miracles of Christ and His resurrection, establishing the real deity of Christ and the authenticity of the Scriptures.
The surrounding account in Matthew 1:18-25 is literal fact, in which Joseph obeying the angel and taking Mary as his wife is part of that literal virgin birth. The virgin birth is a miracle and an example of why Christianity depends on accepting that miracles are possible even when contrary to nature. It cannot be explained away as untrue without rejecting a central fact of Christian faith. Matthew's testimony to the manner of the birth of Jesus as a virgin birth bears on the deity of Jesus and His office as Saviour.
That miraculous birth means Jesus is divine in His person with essential deity, not only divine in His mission, and therefore an adequate Redeemer for a lost race. To deny the miraculous birth makes Jesus liable to mistakes of judgment like other men. Doubting it begins a descent from doubting the inspiration of the Bible to general unbelief and loss of faith in the divine Saviour. The supernatural conception does not make His humanity less real, for born of a woman He shared the human experience of birth. Joseph obeying the angel's direction after waking and taking Mary as his wife places that human birth in the setting of a human family and of a supernatural conception.
Some contemporary teachers deny the miraculous birth in Matthew 1:18-25. They dismiss Matthew's Gospel as possibly true but unreliable and reject the virgin birth as a belief.
Trustworthiness and Practical Application
The testimony to the manner of Jesus' birth as a virgin birth is worthy of the same trust as the testimony about His miracles, resurrection, teaching, sinless life, and existence. Matthew stands with Luke as a competent and credible witness and historian of that birth, giving it as history touching the most delicate, important, and sacred matters of human life. The truth of that birth account decides their credibility and competence as historians, so that if in telling it they were gullible, ignorant, given to romance, easily deceived, or ready to invent and deceive readers, their reliability is discredited and faith cannot be pinned to them at any other point. To cut out this testimony on such grounds discredits reliability and competence at every other point, so confidence in the rest of the Gospels, including Mark and the testimony to the bodily resurrection, is undermined and cannot permanently remain.
To deny this teaching of miraculous conception and virgin birth, given as divine revelation in its entirety and as an essential doctrine of the gospel and true gospel story, is to refuse the Bible and to step out of evangelical Christian fellowship into humanistic and rationalistic fellowship. To doubt it impugns the gospel story and shakes the faith of those who hear such teaching. It is truth to be believed without qualification and to be sung, prayed, and preached at Christmas time. To license men to preach while they doubt it treats serious error as trifling.
Joseph's obeying the angel by taking Mary as his wife shows Christ was born into a family to show that God wants to save families. The verse identifies Joseph as Mary's husband in connection with his place in the holy family, but it does not establish claims that he has divine power or authority over the church.
Waking from ordinary physical sleep, Joseph obeyed the angel's command and took Mary to himself as his wife instead of putting her away privily. The angel had convinced him that Mary was pure and innocent, and in taking her he accepted that what was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost and that her Son would be Jesus the Saviour, Immanuel, God with us. By this taking, Joseph became the reputed and legal father of Jesus under Jewish law, preserving the lineage of Jesus as a Jew of David's family and tribe of Judah through both Joseph and Mary. The act belongs to the virgin birth that fulfilled Isaiah 7:14 and brought forth the promised seed of the woman of Genesis 3:15 to bruise the serpent's head and provide an atoning body. That miraculous conception is a fundamental and cardinal doctrine of the gospel, establishing the real deity of Christ's person and His fitness as an adequate Redeemer, and its truth stands with the trustworthiness of Matthew and Luke as historians.
Words and Historical Setting
The word sleep denotes ordinary, unconscious physical sleep, a natural condition expressed by the Greek word hypnos. The verse belongs to the birth of Christ at Nazareth and Bethlehem in B.C. 5, to be studied with Luke 1:26-35 and Luke 2:1-7. It stands within the society, life, and intellectual and religious development in Palestine that frames the picture of Christ.
Before this verse Joseph, her righteous husband, was unwilling to make Mary a public example and was minded to put her away privily. He had decided against marrying her when he learned she was pregnant. Instead of putting her away, being raised from sleep he took Mary unto him as his wife.
An angel of the Lord had appeared to him in a dream, calling him son of David and telling him not to fear taking Mary his wife because that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. The verse thus establishes that Joseph was Mary's husband and that Mary was married to Joseph. This confirms husband rather than father in the genealogy.
Joseph's Obedient Response
Being raised from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took Mary to himself as his wife instead of putting her away. His waking obedience was to take her after the dream-command, accepting her and the child conceived by the Holy Ghost. The verse thus belongs within the sign that Christ was born of a virgin in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.
The verse shows the effect of God's word through the angel upon Joseph's mind: he obeyed what he was commanded. That effect was that being raised from sleep he took Mary unto him as his wife instead of putting her away.
Joseph's familiarity with, prayerful attention to, and expectation of the prophecy that a virgin would bear Immanuel enabled him to understand the angel's words. So God could trust him with his part as the husband of the Lord's mother.
The angel confirmed Mary's account and her innocence, and Joseph obeyed and took her as his wife. The message convinced him that she was pure and that Jesus' birth was supernatural. Her pregnancy was not the result of guilt, and his acceptance of her vindicates her purity and supports faith in the divine plan for Jesus' birth.
In taking Mary, Joseph accepted that what was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost. He accepted that her Son would be called Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. He accepted that this fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet that a virgin would bear a son called Immanuel meaning God with us. After which he kept her untouched until she brought forth a Son and called His name Jesus.
Legal Fatherhood and Genealogy
Joseph stands in the account as the reputed and legal father of Jesus, counted as His father under Jewish law. Physical descent came through Mary, while Joseph by marrying her was also reckoned in the genealogy as the son of her father. Matthew traces the lineage from David through Solomon to Joseph, while Luke traces it from David through Nathan on Mary's side, each following descent through the male line, and the two lines meet in the course of time. Joseph and Mary, His parents, were Jews of David's family and of the tribe of Judah.
Despite attempts to destroy the promised line, it was preserved so that earthly lineage could be traced literally and legally through the line of promise back to David, Judah, Jacob, and Abraham, and from Adam, showing Christ entered the human family by birth unlike Melchizedek who had no human birth pedigree. Matthew preserves the genealogy through the tribe of Judah, one of two lines whose records were kept while the other tribes were scattered and their genealogies lost, so the lineage of Jesus as Shiloh the ruler can be traced and He is shown as the center to whom the gathering of God's people comes. The chapter's account of human lineage shows He was born according to the flesh in David's line into a human family that included sinful people whose iniquities were common to humanity, and He took human nature, was tempted as people are, and nevertheless lived a perfect life.
Dismissing the birth account leaves Jesus simply as the son of Joseph. After waking Joseph obeyed the angel's instruction and took Mary as his wife, belonging to the account of Jesus' birth as a landmark in the fulfillment of the Old Testament's gospel promises. The opening record assures believers that Abraham's promises belong to his spiritual descendants, since natural descent offered privilege and opportunity but did not itself guarantee heirship. Through faith in Christ believers share Abraham's inheritance and are joint heirs with Christ in David's throne.
Prophecy Fulfilled in Birth
Matthew 1:24 belongs to the account of Christ's virgin birth which fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy that a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son called Immanuel. That fulfillment served as a sign that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Joseph's obedience in being raised from sleep and taking Mary to himself as his wife stands within that sign that Christ was born of a virgin. In that taking, Christ was born of the virgin Mary as her first-born Son, laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.
Matthew 1:21-25 records the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Messiah's birth given in Isaiah 7:14. It shows that Jesus born of Mary is the promised seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15, together with the declarations that Christ was made of a woman and that God shall bruise Satan underfoot. The seed of the woman whose head crushes the serpent is the Messiah, and the serpent is that old serpent called the devil and Satan which deceives the whole world, the being who in the guise of a serpent beguiled Eve and led Adam and Eve into sin. This birth provided the body prepared for Christ, whose blood could make an adequate atonement for sin, and fulfilled the promise of the woman's seed bruising the serpent's head.
The verse is part of the account of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that literally fulfills prophecy. His first advent was literal and personal, which proves the equally literal predictions of His second coming will not be fulfilled in some mystical way but will certainly and literally come to pass. His coming was announced by angels.
Doctrine of Christ's Birth
Matthew 1:24 belongs to the biblical account that declares the birth of Jesus miraculous through supernatural conception by the Holy Spirit. That account is part of the truth of God and of divine revelation given in its entirety, not a fable, not a mere moral story, not an uncertain claim, and not something to be minimized or explained away. The miraculous conception and virgin birth is a fundamental, essential and cardinal doctrine of the gospel and of old orthodoxy. It is an old landmark of Christian faith, standing with the miracles of Christ and His resurrection, establishing the real deity of Christ and the authenticity of the Scriptures.
The surrounding account in Matthew 1:18-25 is literal fact, in which Joseph obeying the angel and taking Mary as his wife is part of that literal virgin birth. The virgin birth is a miracle and an example of why Christianity depends on accepting that miracles are possible even when contrary to nature. It cannot be explained away as untrue without rejecting a central fact of Christian faith. Matthew's testimony to the manner of the birth of Jesus as a virgin birth bears on the deity of Jesus and His office as Saviour.
That miraculous birth means Jesus is divine in His person with essential deity, not only divine in His mission, and therefore an adequate Redeemer for a lost race. To deny the miraculous birth makes Jesus liable to mistakes of judgment like other men. Doubting it begins a descent from doubting the inspiration of the Bible to general unbelief and loss of faith in the divine Saviour. The supernatural conception does not make His humanity less real, for born of a woman He shared the human experience of birth. Joseph obeying the angel's direction after waking and taking Mary as his wife places that human birth in the setting of a human family and of a supernatural conception.
Some contemporary teachers deny the miraculous birth in Matthew 1:18-25. They dismiss Matthew's Gospel as possibly true but unreliable and reject the virgin birth as a belief.
Trustworthiness and Practical Application
The testimony to the manner of Jesus' birth as a virgin birth is worthy of the same trust as the testimony about His miracles, resurrection, teaching, sinless life, and existence. Matthew stands with Luke as a competent and credible witness and historian of that birth, giving it as history touching the most delicate, important, and sacred matters of human life. The truth of that birth account decides their credibility and competence as historians, so that if in telling it they were gullible, ignorant, given to romance, easily deceived, or ready to invent and deceive readers, their reliability is discredited and faith cannot be pinned to them at any other point. To cut out this testimony on such grounds discredits reliability and competence at every other point, so confidence in the rest of the Gospels, including Mark and the testimony to the bodily resurrection, is undermined and cannot permanently remain.
To deny this teaching of miraculous conception and virgin birth, given as divine revelation in its entirety and as an essential doctrine of the gospel and true gospel story, is to refuse the Bible and to step out of evangelical Christian fellowship into humanistic and rationalistic fellowship. To doubt it impugns the gospel story and shakes the faith of those who hear such teaching. It is truth to be believed without qualification and to be sung, prayed, and preached at Christmas time. To license men to preach while they doubt it treats serious error as trifling.
Joseph's obeying the angel by taking Mary as his wife shows Christ was born into a family to show that God wants to save families. The verse identifies Joseph as Mary's husband in connection with his place in the holy family, but it does not establish claims that he has divine power or authority over the church.