The announcement of the Lord’s coming becomes the announcement of his coming in the flesh; it becomes the birth of a man. The coming of the Lord becomes an event of the most ordinary daily life and of the most extraordinary humanity: the birth of a child.
Here, the figure of Joseph and his humanity emerge, highlighting the conflicted trust he develops in Mary and his arduous obedience to the events in his personal history. Joseph acts on a trust that defies common sense but aligns with love; it challenges reasonableness but not desire. He learns to obey events that suggest despair or violence, rejection or accusation. Additionally, his trust in Mary is accompanied by faith in God’s actions.
The birth of Jesus follows the long line of generations presented in the first gospel [Matthew 1:1-16] yet appears to be somewhat discontinuous from it. There is an adversative nuance that underscores the fact that Jesus’s mode of origin differs from that of his ancestors. While the birth of Jesus is integrated into the lineage that continues to live on in the newborn, there is also a novum [something new] that is introduced into this genealogical series. The evangelist does not say, “Joseph begot Jesus,” but rather, “Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, called the Christ” [Matthew 1:16]. There is no direct link between Joseph and Jesus; instead, the connection is between Joseph and Mary. It is the human quality of this relationship that is emphasised as accompanying the messianic birth.
“When Mary was engaged to Joseph, before they lived together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” [Matthew 1:18]. We are immediately at the centre of the drama and scandal of the story: the unexpected, the unwanted, the unpleasant infiltrates the marriage plan between these two young people.
“It was discovered that Mary was pregnant.” The ordinariness of the story of two young people engaged to be married is disrupted by an event that turns everything upside down, yet remains equally ordinary. At first glance, that pregnancy might only be interpreted as a result of betrayal. Matthew states that Mary gave birth to a child “without Joseph knowing her” (Matthew 1:25), meaning without him having had sexual relations with her. Even this unexpected occurrence is part of everyday life and falls within that human irregularity that might be the only rule, the true constant of human experience.
The story of Joseph and Mary breaks free from the framework typically constructed by traditional practices and cultural and religious customs. From this perspective, Mary was viewed as an adulteress, and the laws that penalized adultery were designed to protect a man’s right to possess a woman. While adultery involved both a man and a woman, it was particularly regarded as a feminine sin, tied to the notion that a married woman was the wife of… belonging to her husband. If she was an unmarried virgin, she was the daughter of…, belonging to her father: thus, adultery was a social sin that disrupted the patriarchal order.
Joseph’s behaviour contradicts traditional patriarchal law. How does Joseph behave? He acts with compassion. The text states that Joseph is just. However, here, justice means compassion: “The just man must be a man” (Wisdom 12:19).
Joseph disconnects the bond with Mary from the framework of domination and possession. Joseph’s sense of justice involves recognising our shared condition as beings. In other words, the other person is not merely a sinner, a personified error, a traitor…, but a being who has received life both as a gift and a burden, as a gift and a responsibility.
Joseph does not shame or denigrate Mary with words or gestures, nor does he act in a formally legitimate way that would cause her suffering. Joseph’s justice is empathy, the ability to feel the uniqueness of the other person, and the ability to feel within himself the suffering that a certain decision of his would cause Mary. Joseph’s justice is manifested in his “refusal to accuse her publicly,” in not setting himself up as her master deciding that she should suffer.
Joseph’s refusal indicates an internal struggle, a real possibility that presents itself to him, but which he feels is unjust, that is to say, inhuman, and that is why he opposes it. Although any complaint seems to be directed against a person who has betrayed his trust and his love. Joseph does not believe that the other person’s guilt gives him any right over her.
Joseph also doesn’t care about his image as a man whose honour has been wounded and whose rights regarding his fiancée have been violated. Justice, as an inner journey, also encompasses the ability to liberate oneself from the pain of a wound experienced, from the sense of betrayal endured, which often stems from the inflated ego’s perception of insult. This unwillingness then evolves into a decision, a choice to send Mary away discreetly, to protect her future and to avoid taking control over a life that, while connected to him, does not truly belong to him.
This is what Joseph accomplishes with compassion and love. Yet, here the text takes us on a profound leap into the depths of Joseph.
While Joseph was pondering this idea, a nighttime dream revealed a new solution. Both the conscious realm [reflective, volitional, decisional] and the unconscious aspect represented by the dream are engaged in Joseph’s inner work. However, the dream dimension pertains to the sphere of desire.
Joseph, in this dream, is begotten as a father. In the dream, here is the revelation: to take Mary as his wife and to welcome the life she will generate, which does not come from him but to which he will give a name by inserting it into a family and a story. By assuming the legal paternity of Jesus, Joseph acknowledges him: he gives him a name and a story, placing him in a human context where he can take root and develop his uniqueness. He provides him with a past that allows him to move forward into the future.
Joseph, who did not physically father Jesus, nevertheless fulfilled the mission of fatherhood and shows us that it is not solely defined by generation, nor can it be reduced to a role governed by pre-established rules and symbols: it is a pneumatic event. This event occurs between the freedom of the father and the profound fragility of the newborn [a fragility that conveys: “either you take care of me or I will die”]. From the interaction between the father’s freedom and the child’s fragility, a father’s responsibility is born; paternity as responsibility comes into being.
The dream is a sign. In Matthew, all of Joseph’s dreams are resolved in words that indicate a path and a choice that are always risky: to flee to Egypt, to return to the land of Israel, to take Mary with him. The story of Joseph and Mary reflects the death and resurrection of a relationship. Obedient faith can transcend human justice, leading Joseph to commit to a story that is beyond his understanding, yet he navigates it with wisdom and love.
The dream, a divine revelation and manifestation of human desire, narrates the encounter between God’s desire and Joseph’s. Joseph finds an unexpected and prophetic solution: to take Mary with him and give her name to Jesus.
The angel who visits Joseph is a sign of the divine desire that leads him to overcome his fear: “Do not be afraid!”says the heavenly messenger. In faith, Joseph must face his fear of convention, the customs of the family clan, the judgment of others, and, more deeply, his fear of the very desire that dwells within him.
The dream manifests itself as the power of reality, the capacity to open up the future and give rise to new possibilities. Thanks to this, Joseph crosses the limits of reason and enters the realm of the unheard of. Joseph’s righteousness becomes prophecy, the courage to dare what cultural conventions, ethical dictates, or religious practices prohibit. The future of Joseph and Mary is born in that movement of desire that is the dream.
Joseph manifests his righteousness by obeying God, who, through scripture and the dream, illuminates Mary’s situation, which seemed only a story of sin. Joseph takes on that enigmatic story, seeing the holiness and action of the Spirit where only sin could be seen.
Joseph is a man of faith who does not shy away from reality but instead embraces it and gives it meaning through faith. He recognizes every event as an occasion of God’s work, the fulfillment of the history of salvation. He interprets the events before him in the light of Isaiah’s words: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” [Isaiah 7:14].
Joseph, who refuses to accept the harsh facts of reality, is the true realist—one who embraces reality by incorporating the power of desire and dreams into it. Only in this way can life become livable and love prevail.
Father Joseba Kamiruaga Mieza, CMF
