Matthew Chapter 1 (Part Three)

Back to the Birth Story
Verse 18: Matthew, after explaining the genealogy jumps right back into the birth story of Jesus. Immediately, Matthew takes on perhaps the most controversial aspect of Jesus’ birth circumstances. Matthew explains that although Joseph and Mary were engaged, they were not married yet. Despite this, Mary had become pregnant. This was a terrible scandal.

Engagement vs. betrothal
The use of the word “engaged” in many translations would probably be better translated as betrothed. The word engaged in the modern Western world does not carry the same sense as the word betrothed in ancient times. Engaged is an arrangement whereby a man and a woman agree to at some point to become married. Engagements are broken all the time and other than the emotional toll it takes, little other harm is done. Betrothal is another matter altogether,

Betrothal in Hebrew culture was a solemn promise sealed with a commitment in which the male and female bound themselves together through a marriage contract that was signed and sealed at the moment of the betrothal. So the way we think of marriage in modern times in the West occurred at the time of betrothal among the Hebrews in ancient times.

In ancient Hebrew culture, “marriage’ was when the bride moved into the home of the groom and they consummated their union. It was common that after the father of the bide agreed to the formal marriage contract, the woman was now called “wife”. Even after this status change, she typically continued to live under her father’s roof for about another year. The union was considered to be so complete that if the betrothed husband were to die, the woman was considered a widow. The physical consummation was little more than a private ritual.

Since the woman was already legally a “wife”, then cheating during the betrothal was adultery and was not merely an indiscretion as it is treated today in the West. So, Mary being pregnant during the betrothal period (with Joseph knowing the child was not his) put Mary at risk for being executed. Typically, if there was sufficient evidence, a betrothed husband would give his wife a divorce document (known as a get) to end the betrothal.

It cannot be overstated how serious it would have been for a betrothed girl like Mary to become pregnant. Mary would have been in danger of being stoned to death if she was brought to court and found guilty of adultery.

Within a few centuries after Jesus’ death, the incidence of adultery during the betrothal period became so many that the betrothal and marriage ceremonies were combined so as to eliminate the typical one year period between the two.

Matthew states that Mary’s pregnancy was the work of the Holy Spirit. That is, it was miraculous. She had done nothing wrong. Matthew mentions that Joseph and Mary were not yet married. This stresses that although Joseph and Mary were betrothed, they were not living together and had not consummated the marriage.

During the first century Hebrew communities, there were few instances of a betrothed woman having relations with a man who was not here husband. It would have brought enormous shame upon the woman’s father and hiss household as well as the betrothed couple. The Jews reading reading Matthew’s account would have immediately understood how serious a crime it was for Mary to be pregnant by someone who was not her husband.

One other matter should be clarified.  y Jewish tradition, even though the unborn child is not Joseph’s, he is the legal father. Actual biological relationship is not required when the father of the family accepts a child as his own. So there is no conflict should Jesus be called the son of Joseph.

Verse 19: In verse 19, it says that when it was clear that Joseph’s betrothed was pregnant, Joseph made the decision to not pursue public action, but to put her away quietly. The reason Joseph did this was that he was a righteous and just man.

Very often when righteousness or being a just person is preached about, it is defined as being kind or merciful. Rather, for the Jews, being just or righteous means being law abiding. Law abiding means observing the Torah (or the first five books of the Bible).

According to the Torah, this is what is stated should happen to a woman and man who have an affair outside marriage.

Deuteronomy 22:23-24:
If a girl who is a virgin is engaged to a man, and another man comes upon her in the town and has sexual relations with her; you are to bring them both out to the gate of the city and stone them to death—the girl because she did not cry out for help, and the man because he ha humiliated his neighbor’s wife. In this way, you will put an end to such wickedness among you.

The public execution held at the city gate was to ring the maximum shame upon the criminals and their families. It is difficult to explain the extreme level of trouble this would bring to a family.

We must not think of shame as being ashamed or being embarrassed. Shame was (and remains to this day in the Middle East) a detested social status, not an emotion. Having gained such an undesirable stars, ridding oneself or one’s family of it was very difficult and it dominated that family’s daily life. Being shunned bu most of the community was but the beginning. Often the only way to atone for family shame and regain family honor was to take revenge on the individual or group of individuals who were deemed to have caused the trouble. This could go on for many generations.

Joseph decided to not accuse his betrothed or marital infidelity.This would avoid her being publicly shamed and Joseph himself also being shamed. Rather, Joseph would quietly give a letter of divorce to Mary’s father (as she was still living at home). This would end the betrothal and would resolve the issue discreetly and privately.

Joseph understood the spirit of the Torah. He knew that even in this circumstance he was to act in love and not in vengeance.

Verse 20: Joseph did not act impulsively. He thought about what he was going to do, and he was visited by an angel. The angel brought Joseph a message. In Jesus’ time, divine revelations given in dreams were well accepted and not particularly unusual. We read about them in the Books of Genesis and Daniel.

The angel tells Joseph not to interrupt the marital process> Mary is innocent. She has conceived a son by means of the Holy Spirit. That is, a divine miracle of God’s will has occurred. The messenger tells Joseph what this child will do and it will her reflected in the child’s name, Jesus, which means God saves.

Verse 22: In verse 22, it brings together all that Mary and Joseph were experiencing into a heavenly orientation as opposed to a human orientation. That is, despite the difficult circumstances that the couple were facing, there was a reason for it. God, though His prophets, prophesied that the Messiah would come into the world in just this way. In the Book of Isaiah we read:

Therefore the LORD Himself will give you people a sign: the young woman will conceive, bear a son and name him Immanuel [God with us]. (Isaiah 7:14)

Verse 22 directly connects the Old Testament to Mary’s pregnancy. Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection are foretold in the Old Testament. In the New testament, we have the record of hundreds of years of prophecies coming to fruition. The Old Testament is as much the foundation for the New Testament as the foundation of a building is laid so that something can be constructed upon it.

Looking at Isaiah’s prophecy. some English translations say that the “virgin” will conceive and bear a son. However, that is not in Isaiah’s prophecy. The Hebrew word is “almah”. It means a young, unmarried woman of good reputation. It inherently means a young, unmarried woman who is of child bearing age. In Hebrew society such a woman was supposed to remain in a virgin state, but not all did. The idea of virginity was in the background of the definition of “almah”. However, that is not the main point of the word itself. It is meant to convey youthfulness and the marriage eligibility of the woman. The Hebrew word for virgin is “bethulah”.

Verse 24 and 25: In verse 24 and 25, we are told that Joseph not only heard the words of his dream, but he also acted upon them. This is the very definition of the Hebrew concept of “shema”. It means to hear, listen and obey. This is different from the passive concept of listening in which no action is taken. Despite full knowledge by Joseph that this child was not of his seed, he fully accepted Jesus as his son.

In the end, Joseph did not give Mary a get (divorce). Rather, he probably hurried to complete the betrothal process by having her move in with him. Yet, the consummation of the union was postponed. This passage states that this did not have relations until after Mary’s divinely conceived child was born.

To summarize chapter one: Matthew’s purpose in writing this Gospel was to explain who Jesus was. He is the Messiah, son of David, son of Abraham, brought into this world by an otherwise nondescript, unimportant girl. His unique conception was a direct work of the God of Israel. through Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, Jesus is legally connected to the throne of David. Through Jesus’ earthly mother, Mary, his origin is divine.