The angels announced Christ’s conception to Mary first, as discussed in
last week’s blog post. But she was betrothed to Joseph, and it wasn’t his
child.
A betrothal was more serious than an engagement is today. It was a
legally binding arrangement that was treated with the solemnity of marriage
even though the couple was not yet living together. That’s why the scripture passage
refers to “husband,” “wife,” and “divorce” even though Mary and Joseph had
presumably not completed the final ceremony and had certainly not consummated
their marriage.
Rembrandt’s “Dream of Joseph” depicts the second angelic visit—this
time to Joseph—to make sure that he didn’t reject Mary because she appeared to
have been unfaithful.
Rembrandt painted “Dream of Joseph” (sometimes translated as “Joseph’s
Dream”) around 1645. It is currently exhibited in the Gemäldengalerie in Berlin, Germany.
The event in the painting is described in Matthew 1:18-25, which is
quoted here.
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in
this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19And
her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame,
resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered these
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and
you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22All
this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a
son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God
with us). 24When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25but knew her not until she
had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Next week I’ll look at a painting by a lesser known artist, Hugo van
der Goes, depicting the trip to Bethlehem.
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The Rembrandt painting is in the public domain because of its age.
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