"Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus" Matthew 1:24, 25.

Jesus Christ was not the son of Joseph. The whole Christian religion revolves around the truth that He was born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and therefore He could be called God, the Hero, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Even more so is the New Christian Church founded on this belief, for the rock on which it is built is the teaching that He is the one God of heaven and earth.

Therefore it was said of Joseph that he "took unto him Mary his wife, and knew her not until she had brought forth her firstborn Son." In those days there was not a formal marriage as we know it. There was a ceremony of betrothal, and a period of about a year elapsed before the man took his wife. It was in this interim period that Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit. By Jewish law that meant that she could be accused of adultery, even though the couple had not come together. Joseph could either denounce her publicly, in which case she would be stoned; or he could quietly send her back to her home in disgrace. Being a just man, he didn't want to take a cruel revenge on her, so he intended to put her away privately; and it was while he was thinking what to do that an angel told him that the child was of the Holy Spirit. He believed, and took her into his home as is wife. Yet, because the marriage was not consummated, she was still his "betrothed wife." "And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem... to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child" (Luke 2:4, 5).

It seems that Joseph's part in the Divine birth is a minor one. Yet he has qualities worth mentioning: justice, obedience, prudence, ability; and his role in this greatest of all stories is worth a second look. The Lord is King of all the earth, and of every house on earth; yet He permitted Himself to be born into the house, and under the worldly protection of Joseph, the just man of Nazareth. The Lord has all power to protect Himself, yet He chose as one means of protection this simple carpenter. Four times Joseph is the instrument through which the miracle of the Lord's Advent is allowed to proceed. When Mary was found with child, he could have had her condemned to death: he chose not to act hastily. He did not need to believe the angel, but he did, and took her to wife, and provided her with protection. When Herod wanted to kill the infant Lord, Joseph woke from a dream in which he had been warned, willingly left home for he knew not how long, to live in Egypt, and used his skills to provide for his family. And when he returned, he took care to find out who was king in Judea, was justly afraid of Archelaus the son of Herod, heeded a final warning, and by-passed Judea to live in Nazareth.

All this is of historic interest. What does it mean today? Why is the story of the Divine birth of perennial import, and what is Joseph's part in the everlasting message of Christmas?

This story is told each year because of its immense impact in the history of human events, but there is a deeper reason why the Lord gives us such delight in its recounting. Within it is the account of His birth in us. What does it mean to say that the Lord has been born in us? It means that charity has come to live in our hearts. The power to love others as much as we love ourselves is something only the Lord can create. When we have such a love, then of it we may say, "This is our God, we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."

That birth of charity in human hearts is represented in all the stories of His birth on earth. What then does Mary represent? She represents the affection of truth. Mary was in an idealistic state: a virgin, betrothed, longing for marriage with the man she loved. In each of us there is a wonderful, innocent idealism, a longing for what is true and good, a feeling that if we follow it we will be happy. This affection for the truth is built up in us by the Lord from our birth, it is the womb into which He can descend in us.

And Joseph, the man Mary loves? He appears to represent the human understanding. It seemed to Mary that once she married Joseph, she would have a man-child who would be their heir, and they would be a happy family. So it seems to us that if we marry our love of truth to our understanding of the truth, then we will create charity. Our idealism, combined with our understanding will build our happiness.

Were that so, then Jesus could have been the son of Joseph.

Joseph is the human understanding. As a person grows, he receives principles of good behavior, and an understanding of how to put them to work. He tries to live according to these values. He is rather like a carpenter, working with tools of iron, shaping useful pieces of furniture. His strong principles shape his goodness.

The understanding of a person is like the earthly father in whose house we grow, even as Jesus grew in the home of Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth. We need the guidance of our understandings. We are not naturally good. We have to learn values, to correct false principles, to practice the good ones.

That kind of learning is what is represented by Joseph. Note that he is said to have been a just man. He was, by the standards of that time, but how worldly were those standards! If a wife was unfaithful, she was either put to death in a very cruel way, or sent home in disgrace. Joseph's concept of justice was to choose the lesser punishment. He didn't want vengeance. That was good, but he did not as yet know what true understanding and forgiveness was either. This type of justice represents the kind of understanding we have before the Lord's charity in born in us. We are just, but by earthly, rather harsh standards. Joseph was a just man; but compare him with the Child who grew up in his home. Compare the simple quality of his sense of right and wrong with the infinite love and understanding and compassion show by Him who was once called Jesus of Nazareth.

Joseph could not be the father of Jesus. It was the power of Almighty God Himself that fathered this Child, because Jesus was to be the embodiment of all love, of all good, of all true understanding. He was God Himself, showing the way of true love. Joseph could not sire that kind of understanding!

Just as Joseph could not be the father of Jesus, so, when charity is born in us, it doesn't come through hte parentage of the human understanding. Its mother is our innocent love of the truth; but its father is the power of the Lord inflowing into our hearts, and creating something that no other intelligence could conceive. The power to love others unselfishly is not born of this world. No human philosophy can create it. It is born of God. In this process the human understanding is almost a bystander. It notes the wondrous growth of love in our hearts, senses, as if by visions, that it is from God, and works to serve it.

But the understanding has some function, just as Joseph has some role the play in the stories of Christmas. At first Joseph was distressed by the knowledge that Mary was with child, suspicious of that conception, thinking that some other man had loved her. This seems to represent a conflict that takes place within us when we begin to feel the stirring of unselfish love in us. You see, our understanding knows us too well. We know our own weaknesses, we have lived with them a long time. Even if we are trying to do what is right, we are often disillusioned by our ability to act from selfish motives.

Therefore when charity begins to move us, we can be tempted by the hells. They whisper to our understanding, "This is not unselfishness. You can't be truly charitable. This is just selfishness under a new guise." We are easily tempted to believe this. The hells love us to think poorly of ourselves, and they are remarkably successful at making us do so when we should not. Even so Joseph was tempted to think that this holy child was the product of evil.

But an angel came to Joseph in a dream and comforted him. An angel, in a vision of sleep, represents an insight from heaven, although a rather vague one (Arcana Coelestia 1925; 4235; cf.Arcana Coelestia 6831; 9315; 6280). The angel did not appear directly to Joseph, as he did to Zacharias, Mary, and the Shepherds. His coming in a dream represents the fact that we only obscurely sense with our understandings at first that certain motives in us are unselfish, or may be so. "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." What a wonderful message of hope that represents - a sense that perhaps some of our loves might be beautiful, inspired by our Lord.

Joseph listened to the angel, and married Mary, and played his part in the Divine birth. A person who is trying to be good seeks the loves that are now moving him. He refuses to listen to the hells which tell him that he is too selfish to ever have the loves of heaven. He follows instead the message of the word and the insight he now has, that charity can be born in his heart.

When Herod the king threatened the life of Jesus, Joseph woke in the middle of the night and fled because of the angel's warning. Herod represents the false thoughts which rule when the love of self moves us. This represents a much more dangerous attack from hell. How often has some love begun to grow in us, and we have come close to destroying it by our selfish wishes? People who are friends or loved ones get into an argument and feel threatened, and choose to hurt the other person, to damage the love between them rather than admit their own anger or weakness. This human weakness is represented by Herod, the wicked and foolish, yet crafty king of Judea, plotting the death of Him who would bring happiness to the whole world.

At such times we need the power of the human understanding to protect us. We need to use our understanding to flee to the spiritual Egypt, which means a state of instruction. We learn from the Word itself how to control anger and selfishness. We try to understand what the Lord is telling us about destructive human emotions, and how to control them; about charity and forgiveness, about how to humble our own pride for the sake of love and the opportunity to care for others.

And when we have learned these things, we return to the spiritual Nazareth, the realm of useful endeavor. It was in Nazareth that Jesus grew up. In the arena of useful service, when we apply the principles we have learned, the Lord gives us a haven in which our spirits may become strong, and able to face any attacks which may later come. For while we are working, applying our understanding of truth as we see it, charity secretly grows strong within us, and gains the power to influence our world. "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and the grace of God was upon Him."

So let us not forget Joseph as we listen to the Christmas story, for he represents our understanding, and in his justice and obedience and prudence are mirrored the spirit of the human understanding as it must be if the Lord is to be born in us. We too must first learn justice, even though we may apply it in a very worldly way - perhaps shunning only the most obvious manifestations of vengeance and self-pity and anger. We have to learn the spirit of obedience, the willingness to follow our understanding of what the Lord (the angel) bids us do. We must follow that understanding, even if the path is not fully clear. We must use the talents He has given us to do the best we can.

But even then, that understanding will not be the father of eternal good in us. We can't build our true loves, or fashion our own goodness. Only the inflowing spirit of God can do this, as the miracle of the Lord's birth is repeated, time and again, in that innocent affection of truth which is the virgin Mary.

And finally, notice that it was Joseph who named the infant Lord. "You shall call his name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." Note that in this verse is the promise that the people will belong to this Child. His name means "Jehovah saves," so when Joseph named the child it represented His faith that the Babe was born of God. So too must our understandings acknowledge the Divine origin of all that is truly good is us, call it by its name - the Lord come down to us. If we can make this acknowledgment whenever happiness touches our hearts, then our understanding will give that happiness a home, and cherish it, that it may grow, and wax strong in spirit, and the grace of God may be upon us.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 2795; Matthew 1:18-25, 2:1-12)

3813. As regards 'flesh', this means in the highest sense the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, which is Divine Good, and in the relative sense means the will side of the human proprium when made alive by the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, that is, by His Divine Good. This proprium is the one called the heavenly proprium which, in itself the Lord's alone, is appropriated to those who are governed by good and consequently by truth. Such a proprium exists with angels in heaven, and also with men whose interiors, that is, their spirits, are in the Lord's kingdom. But in the contrary sense 'flesh' means the will side of the human proprium, which in itself is nothing but evil, and not having been made alive by the Lord is called dead; and the individual himself is for that reason called dead.

[2] That 'flesh' in the highest sense means the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, and so His Divine Good, is clear from the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said, I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live for ever. The bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews disputed with one another, saying, How can this man give his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day; for My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down from heaven. John 6:51-58.

Here it is quite evident that 'flesh' means the Proprium of the Lord's Divine Human, and so the Divine Good - His flesh in the Holy Supper being called 'the body'. His body or flesh in the Holy Supper is the Divine Good, and His blood the Divine Truth, see 1798, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3735. And since bread and wine have the same meaning as flesh and blood - that is to say, 'bread' is the Lord's Divine Good, and 'wine' His Divine Truth - bread and wine were commanded in place of flesh and blood. This is why the Lord says, 'I am the living bread; the bread which I will give is My flesh; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him; this is the bread which came down from heaven'. 'Eating' means being communicated, being joined to, and being made one's own, see 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596.

[3] The same was represented in the Jewish Church by the law that the flesh of sacrifices was to be eaten by Aaron and his sons, by those persons who brought the sacrifice, and by others who were clean; and that this flesh was holy, see Exodus 12:7-9; 29:30-34; Leviticus 7:15-21; 8:31; Deuteronomy 12:27; 16:4. That being so, if any unclean person ate some of that flesh he was to be cut off from his people, Leviticus 7:21. The fact that these sacrifices were called 'bread', see 2165, and that that sacrificial flesh was called 'holy flesh', Jeremiah 11:15; Haggai 2:12. And in Ezekiel 40:43 where the new Temple is the subject, it is called 'the flesh of the offering which is on the tables in the Lord's kingdom', by which clearly worship of the Lord in His kingdom is meant.

[4] That 'flesh' in the relative sense means the will side of man's proprium when made alive by the Lord is Divine Good is clear also from the following places: In Ezekiel,

I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in your midst; and I will remove the heart of stone out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26.

'The heart of stone out of their flesh' stands for a will and proprium when not made alive, 'a heart of flesh' for a will and proprium when made alive; for 'the heart' is a representative of good in the will, see 2930, 3313, 3635. In David,

O God, You are my God; in the morning I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh in a dry land longs for You, and I am weary without water. Psalms 63:1.

In the same author,

My soul longs for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh shout for joy to the living God. Psalms 84:2.

[5] In Job,

I have come to know my Redeemer; He is alive; and at the last He will rise above the dust; and afterwards these things will be encompassed by my skin, and out of my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself; and my eyes will behold, and no other. Job 19:25-27.

'Being encompassed by skin' stands for the natural, such as a person possesses after death, dealt with in 3539. 'Out of his flesh seeing God' stands for the proprium when made alive, which is why Job says, 'Whom I shall see for myself; and my eyes will behold, and no other'. Since it was well known in the ancient Churches that 'flesh' meant the proprium, and since the Book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church, 3540 (end), he accordingly followed the custom of the day and drew on meaningful signs to speak of these, as of many other matters. Those therefore who conclude from what Job said that their dead body is going to be reassembled from the four winds and is going to rise again do not know the internal sense of the Word. Those who are conversant with that sense know that they will enter the next life in a body, but in a purer one. In that life people have purer bodies, for they behold one another, talk to one another, and are endowed with each of the senses, which though like those in the physical body are now keener. The body which a person carries around on earth is designed for activities on earth and therefore consists of flesh and bones, whereas the body that a spirit carries around in the next life is designed for activities in that life and does not consist of flesh and bones but of such things as correspond to these, see 3726.

[6] That 'flesh' in the contrary sense means the will side of the human proprium which in itself is nothing but evil is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Every man will eat the flesh of his own arm. Isaiah 9:20.

In the same prophet,

I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, and they will be drunk with their blood as with new wine. Isaiah 49:26.

In Jeremiah,

I will feed them with the flesh of their sons and with the flesh of their daughters, and every man will eat the flesh of his companion. Jeremiah 19:9.

In Zechariah,

Those that are left will eat, every one the flesh of another. Zechariah 11:9.

In Moses,

I will chastise you seven times for your sins, and you will eat the flesh of your sons: and the flesh of your daughters will you eat. Leviticus 26:28-29.

The will side of the human proprium, or man's own natural inclinations, is described in this way because it is nothing but evil and consequent falsity, and so hatred against every form of truth or good, that are meant by 'eating the flesh of their own arm', 'the flesh of sons and daughters', and 'the flesh of another'.

[7] In John,

I saw an angel standing in the sun, who called out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in mid-heaven, Come and gather yourselves to the supper of the great God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and those seated on them, and the flesh of all free men and slaves, both small and great. Revelation 19:17-18; Ezekiel 39:17-20.

Anyone may see that the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses and those seated on them, free men and slaves, is not meant by such expressions. 'Flesh' accordingly has another meaning which has not been known up to now. The fact that evils resulting from falsities, and evils producing falsities, are meant - which evils originate on the will side of the human proprium - is evident from each expression used here.

[8] Since falsity which springs from the understanding side of man's proprium is meant by 'blood' in the internal sense, and evil which springs from the will side of his proprium by 'flesh', the Lord speaks of the person who is to be regenerated as follows,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.

For this reason 'flesh' is used to mean in general all mankind, see 574, 1050 (end). For whether you speak of man or of man's proprium it amounts to the same.

[9] That 'flesh' in the highest sense means the Lord's Divine Human is evident from the verses quoted above, as well as from the following in John,

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father. John 1:14.

It is by virtue of this flesh that all other flesh is made alive, that is, by virtue of the Lord's Divine Human, every human being is made alive, through making His love his own, which is meant by 'eating the flesh of the Son of Man', John 6:51-58, and by eating the bread in the Holy Supper - for the bread is His body or flesh, Matthew 26:26-27.