"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.

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

4180. 'Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me' means but for the Divine and the Divine Human. This is clear from the meaning of 'the God of my father' when used in reference to the Lord, as the Divine as regards Good - 'Father' meaning Divine Good, and 'Son' Divine Truth, see 2803, 3704, in this case the Divine Good of each Essence; from the meaning of 'the God of Abraham' as the Divine itself which is called the Divine Essence - 'Abraham' representing the Lord as regards the Divine itself, 2011, 3439; and from the meaning of 'the Dread of Isaac' as the Divine Human. The expression 'the Dread' is used because it is Divine Truth that is meant by it. For among people who are not governed by good Divine Truth holds fear, dread, and terror within it, unlike Divine Good which does not strike fear into anyone. The same expression and meaning occur later on in this chapter,

Jacob swore by the Dread of Isaac his father. Verse 53.

Because he had been separated from Jacob by now, that is, because intermediate good had been separated from Divine good, Laban's state was such that he wished to do harm, as is evident from the things that are mentioned regarding Laban. It is because his state was such that the expression 'the Dread of Isaac' is used. Anyone can see that 'the Dread of Isaac' means the God of Isaac, and also that Laban's state was such. For 'Isaac' represents the Lord's Divine Human, in particular as regards the Divine Rational, see 1893, 2066, 2072, 2083, 2630, 3012, 3194, 3210, 3704.

[2] As regards what is said above, that Divine Truth coming from the Lord, unlike Divine Good, holds dread within it so far as those not governed by good are concerned, the position is this: The holiness which radiates from the Lord has Divine Good and Divine Truth within it. These go forth from the Lord unceasingly and are the source of the light which shines in the heavens and the source of the light which shines in human minds. Consequently they are the source of wisdom and intelligence, for these are present within that light. But the way in which anyone is affected by that light, or wisdom and intelligence, depends on how he receives it. Those who are governed by evil do not receive Divine Good since they possess no love or charity, for everything good is a manifestation of love and charity. But Divine Truth is able to be received even by the evil, though only by their external man, not by their internal.

[3] It is like the warmth and light which come from the sun. Spiritual warmth is love, and so good, whereas spiritual light is faith, and so truth. When warmth from the sun is being received, trees and flowers grow, producing leaves and blossom and fruit, or seeds. This occurs in spring and summer-time. But when warmth from the sun is not received, only light, nothing grows. All vegetation then becomes inactive, as it does in autumn and winter-time. The same also applies to spiritual warmth and spiritual light which come from the Lord. If a person is spring-like or summer-like he receives the good which flows from love and charity and produces fruit; but if he is autumn-like or winter-like he does not receive that good and therefore does not produce any fruit. Yet he is still able to receive light, that is, he is able to know things that are matters of faith or truth. The effect of the light of winter is similar to that of summer, in that it too produces colourful and beautiful sights and enables them to be seen. But it is different in that it does not penetrate beneath the surface because it has no warmth in it, and as a consequence nothing can grow.

[4] The reception of light alone therefore and not of good is as when objects do not receive any warmth. Merely the outward form and the beauty of that form is received from the light, so that they are cold within; and when they are cold within they are all inactive, looking so to speak like something wrinkled with its hairs standing on end when the light meets it. And these are the conditions which produce fear, dread, and terror in living creatures. This comparison enables one to comprehend to some extent the nature of the fear, dread, and terror experienced by the evil. That is to say, such feelings are not the product of Divine Good but of Divine Truth; and they occur when people do not receive Divine Good yet do receive Divine Truth. The comparison also enables one to comprehend that Divine Truth devoid of Good cannot penetrate beneath the surface but stays in the outermost parts, that is, in the external man, and mainly in the area of sensory awareness belonging to the external man. More than this it enables one to comprehend that a person may sometimes look beautiful in outward form and yet in inward form be detestable. From all this one may also see the nature of the faith with very many - faith which, they say, saves without good works, that is, without goodwill and good actions.

[5] It being the Divine Human, and not the Divine itself, from which Divine Truth proceeds, it is the Divine Human therefore which is meant here by 'the Dread of Isaac'. For as has been stated, it is Divine Truth which strikes fear into someone, not Divine Good. That it is the Lord's Divine Human, and not the Divine itself, from which Divine Truth proceeds is an arcanum that has not been disclosed up to now. The implications of the arcanum are as follows: Before the Lord came into the world the Divine itself flowed into the whole of heaven; and because heaven at that time consisted for the most part of those who were celestial, that is, who were governed by the good of love, that influx of God's Almighty power furnished the light which shone in the heavens, and with that light wisdom and intelligence. But when the human race departed from the good of love and charity it was no longer possible for that light to be provided by way of heaven, nor consequently for the wisdom and intelligence to come through to the human race. For this reason, so that the human race might be saved, the Lord out of necessity came into the world and made Divine the Human within Himself in order that as to that Divine Human He might become Divine Light, and in so doing might bring light to the whole of heaven and to the whole world. He had been from eternity Light itself, for the Divine itself passing through the heavens was the source of that Light. And it was the Divine itself which took on the Human and made this Human Divine; and once that Human had been made Divine He was then able to bring light not only to the celestial heaven itself but also to the spiritual heaven, and to the human race too, which received and receives Divine Truth within good, that is, within love to Him and within charity towards the neighbour, as is evident in John,

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.

[6] The things that have now been stated make clear the meaning of the following in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. He was the true Light that enlightens every man coming into the world. John 1:1-4, 9.

Here 'the Word' means Divine Truth. Yet as to both Essences the Lord is Divine Good, whereas Divine Truth is that which proceeds from Him, see 3704. For Divine Good cannot be received by any man, nor even by any angel, but only by the Lord's Divine Human, which is what the following words in John are used to mean,

Nobody has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.

Man is however able to receive Divine Truth, though only in a form possible for it to exist with the recipient. And within that Truth, Divine Good is able to dwell, but in differing ways according to the kind of reception it is given.

[7] Such are the arcana which come to mind among the angels when man reads the words 'Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me'. It shows how heavenly in content the Word is, and every detail of it, although nothing of that content is visible in the sense of the letter. It also shows how superior angelic wisdom is to human wisdom, and that angels are aware of the deepest arcana while man does not even know that the Word contains any arcanum at all. Those which have been mentioned are only a very few, for within these arcana angels see and perceive countless details. Indeed, compared with those few arcana an infinity of details are seen by angels which cannot possibly be made known here because human language is inadequate to express what they are. Nor is the human mind capable of receiving them.