The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Let’s picture ourselves in the scene. There we are, sound asleep, kiddos tucked in for the night, backpacks and lunches ready to go for an early rise to catch the school bus the next morning. Suddenly, our spouse wakes us up out of a deep sleep and whispers, “We’re leaving.” The words spoken are strangely calm, and yet quite serious—even urgent. Is there a fire?? We go to grab a sweater and some things, but our spouse takes hold of our arm, looks intently into our eyes and says, “There’s no time.” Whatever is going on, now we really believe there is not a minute to spare for packing or for worrying about the food in the fridge that will spoil. The only thing to do is to grab the kids and go.
It is perhaps on the way, several miles into their journey, that Joseph would have begun to explain the questions that Mary would not have had time to ask, but certainly must have pondered in her heart. He would have told her that he did not understand everything himself, he did not know why . . . but that all he knew with unquestionable certainty was that the dream he’d had was from heaven above.
For most of us, when it comes to dreams, even very vivid dreams, we might question what our subconscious is telling us. We might even wonder if it is a message from God. But this was not the case with Joseph. He knew. There was something specific, something markedly different about this dream that allowed no room for doubt. What that something was, Scripture does not tell us. But we do learn something about what could have given Joseph certitude of his dream’s origin by what Scripture tells us about the appearance of the angel to the Magi in their dream:
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way… (Mt 2:12)
Church tradition holds that there were three Magi who came from the East to visit the Holy Family that day. But the scriptural evidence for that number is based merely on the number of gifts presented to the newborn King; the Eastern Church places the number of Magi at twelve. Regardless of how many Magi showed up, however, suffice it to say there was more than one. So to whom exactly of these three-to-twelve Magi did the angel appear in a dream?
These Magi are not a “lowly” group of men, nor are they believers in the Jewish God or concerned with discerning His will. These are well-learned men, intellectuals when it came to the study of the stars, and while they did practice interpretation of dreams, their religion, which was likely Zoroastrianism, forbade sorcery. So what would have made all three to twelve men get on board so readily with following something as subjective and illusory as a dream—one, no less, that would direct them to defy Herod, who at the time, was king? It would seem that the only way all the Magi present that day would have followed the direction of a dream without hesitation or debate would be if all three to twelve Magi had had the same dream that night.
Scripture does not reveal to us the nature of the dream with such specificity, but this “they-all-had-the-same-dream” theory does offer a possible explanation as to how the Magi could all have come to the same consensus in determining and agreeing upon the veracity of a dream so swiftly and so decisively. Likewise, we can assume there was something equally as poignant about Joseph’s dream that caused the same reaction in his case.
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod.
There was a lot on Joseph’s shoulders. He took on the responsibility of protecting his family so that Mary would not have to worry. Of course, in her sinlessness, Mary would have had perfect trust. But in her motherhood, she would have carried the same weight on her heart that all mothers do once their baby is in their arms: the knowledge that if anything ever happened to her child, her heart would be pierced by a sword of sorrow. For Mary, this knowledge was not simply a worry. It was a sorrowful fact.
Joseph would have done everything he could to make sure that fact would never happen to his precious wife as long as he was living and breathing, and Mary would have always felt safe and secure under his protection. Under his guard, she never had cause to fear. She would have peacefully entrusted her family’s life to Joseph’s guidance, and though it was a demanding mission, not once would Joseph have lamented his responsibility or expected Mary to take on some of his burden.
His job was serious, relentless, and, humanly speaking, stressful. And though inwardly, Joseph certainly would have done his share of analysis and calculations on how to best see his mission through, not for a moment would he have laid any of his worries upon Mary’s shoulders. He would have taken that all on himself, so that she could sleep peacefully at night.
This is what St. Joseph did for Mother Mary. This is what St. Joseph did even for the child Jesus (inasmuch as a human soul can “calm” God). No, Jesus did not need Joseph to restore His sacred peace. But He did will for Joseph to try anyway. Why would God will such a thing? Because He would have wanted Joseph to undertake his role as father to Christ in every way. Joseph would have taken on the responsibility for his family as any good husband and father would.
Joseph really and truly was a husband to Mary, even though not in the sense of a consummated marriage. And Joseph really and truly was a father to Jesus, loving Him just as much as if He were his own biological son; in fact, even more so! But how was his love for his foster son even more than had Jesus been of his own flesh and blood? Because as a pious Jew, Joseph would have loved God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength (Mk 12:30) . . . which means, he would have loved Jesus in just that same way!
Joseph was the best foster-father anyone could ever ask for, and since we are children of God, that makes him our foster-father too. So let us go to Jesus for healings and miracles! Let us go to Mary for her intercession and comfort! But if we have worries, concerns, or fears, let us hand them over to St. Joseph . . . and then tonight, let us peacefully sleep.
Author’s Note: If you’d like to read more reflections like this one, check out my newest release in The Safe Haven series, The Liturgical Seasons of Advent and Christmas, available from Amazon and The Catholic Store.
Image from Meisterdrucke
