Joseph's Dream 

Ever since Joseph heard from Mary about Gabriel's visit and his promise that she was carrying a child of divine destiny he had been torn in his mind about it. But when Joseph experienced a vivid dream he finally became free of conflict over the idea that his wife was carrying an exceptional child.

In the dream, a messenger from God informed him that Mary's child would be a great light in the world, bringing life and enlightenment to humanity. Though his own people might reject him, those who received him would discover their divine heritage as children of God.

Gabriel never mentioned the house of David, nor did he ever indicate that this child was to be either the Jewish deliverer, or the Messiah. In fact, Joseph was not actually connected to the house of David, except through an adopted ancestor. But over the centuries since Jesus’ appearance on our world, the Messianic prophecies and other Hebrew scriptures were mistakenly applied to Jesus. This was a simple desire of some of his early followers to adapt the olden prophecies to fit the life of Jesus.

Mary kept Gabriel’s visit a secret for many weeks before she told Joseph about it. When she did finally tell him, he was very troubled – so much so, that he could not sleep for days. Joseph had confidence in Mary, but he could not help having doubts about her story. Eventually, he was persuaded that it was true, but his mind was torn. How could such a thing be real? How could a divine child be born to human parents?

After several weeks of discussion and thought, Mary and Joseph concluded that the child Mary was carrying must be the promised Messiah, even though they had never heard that the Jewish Messiah would be a divine being.

All of Joseph’s inner conflicts were resolved after he experienced an impressive dream in which a brilliant celestial messenger appeared to him. The messenger told Joseph that he had been sent by God, who had instructed him to tell Joseph about the son that Mary was carrying – the child who would become “a great light in the world. In him will be life, and his life shall become the light of mankind.” He went on to say that this child was coming to his own people but that they would not receive him. Nevertheless, to everyone who would receive him he would reveal to them that they are the children of God.

After he had experienced this vivid dream, Joseph stopped doubting Mary’s story and he believed that this child yet to be born was destined to become a divine messenger to the world.

Gabriel never mentioned the house of David in any of his visitations. There was no mention of Jesus being the deliverer of the Jews or that he was destined to become the Messiah that the Jews were awaiting. In fact, although Jesus was not the Messiah that the Jews expected, he was the deliverer for the whole world. Jesus’ mission encompassed all of the world’s races and peoples, not just one group.

Joseph did not actually belong to the lineage of the house of David except through an adoption that had occurred six generations previously. At that time, a paternal ancestor of Joseph – an orphan – was adopted by Zadoc, a direct descendent of David. So, Joseph was counted as belonging to the house of David, but not by blood. Even so, he registered in Bethlehem, the city of David, for the Roman census.

This is one example of the way that the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament were adapted to apply to Jesus in the years after he lived his life here on earth. These prophecies regarding the Hebrew deliverer had been known and anticipated for centuries. They were understood for generations to be referring to a Jewish ruler who would establish the Jews as a powerful and free nation.

But Jesus never claimed to be of the royal house of David; at the age of fifteen, he decided he wasn't, based on what his father, Joseph, had taught him.

Another example of misapplying Hebrew prophecy to Jesus' life is the passage that reads, "a maiden shall bear a son," which was changed to read, "a virgin shall bear a son." And the genealogies of Mary and Joseph constructed after Jesus' time here, while containing some truth about the Master's ancestry, are, on the whole, not real and not factual. But the early followers of Jesus were often tempted to fit many of the ancient prophetic passages to the life of their Master.