Today's Gospel in Art: The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph

The Dream of Saint Joseph, by Philippe de Champaigne 1642-43 © National Gallery, London

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 18th December 2021 - Matthew 1:18-24

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.' Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son

and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means 'God-is-with-us.' When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

Reflection on the Painting

Of all the paintings depicting Saint Joseph, this is one of my favourites, by Philippe de Champaigne. The last line of our Gospel reading shows how God used Saint Joseph for His plan of Salvation. God revealed his saving plan to Joseph by using dreams, which in the Bible and among all ancient peoples were considered a way for God to make His will known. Joseph had four dreams, of which today's is the first one.

In his first dream, an angel helps Joseph to resolve a grave dilemma. Joseph was deeply troubled by Mary's mysterious pregnancy. He did not want to 'expose her to public disgrace'. So the angel appeared in a dream and told Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife. Joseph's response was immediate and he did what the angel commanded him. This teaches us that obedience makes it possible to surmount our own doubts or hesitations.

Our painting shows St Joseph asleep, and dreaming. The angel is pointing towards Mary, saying to Joseph that it is OK to go back to Mary. The angel hovers over Joseph and Mary, thus binding, uniting them in a pictorial way. At the feet of St Joseph we see carpenters' tools. Mary is being shown reading Scripture. By giving birth to her Son, she will thus help to fulfil the Scripture of the Old Testament.

I like this painting especially because St Joseph is not shown as an old man. Philippe de Champaigne painted him as a dynamic young man. We can imagine that the minute he would wake up, he would get up and go, doing all that was asked of him…

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/1026
Christian Art - www.christian.art/