Filios Sazeides (2018), public domain

Christmas is coming, and during this season many preachers rightly turn to Luke 2 and the first two chapters of Matthew for their sermons. This is fitting, as the Incarnation is a cataclysmic, earth-rattling truth to be studied and declared through all the earth.

And yet, because we hear and read this story every year, it can become familiar. Our eyes can glaze over despite the glory before us.

Let’s get back to the story in the Bible. We’ll look closely at Matthew 1:18–25. We’ll practice observation, the first step in the OIA (observation, interpretation, application) Bible study process.

Getting Ready

If you haven’t studied the Bible before, don’t worry—this ride is open to everyone. No advanced degrees or long resumes required.

For the sake of space, this post will only be concerned with observation. This is the essential first step in Bible study, like gathering wood for a fire. But it is also incomplete. In the same way that a pile of logs won’t keep you warm, the purpose of observation is to lead to interpretation and application. What you’ll find below is a good start but a terrible end.

If you haven’t already, check out all of our posts on the OIA method of Bible study, but especially these two (and the links contained therein) on observation.

The Christmas Story in Matthew

If you’d like to observe this passage on your own, here’s a printable version of Matthew 1:18–25 to use.

Observations 1–3

The first one is easy. The genre of this passage is narrative. Matthew couldn’t make this more clear (Matthew 1:18).

Let’s make some observations about context. Matthew begins his Gospel with “the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). He traces the lineage from Abraham to David, from David to the deportation to Babylon, and from Babylon to “Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16).

So, when Matthew refers to “Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1:18), there is a relevant context—the preceding genealogy! Additionally, when Joseph is called “son of David” by the angel (Matthew 1:20), that is a reference to earlier in the chapter as well as portions of the Old Testament.

Observations 4–13

Repeated words are some of the most helpful things to notice. I used e-Sword to find this list of the ten most common words in this passage: his (6 times), he (5), her (5), from (4), Joseph (4), son (4), Jesus (3), Lord (3), name (3), and she (3). Interestingly, “his” refers to Joseph only once and to Jesus five times, while “he” refers to Joseph four times and Jesus only once.

Observations 14–22

As I look at verses 18 and 19, I notice the following.

• Matthew refers to “his mother Mary,” a reference back to verse 16.
• The verbs used for Mary in verse 18 are passive: “had been betrothed,” “was found to be with child.”
• The verbs used for Joseph in verse 19 are active: “being,” “resolved.”
• Matthew emphasizes that Mary was found pregnant before she and Joseph “came together.”
• Mary “was found to be with child” — yes, that sort of thing becomes obvious after a while in a pregnancy!
• Mary was found to be with child “from the Holy Spirit.” Perhaps that refers to what is written in the subsequent verses.
• Several words are used to describe Mary and Joseph’s relationship: “betrothed” (18), “husband” (19), and they would need a “divorce” (19) if their relationship were ended. But the angel tells Joseph to “take” Mary as his wife (20), which he does (24).
• Joseph’s character is specifically commended in verse 19: “being a just man,” “unwilling to put her to shame.”
• The mood of verse 19 is matter-of-fact, this divorce was going to happen.

Observations 23–33

Now we move on to verses 20 and 21.

• There is a massive change in the story with the transition word “but” at the beginning of Matthew 1:20. The angel’s appearance to Joseph in the dream turned the plot.
• The angel addresses Joseph as “son of David” (20).
• A Bible character receiving instruction from God in a dream reminds me of several characters in the Old Testament, including Jacob and Joseph.
• The angel gives Joseph two commands in the dream: “do not fear to take Mary as your wife” (20), and “you shall call his name Jesus” (21).
• Since the angel tells Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife, he must have been afraid to take her as his wife. His consideration of divorce must not have been only for the sake of propriety.
• The angel gives Joseph a reason not to be afraid: “for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (20).
• The angel gives Joseph a reason to call the child’s name Jesus: “for he will save his people from their sins” (21).
• The angel does not tell Joseph how this saving from sin will occur.
• The angel refers to “his people” in the context of who Jesus will save. This raises a question about who those people are.
• The word from the angel must have provided Joseph with both comfort and a lot of questions.
• Joseph does not speak to the angel or give any response within the dream.

Observations 34–44

Now, to the next two verses (22 and 23).

• Matthew wanted his audience to understand the prophetic fulfillment of Jesus’s conception and birth (verse 22).
• God governed the world so that his prophet’s words would be fulfilled. Matthew writes that “all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken” (22).
• God spoke by the prophet Isaiah.
• The quote from Isaiah begins with “behold,” the same word we also find in verse 20.
• The quote comes from Isaiah 7:14.
• The context of the quote in Isaiah (chapters 7 and 8) is quite political. Also, the name “Immanuel” shows up two other times.
• In the quote, the virgin will conceive and the virgin will bear a son. There may be a connection between this, what we read in verse 18 (before they came together), and what is in verse 25 (Joseph “knew her not until she had given birth”).
• The angel said that Joseph will call his son’s name Jesus (21), but in the quote it says “they” will call his name Immanuel.
• The names Immanuel and Jesus are not the same. Yet Matthew says that what happens here fulfills the prophecy. (I’ve written about this elsewhere.)
• Matthew interprets the name “Immanuel” for his readers.
• The Isaiah passage was not spoken to Joseph, it was only included by Matthew for his readers.

Observations 45–48

Here are my observations from the final two verses of this passage (24 and 25).

• Joseph obeyed the angel of the Lord (verse 24), which is consistent with what we know of his character (verse 19).
• Matthew records three responses of Joseph (verses 24–25). The first (“took his wife”) and third (“called his name Jesus”) correspond explicitly to the commands of the angel (see verses 20 and 21).
• The middle action (not knowing Mary until she gave birth) does not correspond to a command of the angel. But it may be relevant to explore connections here (see above).
• There are three mentions of naming in this passage: verse 21 (Jesus), verse 23 (Immanuel), and verse 25 (Jesus).

Observations 49 and 50

Here are two final observations on this passage as a whole.

• Joseph is the main character of this passage.
• This is a clear unit of text. There is an introduction at the beginning (verse 18) and a concluding sentence at the end (verse 25). The next verse (Matthew 2:1) begins a new section of the narrative.

What Comes Next

Don’t stop here. Add your own observations to mine and continue on with interpretation. There is a lot of gold to mine in this passage.