5. Dreaming of something remarkable
Matthew 1: 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
What do you dream about? Do you remember your dreams? Dreams are kind of funny things aren’t they? They can be explained sometimes by what we were thinking about as we fell asleep. Or maybe we ate too late at night and now the rumbles in our tummy have given rise to weird dreams. Sometimes dreams aren’t good. We dream of scary things. But all in all they can be fascinating.
One minute you can be dreaming about some fun summer activity like being on a picnic with your family and the next you’re back in high school sitting at a desk taking an exam and forgetting everything you had ever learned.
Joseph had a plan to “divorce” Mary because she was pregnant, and the baby wasn’t his. He didn’t want to damage her in public so his plan was to do everything privately. He goes to sleep with his plan being set. The he has a dream.
In his dream an angel arrives. Ok this dream just got interesting. And the angel talks to Joseph, calling him by his name. Then the angel says what all angels say. Don’t be afraid. Hmmm Joseph seems to be having a slightly scary dream. But Joseph’s fear isn’t in the dream so it isn’t like there are monsters in his dream. Joseph had a plan. The angel says that his plan is no good. God want Joseph to marry Mary. The angel further explain that the underlying reason for Joseph’s plan isn’t what it seems. The baby doesn’t have a human origin. The baby has been made by God through the Holy Spirit.
Maybe as we begin the last minute plans for your Christmas holiday we plan a little time to reflect upon all of the arrivals in the Christmas story that we have come across so far.