Prayer
God of mystery whom no eye can see, you yourself have given us a sign we can behold: the virgin is
with child and bears a son whose name is Emmanuel, for God is with us. Plant within our hearts your living Word of promise, that, into a world grown weary of empty dreams and broken promises, we may bring forth the living presence of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
Some Thoughts on Matthew 1:18-25
"Our lives are marked, since baptism, by the Holy Spirit, the sanctifier, who directs us continually to our neighbor, to the other to live in harmony, everyone attentive to the needs of others (as we have witnessed in the three previous pericopes from the epistles)."
Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text
The stage is set and Matthew is our guide: "Now the birth of the Messiah took place in this way." The Genesis of the Messiah took place in this way...
Daniel J. Harrington, a Roman Catholic priest, and scholar, in his text on Matthew's Gospel, points out a few important pieces of information that help to make sense of the Birth narrative.
All of these things are important because the point is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the ancient tradition of Israel. Matthew, as an author, will use this theme throughout his text: 1.23, 2.5, 15, 17, 23; 3:3; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14, 35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9. (Harrington, Matthew, Sacra Pagina, 38) Just as in last week's comment from Jesus that John the Baptist belongs to a prophetic age, here in today's reading we see that Jesus himself is the culmination of and the new beginning for Israel.
It is out of this theme of fulfillment that Joseph becomes for us a major character of the Advent season. Joseph is almost the "everyman" of the Gospel. I imagine him not unlike many of the new members of the Matthean community or new members today. Like Joseph, they had some sense of the past. Like many others, Joseph is a good guy. He is wrestling with some pretty weighty stuff. He is struggling to understand and discern how to take the next steps in life. He has a religious experience. He becomes aware that God is with us - specifically with him. God is Emmanuel. Joseph awoke, and his awakening was in more ways than one. He decides to take different a course and to follow the Word of God that came to him.
Some might want to go into a discussion about the creed and belief in the virgin birth. I love that conversation - see the discussion below on Isaiah 7. But I think a more interesting conversation if you are preaching on Matthew 1:18, is a train of thought about how Joseph represents the life of one entering into community with other Christians and Jesus. I find it revealing to sit and ponder the idea that in this reception of the message that God is with him and the reception of the incarnation, Joseph goes from being a man who, within his rights divorces a woman, to the earthly father of Jesus and a key actor in his lineage and birth. What a precarious moment this is! What an amazing view of how one person's action determines the future. In this way perhaps was we see is Joseph playing the role of Ahaz in the Isaiah passage. Or, perhaps he plays the role of a Jew wrestling with the message of the Gospel. Still, perhaps Joseph becomes like you or me who wrestles with the prophetess' child and the message of his birth?
As N. T. Wright explains - it's complicated:
I am sitting in my study at home as I write this and looking at one of the many manger scenes dotting our shelves and tables. It is Joseph who is there - not someone else. He like us chooses to say, "yes."
As our Gospel began "Now the genesis of the Messiah took place in this way..." we can see how the genesis of the incarnation takes place in the life of Joseph. We might look at our own lives and see how the genesis of God was rooted in our lives or is taking place in our lives. How is the arrival of God in our lives remaking our own story and our own narrative? How is the incarnation of God the fulfillment of our life lived up until this moment?
God is with us; this is the foundation of the Good News of Salvation. God is in common, in communion, with his people. The incarnation is the fulfillment of our past and the promise of our future. It changes our perspective on the world and changes what we do with our lives. The incarnation changes our relationship with others and causes us to act differently, perhaps even going against what is justly our right. The incarnation is a powerful revelation and in this season of expectation, Joseph stands before us as one transformed by its message, meaning and invitation and in that moment of action Joseph reshapes the narrative of Good News. Yes, Joseph is everyman and he is a symbol of our potential and possibility. He is a symbol of faithful action deeply rooted in the message, the Word of God, which proclaims: God is with us, together we are reborn, together the world is changed and the continuing narrative spun and re-spun.
God of mystery whom no eye can see, you yourself have given us a sign we can behold: the virgin is
with child and bears a son whose name is Emmanuel, for God is with us. Plant within our hearts your living Word of promise, that, into a world grown weary of empty dreams and broken promises, we may bring forth the living presence of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
Some Thoughts on Matthew 1:18-25
"Our lives are marked, since baptism, by the Holy Spirit, the sanctifier, who directs us continually to our neighbor, to the other to live in harmony, everyone attentive to the needs of others (as we have witnessed in the three previous pericopes from the epistles)."
Commentary, Romans 1:1-7, Dirk G. Lange, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
"...our task as preachers is in part to help people identify the ways God is calling them to newness of life in service to Jesus Christ, and at the same time to see the ways God has never been absent from their lives."
"...our task as preachers is in part to help people identify the ways God is calling them to newness of life in service to Jesus Christ, and at the same time to see the ways God has never been absent from their lives."
Commentary, Romans 1:1-7, Susan Eastman, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2007.
"Anyway, it seems to me that the translation "God is with us" doesn't completely capture the sense of the Hebrew. The words suggest that "God is in common with us people" -- or "God is one of us." In this sense, John captures the sense with "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (1:14a)."
Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen, at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
"Anyway, it seems to me that the translation "God is with us" doesn't completely capture the sense of the Hebrew. The words suggest that "God is in common with us people" -- or "God is one of us." In this sense, John captures the sense with "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (1:14a)."
Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen, at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text
The stage is set and Matthew is our guide: "Now the birth of the Messiah took place in this way." The Genesis of the Messiah took place in this way...
Daniel J. Harrington, a Roman Catholic priest, and scholar, in his text on Matthew's Gospel, points out a few important pieces of information that help to make sense of the Birth narrative.
1. Jews of Jesus' time understood marriage as a civil contract. Joseph and Mary and their families have rights.
2. Betrothal had legal consequences and was arranged through elders in families, and the two parties were in their early teens.
3. In Matthew's Gospel the two are living separately, Mary with her parents. Joseph visits from time to time.
4. Reviewing Deut 22:23-27, we understand that at first glance Mary has broken the betrothal and should be put to death. We don't know how often this was carried out.
5. Divorce proceedings were typically easy and included a written document.
6. An angel who is a messenger comes to visit Joseph.
7. Such a visit most often was described in ancient times through dreams. In continuity with other great leaders of Israel the angel gives a message with the identity of the child and the name. We see this with Ishmael, Isaac, Solomon and Josiah.
8. There are many questions about lineage and birth. Is the idea of Jesus' virginal conception a response to a charge of illegitimacy or is what leads to the charge? Regardless, early Christians believe in the virginal conception of Jesus and it remains one of the oldest and most ancient traditions about Jesus and his birth. (Matthew, Sacra Pagina, 36ff)
All of these things are important because the point is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the ancient tradition of Israel. Matthew, as an author, will use this theme throughout his text: 1.23, 2.5, 15, 17, 23; 3:3; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14, 35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9. (Harrington, Matthew, Sacra Pagina, 38) Just as in last week's comment from Jesus that John the Baptist belongs to a prophetic age, here in today's reading we see that Jesus himself is the culmination of and the new beginning for Israel.
It is out of this theme of fulfillment that Joseph becomes for us a major character of the Advent season. Joseph is almost the "everyman" of the Gospel. I imagine him not unlike many of the new members of the Matthean community or new members today. Like Joseph, they had some sense of the past. Like many others, Joseph is a good guy. He is wrestling with some pretty weighty stuff. He is struggling to understand and discern how to take the next steps in life. He has a religious experience. He becomes aware that God is with us - specifically with him. God is Emmanuel. Joseph awoke, and his awakening was in more ways than one. He decides to take different a course and to follow the Word of God that came to him.
Some might want to go into a discussion about the creed and belief in the virgin birth. I love that conversation - see the discussion below on Isaiah 7. But I think a more interesting conversation if you are preaching on Matthew 1:18, is a train of thought about how Joseph represents the life of one entering into community with other Christians and Jesus. I find it revealing to sit and ponder the idea that in this reception of the message that God is with him and the reception of the incarnation, Joseph goes from being a man who, within his rights divorces a woman, to the earthly father of Jesus and a key actor in his lineage and birth. What a precarious moment this is! What an amazing view of how one person's action determines the future. In this way perhaps was we see is Joseph playing the role of Ahaz in the Isaiah passage. Or, perhaps he plays the role of a Jew wrestling with the message of the Gospel. Still, perhaps Joseph becomes like you or me who wrestles with the prophetess' child and the message of his birth?
As N. T. Wright explains - it's complicated:
"If the first two chapters of Matthew and the first two of Luke had never existed, I do not suppose that my own Christian faith, or that of the church to which I belong, would have been very different. But since they do, and since for quite other reasons I have come to believe that the God of Israel, the world's creator, was personally and fully revealed in and as Jesus of Nazareth, I hold open my historical judgment and say: If that's what God deemed appropriate, who am I to object?" "God's Way of Acting," N.T. Wright.
I am sitting in my study at home as I write this and looking at one of the many manger scenes dotting our shelves and tables. It is Joseph who is there - not someone else. He like us chooses to say, "yes."
As our Gospel began "Now the genesis of the Messiah took place in this way..." we can see how the genesis of the incarnation takes place in the life of Joseph. We might look at our own lives and see how the genesis of God was rooted in our lives or is taking place in our lives. How is the arrival of God in our lives remaking our own story and our own narrative? How is the incarnation of God the fulfillment of our life lived up until this moment?
God is with us; this is the foundation of the Good News of Salvation. God is in common, in communion, with his people. The incarnation is the fulfillment of our past and the promise of our future. It changes our perspective on the world and changes what we do with our lives. The incarnation changes our relationship with others and causes us to act differently, perhaps even going against what is justly our right. The incarnation is a powerful revelation and in this season of expectation, Joseph stands before us as one transformed by its message, meaning and invitation and in that moment of action Joseph reshapes the narrative of Good News. Yes, Joseph is everyman and he is a symbol of our potential and possibility. He is a symbol of faithful action deeply rooted in the message, the Word of God, which proclaims: God is with us, together we are reborn, together the world is changed and the continuing narrative spun and re-spun.
Some Thoughts on Romans 1:1-7
"Our lives are marked, since baptism, by the Holy Spirit, the sanctifier, who directs us continually to our neighbor, to the other to live in harmony, everyone attentive to the needs of others (as we have witnessed in the three previous pericopes from the epistles)."
Commentary, Romans 1:1-7, Dirk G. Lange, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2010.
"...our task as preachers is in part to help people identify the ways God is calling them to newness of life in service to Jesus Christ, and at the same time to see the ways God has never been absent from their lives."
Commentary, Romans 1:1-7, Susan Eastman, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2007.
"Such transforming power, which Paul frequently associates with the Spirit (as in 1:4) and in which he experiences the living presence of Christ, draws its energy from God's compassion, which is so radical and far reaching in Paul's mind that it breaks down all barriers, including those erected on biblical principles."
First Thoughts on Year A Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Advent 4, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
"We watch God's redemptive work playing out in the arena of everyday life, this insistence God has on redeeming people to love God and one another (cf. Romans 13:10), and we realize it is something we can count on, something we can trust."
"Light Switches & the Obedience of Faith," Pilgrim Preaching, Mary Hinkle Shore, 2010.
The passage appointed for Sunday is a typical introduction to a letter which is common in most writing of this time. Paul, of course, has added to the greeting revealing both who he is, who he believes God is and what he is to be doing.
In the first verses, Paul is clear that he is a servant to God. His work is the work of serving and doing the work which God gives him. He is an apostle. He is chosen and the Holy Spirit is upon him and he is to give it to others. He is in particular given such gifts not by his service (he did not earn them) but rather by and for the purpose of sharing God's Good News of Salvation.
Paul then offers a bit of preaching. Scholars believe this is possibly early church confessional stuff. God has been at work bringing about this moment of Good News for a long time. Jesus himself and Jesus' mission was foretold and revealed in the holy scriptures - here, of course, he is speaking about the Torah most likely and some of the traditional texts (there is not yet an Old Testament collection as we know it.) Jesus is from the line of David and a royal king, and he is God in the flesh, God's very Son. This is proven by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. It is proven by the resurrection from the dead. This God in Christ Jesus is Lord of Lords. (Romans, Fitzmyer, 228)
Paul then returns to the format with a continued greeting. He offers grace to fulfill our work which is the sharing of God's Good News through the power of the Holy Spirit. We respond to God's Grace with our own obedience to the work. We do it all as a response to God's sacrifice for us and so we in turn sacrifice for the Gospel. We belong to Jesus Christ, our lives and our ministry is Christ's. We are with grace to share this with others. This is Paul's work and like Paul, this is the work of the people in the Roman Church.
"To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."Paul is clear about who he is. He is clear about who God is. He is clear about what his work is and he is clear about what that work is for the church. We are Christ's and we are to be at work for Christ.
Some Thoughts on Isaiah 7:10-17
"Whenever we rush to attach ourselves to another protector out of fear that we will lose what we so desperately wish to retain -- our way of life, our nation state, our individual safety -- our hopes in these intermittent protectors are forever destined to be dashed. The hope of the birth at Christmas is that God is with us in the midst of our greatest fears. "
"The Hope of the Birth," John C. Holbert, Patheos, 2010.
"The lection for this week reminds us this week that God indeed is with us. Even in this day and age when fear runs amuck, we have no need to fear for a small child has proven to us that God is with us and that God is faithful to his promises.
Commentary, Isaiah 7:10-16 | Brent Neely | Pastor, Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene | A Plain Account, 2016.
"God's sign of a child surprised a king and an unwed father named Joseph. This sign matters in a world that continues to worship a vengeful God who can crush our enemies."
Commentary, Isaiah 7:10-16, Barbara Lundblad, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.
"This is a very challenging chapter to interpret, much less to preach, in part because it requires that one be familiar with a number of related texts (Isaiah 7:1-9; 8:1-8; 2 Kings 16)."
Commentary, Isaiah 7:10-16, Barbara Lundblad, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.
"Isaiah 7:15-17 is a bundle of ambiguities, ambiguities that pose some of the most baffling problems of interpretation in the bible. Do curdled milk and honey symbolize plenty and felicity or want and adversity? Should the vv 15 and 16 be construed in the sense, "when he knows," or "in order that he may know"? Do good and evil in vv 1 and 16 refer to moral right and wrong or to that which is pleasant and painful? Is the age at which one learns to reject the evil and chose the good at one, twelve, or twenty years of age? Is the sign given to Ahaz one exclusively of threat, one exclusively of promise, or does it embrace both? If it embraces both, are the threat and the promise relate sequentially or do they happen concurrently? (Gene Rice, Journal of Biblical Literature
Vol. 96, No. 3 (Sep., 1977), pp. 363-369)
By the fourth century, the Christian theologians were arguing over the texts. Eusebius of Caesarea's writings reveal this and that this is one of the passages they discussed and argued about.
So let us take this passage carefully, respectfully, and with an eye to our text's history and tradition and see where it leads us.
So let us take this passage carefully, respectfully, and with an eye to our text's history and tradition and see where it leads us.
Rabbis teach that in this text God gives a sign to Ahaz in the midst of the threat of war. The sign promises that the kings who oppose Ahaz will not be victorious. Here we then get the verse: “before the child knows enough to refuse evil and choose good the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken” Isaiah 7:15
If you read the "whole book" as my professors used to tell me, you will find out that the prophecy is fulfilled in the following chapter! The child is the prophet Isaiah's son, “he (Isaiah) approached the prophetess and she conceived (tahar) and bore (taled) a son and God said to me: Name the child “Maher-shalal-hash-baz” which means (the spoil speeds the prey hastens). For before the child shall know how to cry my father my mother the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Sammaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.” Isaiah 8:4 This is brilliant by the way because Isaiah and the Prophetess have a son. Hold on to that gem for a bit.
It is clear that the woman, the prophetess, is a young woman, a maiden, she may be a virgin, she may not. The text does not make that clear. We will come back to this nugget too.
The child will quickly mature and at a young age, he will know the difference between good and evil. It will be in those times that the prophecy will be fulfilled to Ahaz and those who threaten will threaten no more.
“Behold I and the children whom the Lord has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel.” Isaiah 8:18
The passage includes amazing texts like God is with us, the child will be born to a young woman (Immanuel –עמנואל).[4] Although this name mean ‘God is with us” it does not mean that the child will be divine. It is very common for biblical personality to have names that include God and part of their name. For example, (Daniel –דניאל) means “God is my Judge.” The implication was that God would be with Ahaz and the Kingdom of Judah in their fight against their enemies.
Isaiah refers to this when he says, “Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled; conspire a plot, but it will not stand, for God is with us (Emanu El).” Isaiah 8:10 “Thus God saved Hezikiah (son of Ahaz) and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria.” 2 Chronicles 32:22
We must be wise and understand that the text has a biblical history and meaning in the time in which it is read. It is a revelation to Ahaz and Isaiah. It has deep meaning all on its own. Even without a new testament.
The text is clear, the God who created the world, who gives breath to its every day, the God who was with Abraham and Moses, the God who freed the people of Israel, and the God who was with them as they wandered in the desert and eventually returned home is the very same God that is with Ahaz and speaks through both the prophet Isaiah and the prophetess. The message is purposeful and it is part of the overarching theology of Israel and Christianity. God is with God's people Israel.
But here is where we must understand a larger revelation. It is a revelation that does not set Israel's revelation aside but understands clearly that Israel's revelation was not the whole story. It is a revelation that understood that indeed God has been and was with the people. That this prophecy not only was given but came true. And, that the prophecy itself continued. In other words, the prophecy had meaning in that day when it was given to Ahaz and it continued to have meaning. Just at the prophecy revealed who God had been and how that revelation was being played out in the life of Ahaz and Isaiah, so too the prophetic message continued to be revealed - God is with us.
As the people of Israel tried to make sense of the birth and life of Jesus of Nazareth they looked towards the scripture that they so well knew. It Matthew the gospeller who picks up this thread and weaves it well into God's story. It is Matthew's gospel that looks back and lifts this text up and brings it into the narrative.
As he tells it the new prophetess is Mary who will make claims of God's presence with the people once again. In Luke, she will be the one who says:
In Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, Richard B. Hays writes,
Paul understood this in the broadest sense as he explained theologically that God's promise of presence belonged to Israel and the new people of Israel through the gentile mission. God's presence in the world in the unique person of Jesus and God's continuing presence meant that the promise had come true that God would gather all people to God's self.
Isaiah refers to this when he says, “Contrive a scheme, but it will be foiled; conspire a plot, but it will not stand, for God is with us (Emanu El).” Isaiah 8:10 “Thus God saved Hezikiah (son of Ahaz) and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria.” 2 Chronicles 32:22
We must be wise and understand that the text has a biblical history and meaning in the time in which it is read. It is a revelation to Ahaz and Isaiah. It has deep meaning all on its own. Even without a new testament.
The text is clear, the God who created the world, who gives breath to its every day, the God who was with Abraham and Moses, the God who freed the people of Israel, and the God who was with them as they wandered in the desert and eventually returned home is the very same God that is with Ahaz and speaks through both the prophet Isaiah and the prophetess. The message is purposeful and it is part of the overarching theology of Israel and Christianity. God is with God's people Israel.
But here is where we must understand a larger revelation. It is a revelation that does not set Israel's revelation aside but understands clearly that Israel's revelation was not the whole story. It is a revelation that understood that indeed God has been and was with the people. That this prophecy not only was given but came true. And, that the prophecy itself continued. In other words, the prophecy had meaning in that day when it was given to Ahaz and it continued to have meaning. Just at the prophecy revealed who God had been and how that revelation was being played out in the life of Ahaz and Isaiah, so too the prophetic message continued to be revealed - God is with us.
As the people of Israel tried to make sense of the birth and life of Jesus of Nazareth they looked towards the scripture that they so well knew. It Matthew the gospeller who picks up this thread and weaves it well into God's story. It is Matthew's gospel that looks back and lifts this text up and brings it into the narrative.
As he tells it the new prophetess is Mary who will make claims of God's presence with the people once again. In Luke, she will be the one who says:
I’m bursting with God-news; I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.God took one good look at me, and look what happened— I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him.He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts.He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud.The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold.He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.It’s exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now.That is the translation of Luke 1:46ff from the Message...love that version! But, while Luke's testimony gives Mary the words, it is Matthew's version that reveals that God is with Mary, this young woman, this virgin, and so is with God's people again. Moreover, as the new testament sought to understand Jesus and write theology they saw that this revelation was more than a word to a prophetess but that it had new meaning. As they understood the resurrection and God's presence in a new way they understood the message was more than a prophet's words and a prophetess' child to Ahaz - this was about God being birthed into the world in the very unique person of Jesus.
In Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, Richard B. Hays writes,
The reader who recalls the context of the prophet's words in Isaiah is drawn to recognize the analogy: Israel at the time of Jesus' birth also stands under foreign imperial domination. Matthew's identification fo Jesus as Emmanuel signifies that his birth is a sign: those in Israel who trust God's promise will see in Jesus a harbinger of salvation (the heir who will restore the Davidic line)...(163-164)Just as Ahaz has no faith in this prophetic birth so shall many not understand the broader and greater revelation of the person of Jesus. Just as Ahaz didn't imagine God was present or that he and the kingdom of Israel could truly be delivered by God...so too people reading Matthew for the first time, or today, may not imagine this is true - that God came into the world to save it.
Paul understood this in the broadest sense as he explained theologically that God's promise of presence belonged to Israel and the new people of Israel through the gentile mission. God's presence in the world in the unique person of Jesus and God's continuing presence meant that the promise had come true that God would gather all people to God's self.
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