The first reading this week from the book of Isaiah contains a sign from God to the king Ahaz: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” This particular sign was not directly referring to Jesus, but to the son of Ahaz not yet born. This son will be a better king than Ahaz and God will be with that future king as he was with past kings. Isaiah is trying to persuade Ahaz to trust God regarding the Assyrian threat. Ahaz is of the line of David and God promised David that his kingdom and his line would be secure forever. Matthew, the writer of today’s Gospel, reinterprets this to refer to Jesus. The name Emmanuel means “God is with us” and the name Jesus means “God saves”. What Matthew is teaching us in today’s Gospel is that God became incarnate, he became a human and walked among us, and the purpose of this becoming was to save us from sin. Matthew is assuring the Jewish audience that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Israelites.
We had Mary’s “yes” and now we have Joseph’s “yes” to God!
Joseph only appears in Matthew’s Gospel account. Joseph is from the line of David. It is through him that Jesus fulfills all prophecy relating to the messiah.
Joseph is an honest, righteous man. Imagine Joseph’s position, to be told that the woman he has not yet married is pregnant and he is not the father. We get a very good impression of the character of Joseph. His response was not anger although it is reasonable to assume he was angry. He did not turn Mary over to the authorities to be punished, likely stoned to death, for being an adulterer. He did not seek out the other man and kill him. Joseph decided to quietly end his engagement to Mary and send her somewhere that the executioners would not go. Joseph obviously loved Mary very much, though she had apparently broken her covenant (promise) with him, and did not want her to be killed even for what he believed was a very bad and sinful situation and an embarrassment to him personally.
Before Joseph could act on his decision an angel of God came to him and told him not to be afraid, to take Mary as his wife because the child was not another man’s but was of God and conceived by the Holy Spirit. Wow…that’s not overwhelming at all, is it? It is a testament to Joseph’s faith in God that he did just as the angel directed him and took Mary as his wife and became the adopted father of Jesus when he was born, naming him Jesus (The name Jesus means “God Saves”), as the angel also instructed. The fact that Joseph acted in the will of God without reservation or even resentment, for he could have been mad at God for taking from him his wife in this manner, shows the true love of Mary that Joseph had, and his love and devotion to God.
Jesus was given a very good earthly family to raise him. God saw to it that both his mother and his father were of exceptional character. Interesting that in their earthly society they were likely ridiculed and gossiped about behind their backs by people who probably did not consider them of exceptional character. Mary and Joseph’s faith helped them to overcome the ridicule they may have suffered, and they provided a very good home in which the son of God would be raised!
All fathers should turn to Joseph as an example of what a good father is and emulate his character! What a good, honest and loving man he was and what strong faith in God he possessed! And we should always remember that God is WITH us, always.
Our Psalm this week is Psalm 24: Let the Lord Enter
Peace be with you during the Advent and Christmas seasons!