Joseph

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

- Matthew 1:18-25

Over the past few days, our daily lectionary has included the early readings from Luke, as part of the cycle for the celebration of Christmas, of Jesus' birth. Today we have a reading from Matthew, and through the Christmas season the lectionary will provide us with readings related to the incarnation of Jesus.

In this reading, we are given an account of Joseph. The past few readings have taught us about Elizabeth, and especially about Mary. Wonderfully, we are given a glimpse into the character of the earthly "father" of Jesus in this passage. Joseph is clearly a righteous man. According to my study bible, Joseph's righteousness is expressed in his mercy. He is unwilling to expose Mary's supposed sin. I will quote from a note: "Under Mosaic law, betrothal involves almost the same commitment as marriage. Joseph cannot help but suspect a violation of divine law when he sees his betrothed pregnant. Although obliged to report the misconduct, he decides to put her away secretly."

But after he's made this decision, Joseph -- like Elizabeth and Mary -- has a divine announcement made to him. An angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." My study bible has an interesting note: "An angel (or "messenger") of the Lord dispels the false reasoning of Joseph by announcing the utterly unreasonable: the pregnancy of the Virgin is by the Holy Spirit. Since being born of a virgin proves Jesus' divinity, only the revelation of God, in this case a dream ... could serve as adequate evidence of this miraculous conception." There are a number of occasions in which divine messages are revealed through dreams in Matthew's gospel, such as when the "Wise Men from the East" are warned via a dream that they should not return to Herod after seeing the child, and again when Joseph is warned to take his wife and child to Egypt.

Jesus, in the Hebrew form of this name "Yehoshua" means "the Lord is salvation." The Hebrew characters in this name include the tetragrammaton ("four letters" in Greek), the letters we represent in English as YHWH, plus an extra letter in the center, for "salvation." For those who practice forms of prayer such as the Jesus prayer, by this we come to understand that the name of Jesus itself is a prayer. In this tradition, the name of Jesus alone is a way of practicing a short prayer.

All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’

The theme of the gospel of Matthew has been summed up in this name, Emmanuel, or "God with us." In this passage, we read the first time Matthew uses a formula for expanding upon prophecy which he will repeat in his gospel: "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken." The prophecy that is quoted here is from Isaiah 7:14. Emmanuel, or "God with us" is also a description of Jesus, born of a virgin through the Holy Spirit: fully man and fully God, whose life and ministry and work among us is described through the gospels.

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. To Joseph's credit, as with Elizabeth and Mary, he heeds this announcement he receives in the dream, he accepts the divine message given to him in faith. He is a man who is kind and merciful and loving. He is also responsible, the caretaker for this vulnerable Mother and Child. He has made his choice and his commitment, according to faith in the message of the angel he received via a dream. He is the model of a good father and husband, and a truly righteous man in the sense that Jesus will preach to us to be righteous: not merely just, but merciful. My study bible notes that Joseph's is the "righteousness of mercy, which transcends the Law." It is quite a wonderful thing to get this picture of Joseph the man, as we are told so little about him through the gospels.

In today's Christmas Eve reading, let us think about this family, and how it reflects on all the values we may wish for or hold dear - or even better, the values we may prize in the people we know who share them. A father to be, a young man engaged, who is told a powerfully challenging message; an expectant betrothed or engaged mother who relies on his compassion, an unborn child who is yet Son of the Most High. This small family reminds us all of our vulnerability, the challenges in every family - and every person or community - for faith and love, the challenge of responsibility and the unknown future. We remember Mary's prayer from yesterday's reading: God has "looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant" and has "lifted up the lowly." The Lord did not come into the world in fulfillment of a prophecy through a great and famous king, born into a castle of great wealth and advantage. Far from it! Once again, we remind ourselves, this is not a fairy tale! It's not a story of a perfectly charmed life, in the ways in which we might sometimes wish our lives were perfect. Faith is a struggle, and it takes action on our part to accept it and live it. The gifts of God, as with the parable of the talents, come with responsibility and offer to us to make a choice. This little family, in the examples and humility of the choices that are made, might be any one of us in our lives. God "lifts up the lowly" and it is the lowly who are glorified in this story. We shouldn't ever forget that. Because it is a story for all of us, anywhere.