4th SUNDAY IN ADVENT (Cycle A)
Readings:
Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm 24:1-7
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-24
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity and why we read and relive the events of salvation history contained in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The O Antiphons begin at vespers (evening prayer) on December 17th and continue through the 23rd. One antiphon is introduced each evening at the praying of the Magnificat, the Virgin's great song of praise from the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke; they also appear as the Gospel Acclamation verses at Mass on those days. The O Antiphons recall the Scripture titles of the Messiah, invoking Him to come to us quickly. A list of the O Antiphons and their Latin beginnings:
The Benedictine monks who composed the antiphons included a coded message of hope. Take the first letter of the Latin messianic titles in the seven antiphons in order, then reverse them to have E-R-O-C-R-A-S. In Latin, the phrase "Ero Cras" means "I will be (there) tomorrow!" Therefore, as we complete the acrostic on the final night of Advent before Christmas Eve, we receive the promise from Jesus, our Emmanuel (God with us), "I will be there tomorrow!"
The Theme of the Readings: The Virgin Birth of the
Davidic Messiah
God first promised the coming of the Messiah-Redeemer at the
darkest moment at the beginning of salvation history. He offered the hope of humanity's
redemption after our original parents, Adam and Eve, were deprived of the grace
of perfect fellowship with their divine Father and Creator. God both cursed the
serpent, Satan, who orchestrated the fall of humanity (Revelation 12:9) and
gave the hope of humankind's future redemption (Genesis 3:15). The LORD
foretold that one day a man, born from the "seed of the woman," would come to
undo the work of Satan. He would come as God's Redeemer-Messiah to restore
humanity to the perfection of grace in a covenant fellowship with the Lord God
(1 John 3:8).
God moved forward with that divine plan in the 10th century BC when He made an eternal covenant with His servant, King David. The LORD promised David that his throne and kingdom would last forever (2 Samuel 7:16; 23:5; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Sirach 45:25; 47:11/13). Through the centuries, He repeated this promise through the prophets that the Redeemer-Messiah would come from David's lineage to rule an eternal kingdom (i.e., Isaiah 11:1-5; Jeremiah 23:5-6; a href ="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/jeremiah/33?15">33:15-16; Ezekiel 34:23-24; Zechariah 3, 8; 6:12).
The First Reading is from the book of the 8th century BC Prophet Isaiah. He told Davidic descendant King Ahaz that one day, a virgin would give birth to a son called "God-with-us" (Is 7:14), a prophecy repeated by St. Matthew in our Gospel Reading, who applied the prophecy to Davidic descendant Mary of Nazareth (Lk 1:32) and her son, Jesus (Matthew 1:22-23).
The Responsorial Psalm honors the invisible Divine King (Yahweh), present in the people's liturgy of worship at the Jerusalem Temple. It recalls a celebration that should remind us that our Divine King (Jesus) is also invisibly present in the Eucharist.
In our Second Reading, St. Paul identifies Jesus as the promised "King of Glory" previously promised by God through his prophets in the holy Scriptures" (Romans 1:2-4). Paul writes that this is the "good news" of the gift of salvation.
In our Gospel reading, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and assured him it was God's plan for him to take Mary as his wife and raise the child who is the Divine Messiah: the "Emmanuel" born from a virgin promised by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14).
The First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14 ~ Isaiah
Intervenes with Ahaz a Second Time
10 Yahweh spoke to Ahaz again and said: 11 "Ask Yahweh
your God for a sign, either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above." 12
But Ahaz said, "I will not ask. I will not put Yahweh to the test." 13 He
then said: "Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying human
patience that you should try my God's patience too? 14 The Lord will give you
a sign in any case. It is this: the young woman [the virgin] is with child and
will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.
Isaiah urged Ahaz to ask God for a sign that the prophecy of Judah's rescue from the Syro-Ephraimite alliance would take place and God's protection over Judah was secure. He told the king the "sign" he could ask for had no limits, either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above. Sheol was the abode of all the dead from the Fall of Adam until the coming of Christ. The wicked were punished for their sins, and the righteous awaited the coming of the Redeemer-Messiah (CCC 536, 633; Luke 16:19-31).
Sometimes God provided His people and His agents with signs and wonders to demonstrate His power and the truth of what He said (Exodus 3:1-4; 4:1-9; Luke 1:18-20; 2:12). St. John calls each of Jesus's miracles in his Gospel "signs" that point to Jesus's authority from God and His true identity.
Ahaz should have remembered that God's eternal covenant with David included the protection of his kingdom so long as his heirs remained faithful (2 Samuel 7:12-29). Ahaz was a descendant of David and, as his heir, was the heir to this covenant promise (2 Samuel 7:14-17; 25-29; 23:5; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Psalm 89:2-5; Sirach 45:25; 47:11/13).
12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask. I will not put Yahweh to the test."
Ahaz used an excuse that was an allusion to Deuteronomy 6:16,
where Moses warned the people: Do not put Yahweh your God to the test as you
tested him at Massah. Massah means "testing" and recalls the incident when
the Israelites were on their journey out of Egypt in Exodus 17:1-7. Instead of
trusting in God's promise to take care of them, the people demanded that Moses give
them water to drink, challenging God to prove He was with them. However, the situation
with Ahaz was entirely different. He would not put God to the test improperly
because He gave Ahaz the authority to name the sign.
Later Isaiah would offer Ahaz's good son, King Hezekiah, the chance to choose between one of two signs, and he did not repeat his father's mistake. But Isaiah 7:10 records the only time in the Bible when a prophet offered someone the opportunity to name the sign. God, in His mercy, reached out in a special way to David's heir, who struggled to believe that Judah would experience God's deliverance. Ahaz refused to name a sign, trying to hide behind false piety. Either he did not want to risk his kingdom on Yahweh's promise of help, or he had already made up his mind and preferred to put his trust in an alliance with Assyria and her king.
13 He then said: "Listen now, House of David: are you not
satisfied with trying human patience that you should try my God's patience too?
Notice the shift between verses 11 and 13 from Isaiah's
words "your God" in verse 11 when he urged Ahaz to ask for a sign and "my God"
in verse 13 after Ahaz refused and Isaiah, in his anger, found Ahaz unfit to
claim Yahweh as his God. Ahaz's refusal was a sign of his unbelief, and therefore,
the House of David had demonstrated that it was unfit for a relationship with
the Living God.
Isaiah was persistent and told Ahaz: 14 The Lord will give you a sign in any case. It is this: the young woman [literal ha 'almah = the virgin] is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel (immau = "with us" + El = God = "God-with-us"). For a sign to be from God, it had to be an event that defied the natural order. For a woman in Ahaz's court or one of his wives to give birth to a son happened all the time and could not be taken as a divine sign. But for a virgin to give birth without having had relations with a man was indeed a miracle. Notice that Isaiah did not say "a virgin" but "the virgin"—a specific virgin chosen by God to be a "sign" of His divine intervention in the history of humanity. That the child received a title that contained the word "God" in the singular ("El"), a word used again in 9:6, demonstrated that Isaiah was referring to a child with words that signified deity. His birth would be surrounded by the mysterious and the supernatural. When the child was born, God would be seen to be present with His people.
Rabbinic Judaism has raised the argument that ha 'almah, the term Isaiah uses for she who would give birth, does not mean "virgin" but "a young woman." First, a definite article is used: ha = the, indicating a specific woman. And second, this was not the way this verse was translated in the Greek Septuagint, which used the Greek word for virgin, Parthenos. This was also the way St. Matthew quoted this passage, speaking of Mary giving birth to Jesus: Now all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "Look! The virgin is with child and will give birth to a son, whom they will call Immanuel, a name which means 'God-is-with-us'" (Matthew 1:23, bold added for emphasis). 1 See footnote 1 for a further discussion of the meaning of the Hebrew word 'almah and other uses of the word in the Old Testament.
In the promised sign, Isaiah essentially told King Ahaz, "Ahaz, you don't want to pick a sign, and you don't believe God is with us, but He is, and He will prove it through this amazing sign." The prophet will not be fulfilled for over seven hundred years!
The title for the child to be born of the virgin, "God-with-us," was fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Man and Son of God. See the promise in Matthew 28:20 and Revelation 21:3. How, then, is Isaiah's Immanuel/Emmanuel prophecy fulfilled? Before His Ascension, Jesus promised He would be with us until the end of time. Also, in Revelation 21:3, after the creation of the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1-2), St. John heard a voice from the throne of God telling him: "Look, here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they will be his people, and he will be their God, God-with-them." In 1779, Pope Pius VI, in his encyclical "Divina," officially condemned any interpretation denying the messianic sense of Isaiah 7:14.
Isaiah 7:14 is the first of ten Old Testament fulfillment statements in St. Matthew's Gospel. Fulfillment statements:
Five of these fulfillment statements are from the Book of
Isaiah (Matthew 1:23 = Isaiah 7:14;
Matthew 4:14-5 = Isaiah 8:23-9:1/9:1-2;
Matthew 8:17 = Isaiah 53:4;
Matthew 12:17 = Isaiah 42:1-4;
Matthew 21:4-5 = Isaiah 62:11).
The "fulfillment" statements serve a specific purpose in St.
Matthew's Gospel. They show that everything God did in the Old Testament was
part of His divine plan in preparation for the Advent of the Messiah.
The Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 ~ The Glory of God
Response: "Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory."
1 A psalm of David. The LORD's are the earth and its
fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. 2 For he founded it upon the
seas and established it upon the rivers., the world and those who dwell in it.
Response:
3 Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may
stand in his holy place? 4 One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
Response:
5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward
from God his savior. 6 Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the
face of the God of Jacob.
Response:
At the end of Psalm 23, the psalmist expressed the desire to dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6). Now we are told who can enter (Psalm 24:3-4). These verses probably come from an entrance rite at the Jerusalem Temple. The psalm begins by proclaiming who the LORD is. He is the creator and maker of the entire earth and everything in it (verses 1-2). Then, the psalmist lists the conditions for approaching the LORD (verses 3-6).
When we recite this psalm as Christians, we think of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (cf. Matthew 11:1-11). In the Church's liturgy, she applies it to those who have reached perfection in the heavenly Jerusalem and uses it on the Feast of All Saints.
The Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7 ~ St. Paul Greets the
Roman Christians
1 "From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to
be an apostle, 2 set apart for the service of the gospel that God promised long
ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 This is the gospel concerning
his Son who, in terms of human nature 4 was born a descendant of David and who,
in terms of the Spirit and of holiness was designated Son of God in power by
resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ, our Lord. 5 Through him we have
received grace and our apostolic mission of winning the obedience of faith
among all the nations for the honor of his name. 6 You are among these, and by
his call you belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To you all, God's beloved in Rome,
called to be his holy people. Grace and peace from God our Father and in the
Lord Jesus Christ."
Tertius [ter'-she-us], a Latin name which may mean "third son," was serving as St. Paul's amanuensis or scribal secretary as he dictated his letter (Romans 16:21-23). In his introduction, Paul identified himself and presented his credentials in three ways in verse 1. He identified himself as (1) "a servant/slave," (2) "one called to be an apostle," and as one (3) "set apart for God's gospel." The Greek word doulos [doo'-los] can be translated as "servant" or "slave." In the Roman world in which Paul lived, a doulos meant one bonded to a master. Slavery was an accepted institution in the ancient world. In using this word, Paul was expressing his complete dependence on his master, Jesus the Messiah, and also expressing his undivided allegiance and his commitment to lifelong service. Identifying himself as a "servant" or "slave" of God links Paul to the prophets of the Old Testament who yielded their lives to Yahweh as His obedient servants/slaves. For example, Jeremiah wrote, From the day your ancestors left Egypt until today, I have sent you all my servants the prophets, persistently sending them day after day (Jeremiah 7:25). His Jewish audience would not have missed the Old Testament scriptural implications of the use of this word.
| Abraham | "Faithful to his sacred promise, given to his servant Abraham, he led out his people with rejoicing, his chosen one with shouts of joy." Psalm 105:42-43 |
| Moses | "...the people revered Yahweh and put their faith in Yahweh and in Moses, his servant." Exodus 14:31 |
| Joshua | "Joshua fell on his face to the ground, worshipping him, and said, 'What has my Lord to say to his servant?'" Joshua 5:14 |
| Samuel | "Yahweh then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, 'Samuel! Samuel! Samuel!' Samuel answered, 'Speak, Yahweh; for your servant is listening.'"1 Samuel 3:10 |
| David | "What is more, you have deigned to bless your servant's dynasty, so that it may remain forever before you; for you. Lord Yahweh, have spoken; and may your servant's dynasty be blessed with your blessing forever." 2 Samuel 7:29 (David is called God's servant ten times in 7:5-29). |
| Isaiah | "Yahweh then said, my servant Isaiah...." Isaiah 20:3 |
Other Jewish New Covenant leaders also used the title "servant" or "slave": Sts Peter (2 Peter 1:1), James (James 1:1), and Jude (Jude 1:1), in the introductions to their letters to the Catholic (universal) Church and also by St. John in Revelation 1:1 and 15:3.
This designation also links Paul and the other servants of Jesus Christ to the sacramental nature of the ecclesial ministry and its character of service, which is entirely dependent on the Son of God, who gives His servants their mission and authority. These servants of Christ serve in the image of Him who emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet. Even to accepting death, death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8). Also, see CCC# 876-7.
Paul presented his credentials as one who is "called to be an apostle. In 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul tells the Corinthian Christians that he was called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.... The Greek word apostolos means "one who is sent." An apostle is an emissary or envoy sent with his master's authority to deliver a message. In the New Testament, this word designates:
Paul considered himself an apostle because he was personally chosen by Jesus and was appointed missionary to the Gentiles in the conversion experience (Romans 11:13; Acts 26:27; 1 Corinthians 9:2; Galatians 1:16; 2:8; 1 Timothy 2:7). This divine appointment, Paul believed, elevated him as a true apostle of Christ (Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1, etc.) and made him equal to the other apostles who had also seen and talked with Jesus after His Resurrection (Acts 10:41). He vigorously defended his title of an apostle in all his letters (Romans 1:1; 11:13; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 9:1-2; 15:9-10; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2:6-7; 2 Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:1). In 1 Corinthians 9:1-2, Paul defended his title of an apostle to the church in Corinth: Am I not free" Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? Even if to others I am not an apostle, to you at any rate I am, for you are the seal of my apostolate in the Lord. See CCC# 858-60; 875
Lastly, he identified himself as having been set apart for the service of the gospel (verse 2). When Paul wrote that he was set apart for the service of the gospel, he meant that he was set apart by Christ Himself when he yielded his life by accepting Jesus as the Messiah and his Savior. His old life was over, and his new life in Christ began. He was also "set apart" in his mission to the Gentiles, which he was called to fulfill by Jesus (see Acts 9:15-16; 22:2). But he may also be referring to a statement he made in Galatians 1:15 when he wrote that God had set him apart to serve Him from his mother's womb, just as the Old Testament servants of God Isaiah and Jeremiah were called (see Isaiah 49:1 and Jeremiah 1:5).
Consider how Paul defined the term "gospel in verse 2. See Romans 1:16; the Greek word euaggelion [yoo-ang-ghel'-ee-on] means "to announce good news; declare glad tidings" (Strong's Concordance #2098). When Paul refers to the "gospel," he was not speaking of the four Gospels written by the Apostles Matthew and John, or the Gospels written by Peter's disciple John Mark or Paul's disciple Luke. In Romans 1:16, Paul tells us that the gospel is God's power for the salvation of everyone who has faith. It is the good news of the gift of salvation that Jesus has given through His precious blood and in His sacrificial death and resurrection. It is the message of salvation Jesus instructed His Apostles to preach to the entire world the "good news" of the Kingdom of Heaven and the gift of humanity's salvation through God the Son (see Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:6-8).
In verse 2, Paul wrote about a promise God made long ago through his prophets. He refers to the promise of humanity's salvation as foreshadowed in the covenantal promises made to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3 and repeated in chapters 15, 17, and 22), the covenant promise of an everlasting Kingdom made to David (2 Samuel 7:15, 23:5), the vision of the eternal Kingdom of the holy ones of God made to Daniel (Daniel 44-45, 7:18) and the promises of a future Messiah and Redeemer revealed through the prophets (e.g., Jeremiah 23:5-6, Ezekiel 34:23-25, 37:25-28).
In 1 Peter 1:10-12, St Peter wrote about the promise of our salvation revealed to the Old Testament prophets: This salvation was the subject of the search and investigation of the prophets who spoke of the grace you were to receive, searching out the time and circumstances for which the Spirit of Christ, bearing witness in them, was revealing the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow them. It was revealed to them that it was for your sake and not their own that they were acting as servants delivering the message which has now been announced to you by those who preached to you the gospel through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
In Luke 24:25-27 and 44-47, Jesus revealed to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and later to the Apostles in the Upper Room that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, was destined to be fulfilled. In Isaiah 61:1, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: The spirit of Lord Yahweh is on me for Yahweh has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the news [gospel/glad tidings] to the afflicted, to soothe the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to captives, release to those in prison, to proclaim a year of favor from Yahweh and a day of vengeance for our God, to comfort all who mourn.... Jesus quoted this passage as fulfilled in Himself in Luke 4:18-19. He told the Apostles and disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8 that their mission was to proclaim the gospel message of salvation to all nations and all peoples. In addition to this understanding of the "gospel" message of salvation, the Vatican II document, Dei Verbum, 7 defines the gospel of Jesus Christ as the source of all saving truth and moral discipline. The gospel of Jesus Christ is His work of salvation—a gift freely offered to all people of all ages. For more information on the fulfillment of prophecy, see The Study of Romans: Introduction 2; and CCC# 64 & 702.
In Romans 1:3-7, Paul expressed the focus of his theology. Some scholars believe these verses may be a very early profession of faith. They highlight the theology of Paul in all his letters centered on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ—the promised son of David, the crucified and resurrected Savior of the world.
In verse 5, Paul testified that the grace given to him to preach God's gospel of salvation came from Jesus Christ Himself to win the "obedience of faith" from among the nations of the world. The "obedience of faith" is not a passive belief or simply an intellectual assent. St. Paul identifies "obedience of faith" as our first moral obligation. The root word for "obedience" is the word "obey." To obey, from the Latin ob-audire, means "to hear" or "to listen" and "to comply or submit." Scripture defines faith:
In the Old Sinai Covenant, it was Israel's covenantal duty to submit in obedience to God's covenant grace through faithfully hearing and observing the Law of the Covenant God gave to Israel through His servant Moses. This faith through obedience was central to Israel's elevated status as God's holy people. In the New Covenant, our "obedience of faith" is exercised by submitting our intellect and will to God and, with the help of the Holy Spirit by embracing and living everything that God has revealed of Himself to us through the ministry, self-sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. It is "obedience" for the sake of the name of Jesus—which means yielding in obedience to everything Jesus taught and continues to teach through his representatives in the ministerial priesthood and taking up our obligations to love and serve God in the royal priesthood that is the inheritance of every Christian disciple (CCC# 1546-47).
For Paul, there is sacramental unity in obedience and faith. He taught that there is no opposition between faith and obedience but that they are two sides of the same coin. The purpose of Paul's apostolic mission was to bring about in his hearers a message that strengthened an active and living "obedience of faith"—a faith expressed in obedience to the teachings of Christ through His Church—an obedience pleasing to God that allows the Christian, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to lead a holy, saintly life. A holy God and Father deserves holy and obedient children. It is the same call to "obedience of faith" that every homily we hear calls us live and to which every celebration of the Eucharist empowers and strengthens us through God's grace. Paul revisited the necessity of "obedience" and "faith" as the letter continued. He opens the letter in 1:5 with the call to "obedience of faith" and closes the letter in 16:26 with the same plea: as the eternal God commanded, to be made known to all the nations, so that they obey in faith...." See CCC # 143; 153-165; 2087 and Romans 16:26.
There are several examples of obedient faith in the Old and New Testaments:
Romans 1:7 ~ To you all, God's beloved in Rome, called to be his holy people.
Grace and peace from God our Father and in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel,
called by God at Mt. Sinai, enjoyed the title "holy people of God." Paul
acknowledges in verse 7 that God indeed calls the faithful Christians of Rome through
faith and baptism to be God's holy people. They are the New Israel of the New
Covenant. Just as the Old Israel had the honor of being called God's holy
people in obedience to the Sinai Covenant centered in Jerusalem, so too do the
Christians of Rome, in the world center of the New Covenant Church, deserve
this title. See CCC# 877; 2013-14.
Paul completes his greeting with his typical formula, "grace and peace," a greeting common in all his letters except the Letter to the Hebrews, which is probably not a letter but a homily Paul delivered in Jerusalem that was copied and sent out to the universal Church. See Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:2, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2b; 1 Thessalonians 1:1b, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2, Titus 1:4, and Philemon 1:3.
The typical Greek greeting was chairein [khah-ee-ren], which simply means "greetings." Scholars have suggested that Paul substituted chairein = "greetings" with charis [khar'-ece], meaning "favor" in Greek but with the distinctive meaning and understanding of the Hebrew word hen, meaning "grace," a gift of God. And then to this greeting, Paul added the Greek word for "peace," eirene [i-ray'-nay], which reflects the typical Semitic greeting, shalom, "peace" (see 2 Maccabees 1:1), yielding a combined Gentile and Jewish greeting. Paul's Jewish audience may have recognized in his greeting an echo of the ancient priestly blessing for God's holy people Israel found in Numbers 6:24-26, May Yahweh bless you and keep you. May Yahweh let his face shine on you and be gracious to you [give you grace]. May Yahweh show you his face and bring you peace. If Paul did intend to echo the priestly blessing, then this was an ecclesial blessing, and "grace" represents God's covenantal grace revealed in Jesus Christ, and "peace" is the deep and abiding peace that comes from the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of Matthew 1:18-24 ~ Jesus is the Promised
Emmanuel of Isaiah's Prophecy
18 Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph her husband, since
he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce
her quietly. 20 Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this
child has been conceived in her. 21 She will bear a son and you are to name him
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place
to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "Behold, the virgin
shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which
means "God is with us." 24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him and took his wife into his home.
In verse 18, St. Matthew used Jesus's royal title, "Christos/Messiah," a fourth time (see 1:1, 16, 17, 18). There is no doubt that Matthew presented Jesus of Nazareth as the promised Davidic Messiah, supported by Jesus's genealogy in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 1:1-17). St. Matthew began the story of Jesus's birth with Joseph of Nazareth, who was betrothed to Mary when he discovered she was pregnant.
A betrothal was not like a modern engagement. According to the customs of the times, a couple became "betrothed" with the payment of the bride price (paid by the groom) and the dowry (paid by the girl's family), and the marriage contract was signed. They did not live together until the groom completed the necessary preparations to bring a wife into his home. However, in the interim period, they were both legally and morally bound to each other under the laws enumerated in the Deuteronomic Code (see Deuteronomy 22:23-27). When Mary was discovered to be pregnant, she was in a precarious position. If Joseph repudiated her, no other "righteous" Jewish man would marry her, and she would be ridiculed and shunned by the community. It was necessary for God's plan that Mary and her son receive the protection of a legal marriage.
There are two theories as to why Joseph decided to divorce Mary. One theory is that Joseph already knew the child was the Messiah and did not feel he was worthy enough for the honor of fathering the Messiah-king. The second theory is that Joseph believed Mary had committed adultery. However, he wanted to spare her the ridicule of the community by setting her aside without publically charging her in the Jewish Law Court. The key to understanding the passage is answering this question: How would a Jew define the term "righteous man" as defined in verse 19? For every observant Jew, a "righteous man" was a man who lived in strict obedience to the Law of God. A righteous man who believed Mary was bearing the Messiah, Joseph would not refuse the honor of protecting Mary and her child. However, if he thought Mary had been unfaithful, as a "righteous man," Joseph could not marry someone who appeared to have so grossly violated the Law of Moses. The only way Joseph could be released from the obligation to take Mary as his wife was by an act of repudiation.
An answer to Joseph's dilemma came to him in a dream. The Angel of the Lord revealed God's plan to Joseph, telling him that Mary was with child by the power of God, and he was to marry her and bring her into his home. The angel's announcement follows the same pattern as the announcement of other special births of sons in the Bible. In the Old Testament, there is a pattern found in the births of Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:9-10), Josiah (1 Kings 13:3), and Isaiah's prophecy of the birth of the virgin's son (Isaiah 7:14-17). In the New Testament, the pattern is present in the announcement of the births of John the Baptist (Luke 11-17) and Jesus (Matthew 1:20-21 and Luke 1:31-33). These birth announcements follow a pattern:
The angel then made three significant statements to reassure Joseph that he should take Mary as his wife:
According to the customs of the times, if a man named a child born from his wife or a woman he had been intimate with, he was declaring the child legally his own. The angel's command leaves no doubt in Joseph's mind that he is to be the child's legal father. He is commanded to give the child the Hebrew name Yehoshua (Joshua), or Yahshua in proto-Hebrew, and Yehoshua in the Aramaic of Joseph's time. The name means "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh is salvation." The angel even makes a wordplay on the meaning of the name by saying: "because he will save his people from their sins." The name the angel gives the child subtly identifies Jesus (Yahshua/Yehoshua = "Yahweh is salvation" with the Divine Name, Yah represents Yahweh, a connection that will not become clear until later. The angel defined the Messiah's mission as spiritual and not political, saying that Jesus would be born to save humankind from their sins, not from Roman oppression.
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said
through the prophet: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." 24 When Joseph
awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took his wife into his
home.
The angel's message in verses 22-24 is the first of St.
Matthew's ten "fulfillment" formula statements (ten is the number symbolizing
divine order). Each statement begins, "this was to fulfill," followed by a quote
from the Old Testament passage or by an allusion to a combination of several
passages in one quotation. St. Matthew's fulfillment statements:
The ten "fulfillment" statements show that everything God did in the Old Testament was part of His divine plan in preparation for the Advent of the Messiah.
St. Matthew's message is that God has announced his divine plan through His prophets, and now that plan was being fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah. In his first "fulfillment" statement in 1:23, St. Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14 (the passage in our first reading for this Sunday): Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us." Notice that the prophecy follows the three-part birth pattern announcement. Matthew established the bloodline of the human Jesus in his genealogy (Matthew 1:1-16). However, he wants his readers to understand that Jesus is more than a mere human when he writes: For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. In other words, conceived "by the Holy Spirit without human seed" (Lateran Council of 649), and He is the "Emmanuel/God with us" foretold by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 7:17 quoted in Matthew 1:1-23).
Isaiah and Matthew identified the son born of the virgin by the title "Emmanuel/Immanuel," meaning "God with us." Jesus will affirm that He is "God with us" at the end of St. Matthew's Gospel in Matthew. First, He gave His disciples the power to baptize for eternal salvation (Mt 28:19), and then God the Son told them: "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20; bold added for emphasis).
When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded. The angel's message confirmed that Mary was the virgin destined to give birth to the promised Davidic Messiah. Joseph demonstrated his faith and obedience to God by immediately making Mary his wife and taking her into his home.
Catechism References (* indicated Scripture quoted
or paraphrased in the citation):
Isaiah 7:14 (CCC 497)
Romans 1:1 (CCC 876), 1:3-4 (CCC 648), 1:3 (CCC 437*, 496*), 1:4 (CCC 445*, 695*), 1:5 (CCC 143*, 494, 2087)
Matthew 1:18-24 (CCC 497*), 1:16 (CCC 437), 1:20 (CCC 333*, 437, 486*, 497), 1:21 (CCC 430, 437, 452, 1507*, 1846, 2666*, 2812*), 1:23 (CCC 497, 744)
Mary's virginal motherhood (CCC 495*, 496*, 497*, 498*, 499, 500*, 501*, 502, 503*, 504* 505*, 506*, 507)
Mary the Mother of Christ by the Holy Spirit (CCC 437*, 456, 484*, 485*, 486*, 721*, 722*, 723*, 724*, 725*, 726*)
Jesus as Savior revealed to Joseph (CCC 1846*)
Christ the Son of God in his Resurrection (CCC 445*, 648*, 695*)
The "obedience of faith" (CCC 143*, 144, 145*, 146*, 147*, 148*, 149*, 494*, 2087*)
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