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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. (Amen.)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)
Imitating Biblical statements of blessedness, such as our Lord’s “Beatitudes” that begin the so‑called “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:1-12), is a popular saying, perhaps not original to but often attributed to American‑novelist Robert Ludlum in his 2002 posthumously‑published book The Janson Directive—a popular saying that says “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not get bent out of shape”. Like literal physical flexibility, figurative mental flexibility can be good for all of us, perhaps especially as we draw closer to this year’s celebration of Christmas. Maybe changing circumstances have already forced you to adapt your plans: whether plans for gift-giving, for baking and cooking, or for visiting with family and friends. In today’s Gospel Reading, Joseph, the betrothed‑husband of Mary, had decided to adapt his family plans to what he perceived to be changing circumstances, until an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him to go ahead with his previous plan.
Important for our understanding is that in the verses before today’s Gospel Reading, the Divinely‑inspired evangelist St. Matthew traces out the “genealogy”, or “genesis”, of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham, by listing “fathers” and “sons” from Abraham down to Joseph, the guardian of Jesus, including naming women such as Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah, at least alluding to the unusual circumstances of those generations (Matthew 1:1-17). But, when the evangelist got to Joseph, he “had” to call him the “husband of Mary” and describe her as “of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ”. Then comes today’s Gospel Reading, which describes that unusual “birth”, or “genesis”, of Jesus Christ in greater but still brief detail.
The evangelist starts by telling us something that the passage apparently narrates Joseph’s finding out, at least for sure, namely, that Mary was with child from the Holy Spirit. Holy Scripture does not explicitly tell us whether or not Mary told Joseph about the angel Gabriel’s announcing Jesus’s birth to her, including how the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, so that the Child born of her would be called, as He would be, the Son of God (Luke 1:26-38). So, we can only imagine how anyone other than Mary “found” her to be with child. The evangelist’s use of that word “found”, however, seems intended to bring to mind the detailed Old Testament regulations regarding a betrothed‑wife who is discovered not to be a virgin (Deuteronomy 22:13-30). Apparently the accused did not have to be caught in the act (confer Wagner, TDOT 8:464-483)—the Latin term is en flagrante delicto, meaning “in blazing offense”. One commentator speculates that Mary told Joseph that the Child was God’s and that Joseph believed Mary but that Joseph still wanted to divorce Mary because he reverentially did not want to intrude on Mary’s relationship with the Holy Spirit (Gundry, ad loc Matthew 1:19, pp.21-22). Perhaps more likely, we might think that Mary told Joseph about Gabriel’s announcement—and perhaps that she also told other people, such as her own parents—but that she was met with unbelief and judgment.
To be sure, Mary was not guilty of sexual immorality in regards to her Child’s conception. Joseph seemingly thinks that Mary is guilty, despite the fact that the evangelist describes him as “just” and “unwilling to put her to shame” and “resolved to divorce her quietly”. Even if for reasons that might seem right, Joseph had thought about and was “about to do the wrong thing” (Gibbs, ad loc Matthew 1:18b-19, p.105). Of course, like Joseph, we all think about and do wrong things all the time, perhaps we do not believe our loved ones when they tell us the truth, whether a harder‑to‑believe truth or an easier‑to‑believe truth. And, in one way or another, we all sin against God’s command for us to lead sexually pure and decent lives in what we say and do and for husbands and wives to love and honor each other. Just because people may not catch us en flagrante delicto does not mean that God does not so see us sin. Because of all of our actual sin and our sinful nature, we deserve present and eternal punishment, apart from the Holy Spirit leading us to faith in Jesus Christ.
Even the Virgin Mary needed and received a Savior in Jesus (confer Luke 1:47), as she and Joseph were both told to name the Child (Luke 1:31; 2:21), though only Joseph was explicitly told the reason why, that is, because the Child would save His people from their sins. There is no conflict between the prophecy through Isaiah in today’s Old Testament Reading about the miraculously‑conceived Child’s being given the name “Immanuel”, which means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:10‑17), and that prophecy’s fulfillment, as identified in today’s Gospel Reading, with the Child being named “Jesus”. There is no conflict because, in the Virgin Mary’s Divinely‑conceived Child, God is present with His people as never before, present with them in order to save them from their sins. Out of God’s great love, Jesus kept God’s law that we fail to keep, and Jesus died on the cross for our failure to keep God’s law. Jesus died in our place, the death that we deserve, and then He rose from the dead—that resurrection, today’s Epistle Reading says, declared Jesus to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:1-7). When, by that Holy Spirit’s leading, we turn in sorrow from our sins and trust God to forgive us for Jesus’s sake, then God does forgive us. God forgives us our sinful nature and all our actual sins—our sins of not believing those who tell us the truth, our sins against the Sixth Commandment, or whatever our sins might be. God forgives us, through His Word and Sacraments.
One of the places that some people sometimes get hung up on today’s Gospel Reading is with whether or not Joseph and Mary “knew” each other after Jesus was born. Despite how the translations sound to us with the English word “until”, the original Greek preposition itself does not say definitively one way or the other, and ultimately it perhaps is, as one of my married pastor friends put it, none of our business (Schielke). Certainly Mary was a virgin before Jesus was conceived, during His pregnancy, and at least immediately after He was born—that seems to be all that the Divinely‑inspired evangelist cares to say, perhaps especially as it pertains to fulfilling the prophecy through Isaiah. As Lutherans, we believe, teach, and confess that Jesus demonstrated His Divine nature by being born “without violating [Mary’s] virginity” (Formula of Concord Solid Declaration VIII:24), and we believe, teach, and confess that He used the same way of being present when He was born that He also uses to be present with His Body and Blood in the bread and wine of the Holy Supper (Formula of Concord Solid Declaration VII:100). Although Jesus is also present in the reading and preaching of His Word, in the water of Holy Baptism, and in the rite of Holy Absolution, especially in the Holy Supper is Jesus “Immanuel”, God with us, in order to save us from our sin.
So forgiven by God through His Word and Sacraments, we, in the words of today’s Psalm (Psalm 24:1-10; antiphon: v.7), have clean hands and a pure heart, so we can ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place, where we receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of our salvation. Like Joseph, we are “just” or “righteous” only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, Who has done all that needs to be done for us and for our salvation. Already now, we have Christ’s peace and joy! Our daily sorrow over our sin and trust in God to forgive us for Jesus’s sake keeps us prepared: prepared to celebrate the birth of Jesus this Thursday, prepared to receive Him in His Holy Supper, as we do this morning, and prepared to be with Him when we die or when He comes again with glory, whichever comes first. Whether or not we are literally or figuratively flexible or get bent out of shape in one way or another, we are blessed. For, as we prayed in the Collect of the Day, the Lord stirs up His power and comes and helps us by His might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by His grace and mercy. Thanks be to God, now and forever.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Amen.)
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +