Word to the Wise
Sunday, December 23, 2007 - Fourth Sunday of Advent
[Isaiah 7:10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Mathew 1:18-24]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.
The Gospel of Matthew represents an important preaching to a community with many Jewish converts. These converts would have been very concerned to know that Jesus was, indeed, the fulfillment of all the prophecies in the Old Testament about the Messiah. The words, "Son of David," in connection with Joseph are very important because the promise in Isaiah is made to the House of David! In the scripture from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, St. Paul speaks of Jesus as "descended from David according to the flesh," The connection with David places Jesus historically and physically. The name, "Emmanuel," places him in God's time, as the one who is "God with us." "What's in a name?" Shakespeare asks. For the Jewish people, the name was equivalent to the person and not simply an identifier. Jesus bears in himself not only the promise but the fulfillment of the promise. It's a little like getting engaged to be married: the person making the promise to marry becomes the fulfillment of the promise. It's not just an agreement to go through a ceremony, but a promise to BE someone for someone else. "Jesus" means the one who will save; Emmanuel means the one who will be with us. These are not just "honorific" names. One can understand then the anxious question from John the Baptist: "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?" Through our celebration of the birth of Jesus in history, we celebrate his birth in "our time" as well. He is Emmanuel - God with us - and he is Jesus, the one who saves us from our sins. This is one birthday we don't want to lose to all the other secular celebration. It is THE reason for the season! AMEN