Advent 4A

image: Joseph’s Dream by Rembrandt - (wikimedia)

Karla Seyb-Stockton, Words to Live By Blog

Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist, Patreon

Matthew 1:18-25

Initial Thoughts

  • Matthew 1:1-17 - Genealogy- a worthwhile sermon on God’s love:

    • Jesus had a very flawed family line: 

      1. Tamar - a gentile (impregnated by her father-in-law who then tried to burn her alive)

      2. Rahab - a prostitute

      3. Ruth - a foreign Moabite!

      4. “Wife of Uriah” (downfall of David)

      5. Uzziah (struck down by God for his arrogance)

      6. Manasseh - restored idol worship and worship of Baal and was the worst king

    • This is the family whom God chose to save the world and become incarnate within

      1. If God can save the world with this family- imagine what God can do with you

Bible Study

  • Birth narrative in Matthew is barely a narrative. 

    • There’s no manger or shepherds or angels or trip to Bethlehem.

    • 1-17 is genealogy

    • 18-24 is about Joseph

    • Jesus is born in a period in the middle of verse 25

      • “But he didn't have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son.  Joseph called him Jesus.”

  • Joseph’s Choice

    • Joseph has a choice!

      • Hard Choice - stay with potentially unfaithful fiance

      • Easy Choice - quietly break off the engagement 

    • Deuteronomy 22:22-27

“If a young woman who is a virgin is engaged to one man and another man meets up with her in a town and has sex with her, you must bring both of them to the city gates there and stone them until they die—the young woman because she didn’t call for help in the city, and the man because of the fact that he humiliated his neighbor’s wife. Remove such evil from your community!

But if the man met up with the engaged woman in a field, grabbing her and having sex with her there, only the man will die. Don’t do anything whatsoever to the young woman. She hasn’t committed any capital crime—rather, this situation is exactly like the one where someone attacks his neighbor and kills him. Since the man met up with her in a field, the engaged woman may well have called out for help, but there was no one to rescue her.

If a man meets up with a young woman who is a virgin and not engaged, grabs her and has sex with her, and they are caught in the act, the man who had sex with her must give fifty silver shekels to the young woman’s father.  She will also become his wife because he has humiliated her.  He is never allowed to divorce her.”

  • Joseph Disregards the Deuteronomic Law, and yet he is considered a “Righteous man” because of this kindness.

    • He is stuck between following the Law, and following his heart. His choice is to follow his heart.

    • Standing in tension that Jesus grows up to teach about time and again: “You have heard it said..., but I say to you…”

  • Joseph does not investigate whether Mary conceived in a field or not.  And he chooses not to search for the man either.

  • Also note that the adultery law only applies if the woman is engaged or married.  It says nothing about a married man having sex with a woman that is unmarried/unengaged.  

    • Marriage was a property exchange, and a way to determine the handing down of goods from Father to Son.  

    • Sex with a married woman throws into question the validity of the husband’s property line.

    • Also, marriage is required if a man rapes an unengaged woman, and the reparations are paid to the father.

  • “[Joseph] accepting Mary and naming the child makes him Jesus’ legal father. He not only cares for this new family, but also turns his life upside down for them: he moves to Egypt, then relocated from Bethlehem of Judea to Nazareth in Galilee, on their behalf” (Amy-Jill Levine, Women’s Bible Commentary, p. 468)

  • Mary

    • Most likely a teenager, “documentary evidence suggests that free women married for the first time between the ages of twelve and twenty” Ross S. Kraemer, “Jewish Family Life in the First Century CE”, The Jewish Annotated New Testament. p. 605.

    • A similar situation as Tamar - pregnant while in a committed relationship (Mary is betrothed and Tamar was a widow)

    • “When we read passages like Matthew 1:18-25, we should not overlook those whose voices are not heard and who have no agency whatsoever, like Mary. Joseph is allowed to make his own decision. Mary, however, is at the mercy of others. We know nothing of her suffering, except through the eyes of Joseph.” Michael Joseph Brown, “The Silence of Mary” side bar in “Matthew”, True to our Native Land, p.88.

  • Ultimately, this is about God’s action in the child that is coming.  

    • This birth is “of God.”  

    • The child will fall into the line of David.  

    • Neither Mary nor Joseph have any words in this narrative.  The only words are from the angel.  The only “action” is obedience.

    • “Although Joseph predominates in Matthew’s nativity story, feminine images encircle Jesus’ conception and birth. Mary conceived by the “Holy Spirit,” a grammatically neuter phrase in Greek but feminine in Semetic languages.” (Amy-Jill Levine, Women’s Bible Commentary, p. 468)

  • Two names of the child tells us about the nature of God:

    • Jesus, meaning “God saves”

      • Jesus is the Latin translation of Joshua

        • Jesus is presented as both the new Moses who will bring people out of the bondage of sin and the new Joshua who will bring them into the Promised Land- the Kingdom of God

      • Matthew makes it clear that Joseph named Jesus.  This is the ultimate act of him claiming the boy as his own, thus adopting him into the line of David. (Eugene Boring, The New Interpreters Bible v. viii Matthew, p. 136)

      • “Many Christians are uncomfortable with the expression ‘Jesus son of Joseph,’ because it sounds to them like a denial of the virgin birth.  For Matthew, it was essential that Jesus be recognized as truly the son of Joseph, because only so was he an authentic descendant of David” (Douglas Hare, Interpretation: Matthew p. 11)

    • Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us”

      • The meaning of the “virgin birth” is not to make great theological interpretations about things like original sin, or biological theories about DNA.  It is about simply “God is with us.”

      • The great mystery of Immanuel is that God is with us, and that is enough.

Thoughts and Questions

  • How often do we choose the easy choice because it is “right” within the bylaws or laws instead of the hard choice which may lead to persecution but embraces the love of God?

  • We often focus on Mary and what it was like to be a teenage mother- what about Joseph the teenage father of a child who isn’t his, yet adopts him anyway. In what ways are we like Joseph?

Isaiah 7:10-16

Initial Thoughts

  • There are so many layers to this text, especially in this time of year, it is hard to sort it all out.

  • Controversy over “young woman” or “virgin,” is not that cut-and-dry, and probably mattered little to original writer and readers of the text.

    • Popular ‘liberal’ reading: Hebrew almah always meant young woman, and Matthew was quoting the Greek Septuagint, which used word parthenos, which could mean either young woman or virgin. 

    • Then Matthew extrapolated virginity out of a misunderstanding of Isaiah text, and early English translators went with “virgin” instead of “young woman,” but it could have gone either way.

    • “In my now older increased scholarly humility—well, somewhat increased humility—I know that that entire linguistic discussion is rather more complex. 'almah could in fact mean virgin, though Hebrew does have another word that usually does mean that, bethulah. Thus, I do not any longer excoriate those who try to prove Jesus' miraculous birth simply by quoting these texts. What Isaiah "meant" and what Matthew "meant" may finally be beyond our ability to recover, given the two millennia and more that have passed since their writing.” (John Holbert, Patheos. Holbert has a PhD in Hebrew Bible and was the Fred Craddock Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology).

Bible Study

  • Literary/Historical Context

    • Read Isaiah 7:1-9

      • 7:1 “In the days of Ahaz, Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekkah came up to attack Jerusalem, but they couldn’t overpower it.

      • Then Aram and Ephraim became allies as well, “and the hearts of their people shook as trees against a forest shake when there is a wind.”

      • God to Isaiah: “Go tell Ahaz ‘Be careful and stay calm. Don’t fear, and don’t lose heart over these two pieces of smoking torches.” (7:4)

    • Within this framework of geo-political suspense is this exchange, which come after God already told Ahaz “Do not fear.”

  • The message of this prophecy is simple: “Trust God.” Ahaz was fearful of enemies amassing on his border. Isaiah told Ahaz, “Don’t fear.” Ahaz was fearful. God said, “Ask for a sign” (which is pretty magnanimous of God, who isn’t keen on doing parlor tricks for the unfaithful). Ahaz says, “no thanks.” So God gets annoyed and says, “Here’s your sign: See that pregnant woman over there, by the time her kid is ‘of age,’ both of these kings you’re afraid of will be no more.”

  • “Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?”

    • These are Isaiah’s words. Apparently Ahaz’s god and Isaiah’s God are different. 

      • Ahaz, if he were honest about wanting a sign, probably would have wanted something bigger. A child is not a particularly comforting sign against an army.

      • “A child. Immanuel. O my people, are you still waiting for the Warrior God -- and now you are terrified that the gods of Syria are greater than I am? Must I be like you, only bigger? Must I be vengeful in a world obsessed with getting even? I myself will give you a sign: “a young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall call him Immanuel.” (Barbara Lundblad, Working Preacher)

    • God weary?

      • Terry Fretheim points to three other cases where God is described as weary - Jeremiah 15:6, Ezekiel 24:12, Malachi 2:17.

      • “How are we to understand such passages, especially in view of the fact that God is expressly said to be the one who ‘does not faint and does not grow weary’ (Isaiah 40:28)? The latter context, with its reference to the weariness of human beings suggests that the primary reference is to physical stamina. With God the Creator there is no limit in this regard. The idea of ‘tiredness,’ whether of the physical, mental, or emotional kind, does not seem to be the focus of these more general references to the expending of the divine life. God’s life is in some sense being spent….  The divine restraint in the face of the suffering of the people stood for an intensification of God’s suffering, a build-up of internal forces, finally bursting forth in the travail of creative activity.” (The Suffering of God, Terrence Fretheim, p 142)

  • Lectionary Context

    • Mary’s virginity is extremely important to some people, but it has nothing to do with the original reading of this text. There is nothing miraculous about the pregnant woman and her child. In fact, its very ordinary-ness is part of the point. This is just a normal child with a normal mom, and it will grow up normally - despite what Ahaz fears. 

Thoughts and Questions

  • “The sign of the child is a sign to Ahaz and Judah that YHWH is still watching over the fearful and fretful people of God's choice. And there is the meaning of the birth of the child we celebrate each year. He is a sign to us, fearful and fretful people, that God is with us still offering to us strength and love, assuring us that we are not finally alone no matter the size and force of the enemies we face.” (John Holbert, Patheos)

  • “It is hardly possible for a Christian congregation to hear the Immanuel prophecy without thinking of the birth of Jesus. What, then, are we to do with the tension between the ancient and Christian meanings? It is difficult, but essential, to sustain the tension, to refuse to resolve it quickly by choosing the one while rejecting the other.” (Gene Tucker, New Interpreter's Bible, v. VI, p. 113) We should still be asking the question - “What kind of a sign is a baby?” What was it to the people of Jerusalem? What was it to those who witnessed Jesus’ birth? What is it to us today?

Romans 1:1-7

INITIAL THOUGHTS

  • This goes a totally different direction than the Gospel reading. While Matthew is very much about the details of the story, this is more an overview of who Jesus is and why we should care that he was born at all.

  • To those who only come to Church on Christmas Eve, 

BIBLE STUDY

  • Paul’s introduction, not usually the part of the letter that we focus on, but in this introduction are the keys to who Jesus is and why that matters.

    • “Romans 1:1-7 constitutes the most extensive salutation and greeting of any of Paul’s letters. Because Paul had not yet been to Rome, he cannot rely on a personal relationship having already been established and needs to provide an introduction of himself and the gospel he proclaims. That these two are inseparable is made clear from the way in which they are introduced here.” Beverly Gaventa, Texts for Preaching, Year A, p 33)

    • In identifying himself, he identifies Christ, and he identifies all who follow Christ.

    • Paul is first and foremost, a “slave of Christ.” NRSV softens this to “servant of Christ.” What you use may be contextual, but slave of Christ involves a social lowering that servant does not. 

    • Apostle: “authorized and commissioned representative”

      • Apostle and Slave seem to create a paradox. A slave is low status, low relationship. A “commissioned representative” carries with it great weight and dignity.

    • Set apart: or maybe “ordained”?

    • God’s Good News

      • It is from God

      • It is Good.

  • Wording confused in NRSV, cleared up by Common English. 

    • NRSV makes clause out of vs 1-2 and has v. 1-7 all as one sentence.

    • Common English leaves vs. 1 as one sentence. Then combines verses 2-3 into one sentence. Then has 4-7 as distinct sentences describing Jesus.

  • V3: This is all the work of God.

    • This is all part of God’s plan. 

    • Prophets point to this. 

    • David is at the root of it.

    • Jesus was born as a human “according to the flesh.”

  • V4: Jesus is the Son of God

    • Is that at baptism? Is that through his ministry? Is that by people like Peter, or even the Centurion at the Cross?

    • Identified as God’s Son through his resurrection

    • The key to this whole thing is Resurrection.

      • Without Resurrection, none of this makes sense.

      • Without Resurrection, this is just some guy killed by the Romans.

      • Identified as Son of God through Resurrection

        • Unlike Mark, where it happens at Baptism

        • Or Matthew and Luke, where it happens at conception

        • Or John, where it happens in eternity.

  • V5: Jesus gave us grace and an appointment to reach all Gentiles.

    • God → Jesus Christ → Paul → Readers → All Gentiles

    • “Obedience of faith” emphasizes “faith alone,”

  • V6: You are called by Jesus

  • V7: Yes, you in Rome!

THOUGHTS and Questions

  • When you introduce yourself, how do you start. Most of us wouldn’t start with “slave of Jesus Christ.” We may even know someone who does use that kind of language, but most in mainline churches would not. Why not? Is Jesus a part of our identity, or is Jesus just someone we enjoy learning about?

  • Two Callings: First is Paul’s, then is ours. Paul is “set apart” for the Gospel. “Our appointment to be apostles” is shared by “You who are called by Jesus Christ.” Paul is called to be an apostle, and he is writing to a group of people who are also called to be apostles, sent out among the Gentiles.

    • “This double calling of Paul and his audience both frames the introduction and sets the agenda for the whole letter.” (Elizabeth Shively, Working Preacher)

    • Can we claim Advent as a time to be called to be an apostle.

    • We like to think of Christmas as a time we give and receive gifts. What if it is a time to renew our apostleship?

    • “Christmas is not your birthday,” by Mike Slaughter.

Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com,@pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Miserlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”,"Real Ride"and“Summertime”) and Bryan Odeen for our closing music.

Advent AEric FistlerMatthew, Isaiah, Psalm 75-150, RomansComment