Fourth Sunday of Advent (A) [Mt 1:18-24]
18.12.2022
Annunciation
to Joseph about Birth of the Saviour and Emmanuel
1. Theme in brief
Accepting our Saviour and Emmanuel in
obedient faith
2. Focus Statement
We need to
prepare ourselves to accept Jesus as the One who comes to save us from our sins,
and to be with us in all our life’s situations by imitating Joseph’s faith and humble
obedience to God’s will.
3. Explanation of the text
Unlike in Luke’s
gospel, in today’s gospel according to Matthew we do not hear about an annunciation of the angel of the Lord to Mary, but
to Joseph. Matthew’s gospel lays more emphasis on Joseph’s role in the mystery of incarnation and redemption.
The angel of the Lord announced to Joseph God’s will in a dream and that
message made him change his mind or plan. He had
planned to get married to Mary as per the traditions of his Jewish society. But
all his plans or dreams were shattered when he found her to be with child before they lived
together (1:18). For the Jews,
betrothal was as binding as marriage and its breakage was equal to divorce. As
per Mosaic Law pregnancy outside wedlock was punishable by stoning to death
(Deut 22:23-24). As a righteous or just man (1:19), Joseph was a devout observer of
Mosaic Law. As per that Law, though betrothed to Mary, he could not marry her
as she was suspected of adultery. He had all the right to officially divorce her, and as a devout Jew he could or
should have done it.
Two things seem to have prevented Joseph from applying
the Law to his own case: (1) His compassion for
Mary, because of which he was unwilling to expose
her to public disgrace or shame; and (2) God’s intervention in his plan (resolution). Through the message of an angel
in a dream God asked him to take Mary as his wife (11:20) and not to “dismiss
her quietly” (1:19) as he had planned. He is told not to be afraid of either
neighbours’ censure or possibility of death penalty
but to take Mary as his wife (1:20). Here is a case of divine intervention in the form of a dream to
prevent a disaster of publicly disgracing or shaming Mary and allowing her to
face the potential death penalty. Perhaps, Joseph not only believed in Mary’s innocence but also desired to save her from the punishment she would have to undergo. Hence, he
planned to dismiss her quietly without a
lawsuit (1:19).
In this
passage Joseph is presented as a righteous man. His righteousness
consists precisely in obeying God’s command instead of strictly following the
Jewish law of divorcing Mary. We also notice Joseph’s humble obedience
to God’s will by fulfilling two roles given to him: (1) to marry Mary because her
conception was due to divine intervention, that is, from the Holy Spirit
(1:18, 20); and (2) to assume the responsibility of becoming a legal father by
naming the child “Jesus”. By
naming Jesus, Joseph would make him his son and bring him into the lineage of
David.
Further,
in the angelic message we notice three names given to the Messiah to be born: (1) son of David
(as Joseph is called in verse 20, so his son also will be); (2) Jesus and
(3) Emmanuel. The
first title refers to his human origin as a descendant of David as well
as his divine origin
as the fulfilment of God’s promises or popular expectations that the Messiah would
be born in David’s dynasty. Through Joseph’s adoption of Jesus as his son, he
(Jesus) becomes a member of David’s family. The second title “Jesus” in Hebrew
means “Yahweh
(God) saves”.
This title refers not only to his divine power to save people from sins, but also to his
destined mission
to pour out his blood (on the cross) for the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28). The third one denotes his desire to be one with human
beings not only at birth but also to remain with them always till
the end of the age after his glorification (Mt 28:20). This text says that “they” will name him
Emmanuel – probably to mean all the people whom the child will save from their
sins (1:21). Thus, Matthew begins his Gospel by saying that in Jesus God came
to remain with us, and ends his Gospel with the promise that Jesus will be with
us “always,
to the end of the age” (28:20).
God is a God of surprises who shatters our plans just as he did for Joseph. Like in Joseph’s life, he intervenes in ours now and then to reverse our plans. He invites us to change our plans and accept his (in faith) as Joseph did. Joseph’s first plan was to marry Mary as per Jewish tradition. His second plan was not to marry her when he came to know that she was pregnant. Both were shattered. Finally, against all odds, Joseph decided to marry Mary because he clearly saw it as God’s will. As we prepare for Christmas, we are invited to imitate his faith which prompts us to seek God's will in everything. Just like him, if we are persons of faith, sometimes we have to forego our plans or change our decisions in order to accept God’s.
We can imagine the dilemma of Joseph when he discovered that Mary to whom he was betrothed was already pregnant “before they lived together” (1:18). It was a question to be or not to be… Today’s text says that Joseph was a righteous man and not a self-righteous man. The latter quality would have led him to demand a harsh punishment for Mary as per the law. His decision not to put Mary to public disgrace and dismiss her quietly indicates his Christ-like compassion for wrongdoers and the erring. He could have strictly gone by the rule book. His way of thinking tells us that there are moments in life when we need to go beyond strict justice and apply the law of love. Joseph is a model for us to show some compassion towards the weakness of others and bring them to the right path by our mercy. If this is not possible in institutions and in administration, we are invited to practice this at least occasionally in our personal lives. Without any trace of compassion towards the erring, how can we welcome the Lord who came to desire mercy and not ritual sacrifices (Mt 9:13; 12:7)?
Next, today’s gospel invites us to reflect
on what it means to accept Jesus in faith as Joseph did. It involves sacrifice of our own selfish plans and making a new decision to accept Jesus as the only Master of our destiny. Joseph might have faced a lot
of social or family pressure to abandon Mary or take legal action against her. Humanly
speaking, he might have been tempted to put Mary to public disgrace or
humiliation. But as a man of faith, he always sought God’s will in such crucial
and critical moments. He believe in the message of the angel when it was not
easy to believe because of the social pressures and risk. Similarly, we need to
seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit
to help us in making significant decisions in our relationship with God and neighbours. Sometimes we are so much led by our selfish desires, personal
ambitions and public or peer pressure that we fail
to act on what we believe
to be true and right. How could a just man abandon a young girl to her fate? If
we were in Joseph’s place would we have done this?
The very name ‘Jesus’ means the One who saves us from our sins. As Christmas is approaching, we have to realize that we are preparing ourselves to welcome the One who comes to save us from all types of fetters and bondages. Quite often we understand the meaning of ‘salvation’ in a narrow sense. Some of us think that Jesus came to save us from our common sins such as lying, cheating, quarrelling and disobeying, or sins of the world such as murder, adultery and criminal acts. When we read the gospels critically, we come to know that salvation has a much broader connotation.
Salvation (also
called liberation or freedom) is one of the main characteristics of God’s Kingdom, for the sake
of which Jesus was born, preached his gospel, died and established the Church. He healed the sick to save or liberate them
from suffering; he cast out demons to liberate them from the slavery of satanic (evil) forces; he forgave sinners to save them from the bondage of sins; he fed
the hungry to liberate them from material and spiritual hunger; he cleansed the
Temple to set people free from injustice and exploitation; etc. Yes, we are saved by Jesus, but not yet fully. As we
are preparing for welcoming the Saviour, Advent season is the most opportune
time to admit that we ourselves and the whole world are in need of liberation. If
we have allowed forces of evil power and death to rule over our hearts, when the
Liberator comes how can he find
a place into them?
In and through Jesus God becomes Emmanuel, that is, a God who is with us always in all our life-situations. In Jesus, God comes to walk neither ahead of us nor behind us, but along with us. He identifies himself with our human condition. Through Jesus, God chooses to be with us, on our side. What a wonderful thing to know that in Jesus God has become so human with a humane face. He is one of us in our joys, sorrows, struggles, frustrations, tensions, crises and death. He comes to make common cause with us as shares our lot. He comes to share our sorrows, to rejoice in our joys and to carry the burdens of our sins. If so, is there any human situation he fails to understand? God in Jesus shares our humanity to the extent of being tested (tempted) as we are in every respect except sin (Heb 4:15), so that we may through Jesus share his divinity. He not only came to be with us in history, but continues to be with us in the Eucharist and promises to remain with us always till the end of the age. Assured of this promise, we are called to constantly approach Jesus’ “throne of grace with boldness” to find help in all our trials and weaknesses (Heb 4:16). As Christmas is approaching we raise our hearts in praise and thanks to God for sending us a Person who is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses” and who became like us in “every respect” (Heb 4:15).
When people of other faiths ask us, why we are Christians and what is the difference between our religion and theirs, we should never compare our beliefs with theirs and show their faith to be inferior to ours. That will sound not only unconvincing to firm believers in their own faiths but offensive to them. When I am asked, I say something like this: “The living example of Jesus, my Guru, attracts me, since he became one with me in every way, including my suffering and frustrations. Now I can also say with him when I feel forsaken by everybody, including God, during my suffering, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). That is why in personal freedom I choose to accept him as my Saviour and Master and like to follow his path”. Therefore, as Christmas is approaching we rejoice in the Lord because he once again comes to take birth in our hearts to remain with us in all our trials including our feelings of being abandoned by God in times of trials and suffering.
As
God chose to be Emmanuel and dwell among us (Jn 1:14) each one of us should
choose to be an Emmanuel for the world around us. We are called to be signs of God’s presence in the world so that those who come into contact with us
can find him through our love and deeds of compassion. One of the ways of
preparing ourselves to welcome Jesus the Emmanuel is to renew our commitment to be an Emmanuel for other people. If so many people of
other faiths found an Emmanuel in Mother Teresa because of her works of mercy, why can’t we be a little Mother Teresa in a little way for
a little while for at least one little person? This could be one of the ways of
celebrating Christmas.
5.
Response to God's Word
Do we seek God's will in everything?
Do we open our hearts to receive Jesus in full faith? Just like Joseph, do we
sometimes forego our plans or change our decisions in order to accept God’s?
When we come under the sway of social
or family pressure, do we fail to do or act what we believe to be true and
right? In what areas and matters we need liberation or
salvation….? What are we doing to allow Jesus (our Saviour) to liberate us from
the forces of evil power and death, such as injustice, divisions, unrest, envy,
anger, revenge and violence so that He can rule over our hearts? As many of us
are preparing a ‘crib’ at Christmas, we need to ask ourselves, what are we
doing to make our own hearts worthy cribs so that our Liberator-God may find a fitting place there?
6. A prayer
Thank you, Lord Jesus for emptying yourself of your heavenly glory and taking upon yourself such a lowly position to be our Emmanuel, God-with-us. As we prepare for Christmas, give us the grace to imitate Joseph’s faith so that we may seek God's will in everything. Just like him, grant that we may have the courage to forego our plans or change our decisions to act upon what we believe to be true and right. Come, O Saviour; we and the whole world are in need of your liberation. Free us from the fetters of evil and death so that our hearts may be pure and worthy dwelling places for you. O Emmanuel, come to stay with us in all out life-situations now and till the end of age, as you have promised. Amen.
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