Readings: Isaiah 7: 10 – 16; Roms 1: 1 – 7; Matthew 1: 18 – end
I wonder if you’ve seen any nativity plays yet this year? Perhaps you’re saving yourself for the massed forces of the crib service here on Christmas Eve – something I have yet to experience and find hard to imagine.
In the course of bringing up three children, I’ve seen many nativity plays, but I don’t think I have ever seen one which tells the story quite in the way in which Matthew does. For Matthew it is God and Joseph who are centre-stage. God is centre-stage because our salvation is God’s initiative and Joseph, because he is a “righteous man” who is instrumental in God’s plan.
Matthew has already shown us how Jesus is descended via David from Abraham and therefore by his lineage can claim to be the Messiah promised by God. Now he invokes a prophecy from Isaiah to show how Jesus’ birth fulfils the Hebrew Scriptures: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us’”(Matthew 1:23). This prophecy was given by Isaiah to King Ahaz and, rather surprisingly, can be dated quite precisely to 733 BC. At this time Israel was divided into Northern and Southern states. Both states were among a number of small countries living in the shadow of the great Assyrian empire. Ahaz, the King of Judah, in the south, seems to have been a calculating and pragmatic leader. Rather than joining an alliance of smaller states he chose to conclude a protection treaty with Assyria. Part of the price of this was the worship of Assyria’s national gods in Judah. Isaiah had counselled simply trusting in God. For him this was not a political question, but one of faith. Ahaz should be exercising faith, not making treaties. Isaiah even invites Ahaz to ask God for a sign that He is with the nation in their predicament. But Ahaz refuses to do this, cloaking his reply in assumed piety, because he doesn’t want his politicking challenged. He would rather trust in the solution he has worked out than in God. The prophet declares that God will give a sign anyway. God will not be prevented from speaking just because Ahaz does not want to hear.
In the end the relationship between God and man is God’s doing, not ours. God will communicate whether or not we choose to listen.
But the sign is mysterious: “Look, the young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” (The original Hebrew doesn’t use the more specific word ‘virgin’ although the Greek text of the 2nd century BC does, and Matthew’s Gospel follows this tradition.) Scholars have been unable to agree on what meaning this sign might have had in its original context. Pope Benedict calls it “a word in waiting”[1] which can only be understood in the light of the coming of Christ. This is how Matthew understands it. God has taken the initiative and Jesus’ birth fulfils what was promised centuries before. In Jesus God is indeed ‘with us’.
So God takes the initiative in bringing about our salvation. Even if, like Ahaz, we may not want to hear the message. Even if we think we can work things out on our own.
What then of the role of Joseph? It’s easy to think of him as a kind of accessory to the nativity, hovering in the background – willingly or not, perhaps a rather modern man – a Denis Thatcher – or the sort who keeps appearing on envelopes in my house at the moment ‘Mr and the Rev Mrs Young’. But Joseph has much to teach us all, male and female.
First, he was ‘a righteous man’ (Matthew 1: 19). By this he’s linked with many of the great figures of the Old Testament from Abraham onwards. The classic Old Testament picture of the righteous man is found in Psalm 1. This is someone who maintains living contact with the word of God. He’s so steeped in the life-giving Scriptures that he’s like a tree planted beside flowing water, constantly bringing forth fruit. Joseph’s righteousness is that of the spirit rather than the letter of the law. It’s based in love, and it’s for this reason that he’s unwilling to expose his betrothed wife to public disgrace. But besides being familiar with the laws and traditions of his faith he’s also capable of perceiving the divine when it enters his life unexpectedly. He accepts the messenger in the dream, hears and receives the reassurance offered and faithfully and precisely obeys the instructions he’s given. Because of this Joseph is able to receive Mary, and, with her, the Christ- child.
I wonder if you noticed the poem by St John of the Cross which is printed in the December edition of the Church magazine? I was very struck by it. As Joseph accepted the opportunity to receive Mary and her child, the Saviour of the world, the poem makes the point that we are all invited to make space for Christ to be born within us. The initiative is God’s, the invitation is His, but we all have a choice. Like Ahaz, we can continue with our own plans. Or, like Joseph, we can accept the invitation and play our part. Here is the poem.
If you want,[2]
the virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the holy, and say,
“I need shelter for the night,
please take me inside your heart, my time is so close.”
Then, under the roof of your soul
you will witness the sublime intimacy,
the divine, the Christ , taking birth forever,
as she grasps your hand for help,
for each of us is the midwife of God, each of us.
Yes there, under the dome of your being
does creation come into existence eternally,
through your womb, dear pilgrim – the sacred womb of your soul,
as God grasps our arms for help;
for each of us is His beloved servant, never far.
If you want, the Virgin will come walking down the street
pregnant with Light and sing.
Diana Young
[1] Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, the Infancy Narratives
[2] St. John of the Cross, “If You Want” in Daniel Ladinsky Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (New York: Penguin Group, 2002), 306-307.