A reading from the prophet Isaiah (7:10-14)
The Lord spoke to Ahaz again and said:
‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign,
either in the depths of Sheol or in the heights above.’
But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask. I will not put the Lord to the test.’ He then said:
‘Listen now, House of David!
Not satisfied with trying human patience,
will you try my God’s patience too?
The Lord will give you a sign in any case.
Look, the virgin is with child
and will give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel.’
For the second time in chapter 7 the prophet Isaiah speaks to king Ahaz, who, rather than trusting in God, prefers to play politics with neighbouring nations. Nevertheless, Isaiah tells the king that he will be given a sign from God. The Hebrew text speaks of a ‘young woman’ (‘almah), who will give birth to a son. The translation here follows the Greek Bible, which speaks of a ‘virgin’ (parthenos). It is thought that the words of the prophet to the king refer to a son, an heir to the throne, to be born soon. It is not surprising that the text was taken up by the evangelist Matthew and considered fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. The name Immanuel, which is the Hebrew for ‘God is with us’, implies that God is ever faithful to the royal line descended from David.
Psalm 24 (23) tells us that the one ‘with clean hands and pure heart’ will receive blessing from the Lord.
A reading from the letter of saint Paul to the Romans (1:1-7)
From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel that God had promised through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son who, according to the flesh, was a descendant of David and who, in terms of the Spirit and of holiness, was designated Son of God in power by resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have received grace and our apostolic mission of winning the obedience of faith among all the nations for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints: grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Letter to the Romans, to people whom Paul has not visited but will visit, is arguably the most significant letter of the Apostle Paul. It begins with this long sentence in which Paul describes himself as a ‘slave’ (doulos) of Christ Jesus, ‘called to be an apostle’, and ‘set apart’ for the preaching of the gospel. It also gives a full presentation of ‘the Son’ who is both a descendant of David, and ‘Son of God’, recognised as such by the resurrection from the dead. It is this Jesus who has commissioned Paul for a mission to announce ‘the obedience of faith’. Most importantly, this faith is to be preached to ‘all the nations’. In these opening words Paul lays down what is essential in this letter: salvation by faith preached both to the Jews and to the nations.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew (1:18-24)
The birth of Jesus the Messiah happened like this. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to disgrace, decided to dismiss her quietly. He had this in mind when suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
Look, the virgin is with child and will give birth to a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,
which means ‘God-is-with-us’. When Joseph woke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took her as his wife.
Matthew’s stories of the birth of Christ are divided into five scenes, of which this is the first. Just as Mary was faced with a decision in Luke 1, so Joseph has to decide whether to take his engaged wife Mary, who is pregnant, to his home. The evangelist makes clear that she is ‘with child through the Holy Spirit’. Joseph is described as ‘righteous’ (dikaios), and therefore submissive to the Jewish law, but also unwilling to shame Mary. The appearance of the ‘angel of the Lord’ speaks of God’s invitation in the heart of the human being. Joseph is told that he himself will bestow the child’s name, and it will be through him that the legal status of ‘son of David’ will be established. The evangelist points to the fulfilment of Isaiah 7:14, which he quotes from the Greek translation, intending to indicate by this use of ‘virgin’ (parthenos) the virginal conception of Jesus. The suspense is broken at the end of the passage when we are told that Joseph ‘did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him’.
What is the purpose of the fulfilment citations in these chapters of Matthew?
Both Mary and Joseph are invited to make room for God’s unexpected ways.