Emmanuel: God Is With Us

Matthew's gospel reading appointed for today begins with a direct statement, "Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way."  Joseph and Mary were engaged, "but before they lived together" she was pregnant, "found to be with child from the Holy Spirit."  The news of her pregnancy before they were married put Joseph, a carpenter, in a terrible situation. 

What should Joseph do?  What would you advise him to do?  Given the cultural standards and the law of his day, he had a couple of options.  He could "expose Mary to public disgrace," by accusing her of adultery; or he could "dismiss her quietly" by sending her off somewhere to have her baby in some distant place where she would escape public scrutiny.  Matthew tells us that Joseph had resolved to send her away, but before he had an opportunity to implement his decision, an angel appeared to him in a dream.

The angel said, "Joseph…do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."  You will be able to give a name to the son she will bear.  You will name him Jesus.  In naming the child Joseph adopts the baby Jesus and grafts him onto his own family tree.

Matthew wrote this story fully aware of the miraculous birth stories that had been common for generations.  Our reading from the prophet Isaiah is a case in point.  "The Lord himself will give you a sign…. The young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel."  Matthew’s account reflects this prophecy: "All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,' which means, 'God is with us.'"  So, when Joseph awakened from his dream-filled sleep, he took Mary as his wife, and when she gave birth, he named the newborn child Jesus.

The Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, discusses three important things to notice about this narrative at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel.

“The first thing to notice is that the whole message to Joseph happens at night when he was relaxed and his guard was down. And in the night we are told that the angel came and said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, for the child in her is from the Holy Spirit.’… The angel spoke in a dream…so the first thing to notice … is that the expectation of Jesus…is outside all of our normal categories. Our business is not to explain this text.  Our business is to be dazzled at Christmastime that something is happening beyond all of our calculations. This is a baby and a wonder and a gift that is designed to move us beyond ourselves.

“The second thing to notice… is that the baby has no father; and in this family, like every family, it is a scandal when a baby has no father…. The baby is from the Holy Spirit.… Notice that this  comes because God's Spirit stirs among us. The Bible is largely a reflection on how God's Spirit makes things new.  God's Spirit begins something new when the world is exhausted, when our imagination fails and when our lives are shut down in despair.

“The third thing to notice is that the angel gives Joseph two names for the baby.… First, the angel says, ‘You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people.’ The Hebrew name Jesus is the verb save.  Imagine on Christmas that we have a baby named Save.  Many babies in the Old Testament are named Save.  It is the word for Joshua, for Isaiah, and for Hosea.  Each of them saved Israel, and now Jesus will save. - Jesus will save from sin and guilt. - Jesus will save from death and destruction. - Jesus will save from despair and hopelessness. - Jesus will save from poverty and sickness and hunger, and in all of the stories of Jesus that the church remembers, it is Jesus who saves.

“The second name that the angel gives for the baby is Emmanuel which means, God is with us. It is the faith of the church that in Jesus God was decisively present in the world that made everything new.  In the New Testament we have evidence that wherever Jesus came he showed up where people were in need, and he saved them--lepers, the deaf, the blind, the lame, the hungry, the unclean, even the dead.  His very presence makes new life possible…. God… has come to be with us in this season of need and of joy, all through this miraculous baby.”

This story invites us to be ready to have our lives and our world contradicted by this gift from God. The very birth of Jesus, God in human form, this child from the Holy Spirit, is an unexplained miraculous event.  It is so incredible that we may rest our lives upon this new promise from the angel.  Regardless of what happens in our world we may be safe and be more fully human and generous because Christmas is coming soon.  The time of anxious watching and waiting for the birth of Christ, the coming of God’s Incarnation, is soon to be fulfilled.  God comes among us in human form to lead us in paths of righteousness, love, peace and justice for all people.  Amen.