Also, in this Gospel, Matthew wishes to portray Joseph as a “righteous man”, as a law-abiding man who blends submission to the law with compassion for others. This is done by telling us that Joseph intended to divorce Mary—not to do so would be to tolerate evil in his midst (the assumption here is, of course, that Mary had committed the sin of fornication). By being willing to divorce Mary, Joseph showed that he loved God more than he loved Mary whom he also loved with all his heart. But Joseph planned to divorce Mary “quietly”, thus not humiliating her. If he “went public”, Mary may have been stoned to death for her sin of infidelity. This shows that Joseph’s sense of justice was tempered with mercy.
Then Matthew tells us how Joseph’s intentions were “vetoed” by God’s intervention. An angel in a dream tells Joseph to take Mary into his home because the baby has been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Here again, Joseph shows himself to be a righteous man. The righteous person is the one who is obedient to God’s revelation no matter how scandalous it may seem to others.
By giving Jesus two names, Matthew is revealing to his audience something about Jesus’ identity and role. The name Jesus means “One who saves”. Jesus mission was to bring salvation. Jesus is also called Emmanuel, i.e., “God-is-with-us.” In Jesus, God is with us in the flesh. For Matthew, the birth of Jesus is the fruition of God’s promise through the ages to be with and to save his people.
By quoting the Isaian passage, Matthew is telling his audience that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. He comes from God and from Israel.
In Joseph we find a wonderful example of a man who is a faithful and loving husband, a caring father and an obedient servant of God. The truly obedient servant of God is one who listens to and acts on God’s word. In today’s gospel, Joseph listens to the voice of the angel who tells him not to be afraid to take Mary into his home. Many Protestant Christians and some Catholic Christians are afraid to take Mary into their homes and hearts. If we are one of those people we would do well to listen and to obey the voice of the angel. In next Sunday’s Gospel on the Feast of the Holy Family we will have two more examples of Joseph listening to God and acting on the word he hears. The angel will tell him to leave his homeland and go to Egypt with Mary and the child. Sometime later the angel will tell Joseph to return to his native country. On both occasions, Joseph, that good and just man listens to God and is obedient to his word.
Claimed in love
The following story is adopted from Believing the Impossible by Barbara Brown Taylor, from Gospel Medicine.
As it happened, they both had been adopted as infants, so both had a special love and understanding for children without parents. Even before they met and fell in love, each hoped one day to give a child the same happy home they had known from their adoptive parents. After they married and had two children of their own, they decided to look into adopting a baby girl from China. While a boy will one day be able to take over the family farm, many baby girls in China are given up by parents who cannot afford to care for them.
Overseas adoptions, especially adoptions of Chinese children, are a demanding and expensive process, but they persevered. After many months of negotiations, preparations and waiting, they received the telephone call to go to China and pick-up their daughter. Forty-eight hours later, they were taken to a dingy building that served as an orphanage. She reached down into the crib and picked up the child; he gathered them both in his arms and kissed the child on the forehead.
They claimed her, in love, as their own. She was now their daughter; they were now her Mom and Dad.
As this couple welcomed this little girl as their own, Joseph is asked by God to welcome the Christ child as his own. In today’s Gospel—Matthew’s version of Jesus’ birth—the whole grand event depends on Joseph, whose life has been turned upside down by the angel’s news. If Joseph believes the angel, the story can go on. Joseph accepts the son as his own, not as a matter of biology, but as a matter of love and compassion, of trust and faith. God’s birth in our midst depends on human partners—a Mary, a Joseph, a you, a me—willing to believe the impossible, willing to claim the unwanted, willing to love the helpless and neediest, willing to put aside our fears and dare to hope that God is with us. Every one of us is called to be Joseph—to welcome God in our midst.
Wally, the Reluctant Innkeeper
Parents and grandparents, the following would be a nice story to share with your children and grandchildren. The story is adapted from a story by Dina Donahue in Guideposts.
Wally was big for a first grader. Everybody loved Wally. No bully, he was the gentlest of souls. Wally was a friend even to the smallest kids at school.
When the school staged its Christmas play, Wally wanted to be one of the shepherds. But the teacher directing the play had a larger role in mind for Wally. Wally was cast as the innkeeper. Wally practiced and practiced, but became more and more nervous about his lines.
The night of the play, everything was going beautifully. Then came the part where Mary and Joseph knocked on the door of the inn. Wally answered the door right on cue and gave his line.
“What do you want?”
“We seek lodging,” came the response.
“Seek it elsewhere, the inn is filled,” Wally replied, with just the right touch of brusque annoyance.
“But, sir, we have tried everywhere, we have come a long way, and we are very tired.”
“Go away,” Wally properly commanded. “There is no room in my inn for you.”
“But sir, my wife is with child. Don’t you have a corner where we can get out of the cold.”
That’s when it happened.
Wally broke his icy stare and looked at Mary. There was a long silence. The audience became nervous and uneasy. Everyone thought Wally had forgotten his lines.
“No, be gone,” the prompter whispered.
“No, be gone,” Wally said, halfheartedly.
Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary as they began to move off the stage. Wally couldn’t stand it any longer. Big he was, cruel he could never be. With big tears welling in his eyes he gave a performance never to be forgotten:
“Wait, Joseph, don’t go!” Wally cried. “Bring Mary back. You can have my room and I’ll sleep in the cold.”
A few people thought Wally had ruined the Christmas pageant. But most knew better.
Wally the reluctant innkeeper embraced the spirit of these final days of Advent, expressed so eloquently in Isaac Watt’s beautiful hymn: “let every heart prepare him room.” The reality is that Christmas is a challenge to us and our values and our dreams. Just as Joseph is challenged by God to welcome the child into his home and hearts despite the difficult circumstances, God challenges us to welcome his Christ into our lives and allow the child to transform our hearts and homes in his peace and justice.