December 4, 2016 2nd
Sunday of Advent Matthew 1:18-25
In trying to understand what makes a
person who he or she is I think we’d all agree it is something of a mix of
nature and nurture. Certainly you’ve
gotten the genetic material of your parents.
That goes a long way to shaping who you are. It’s complicated because there are dominant
and recessive genes, but it shapes you.
You may have done the same activity in high school biology that I did –
where you look at things like your eye color and how your ears attach to you
head and whether or not you can roll your tongue and realize all of this is
because of genetics.
Of course there is also nurture. How you are raised also has a major impact on
who you are. Many of your thoughts and
feelings about things comes from your experiences. Some things are serious, like your ability to
form safe relationships as an adult. And
some things are trivial. I learned from
an early age that anyone who lived under my father’s roof was going to be a fan
of Philadelphia sports teams. That was
non-negotiable; and perhaps to my father it was also not trivial!
Nurture can also have a big impact on
our body’s biology. I’ve heard that
circumstances can have an impact on some of our genetics. For example, without certain nutrients some
genes are unable to activate.
Last week we read Jesus’
genealogy. You’ll remember it was a long
list of mostly boring people with a few juicy bits thrown in. Something I pointed out, and a couple of you
also mentioned, that the genealogy goes to Joseph, not Mary. If Joseph had no part in Jesus’ conception,
then what’s the point of a genealogy to Joseph?
Shouldn’t it be a genealogy to Mary?
The other genealogy of Jesus that is recorded in Luke also goes to
Joseph, not Mary.
That’s a potentially big problem. The birth story of Jesus that we read today
gives us an answer. In order to hone in
on it lets notice what is not in the story.
There’s no shepherds, no heavenly host of angels singing. There’s no over-full inn and a birth in a
barn. There isn’t even a star, at least
not yet. Even the place, Bethlehem,
hasn’t been given yet. Matthew wants to
draw our attention to something else, something I fear we overlook too often.
I’m going to suggest that if you’re
given over to trying to create a theology of Jesus’ based on where his genetic
material comes from then you’re quickly going to run into a ditch.
Though it may be impossible for us
with our knowledge of genetics today, we have to set them aside and at least
temporarily place ourselves in the worldview of Matthew. In that worldview the mothers’ body was seen
as the vessel to bring to life the material of the father. If you were to ask Matthew how Mary’s
genetics came into play in the creation of Jesus, he’d look at you
blankly. He wouldn’t know what you’re
talking about. It would make no sense to
him. I think I can safely say that the
biblical writers understood Mary’s body as a vessel that she willingly allowed
God to use to be born, and nothing more.
What actually happened I cannot say, but from the point of view of the
Bible Mary gave no genetic material either.
Okay, if that’s the case then does
Jesus’ genealogy matter at all? To our
way of thinking, maybe not. But at least
in Matthew’s way of thinking it was vitally important. Remember, who we are is a combination of both
nature and nurture. Our genetics and our
environment combine to make us. It is nurture that Matthew’s Christmas story
focuses upon.
In Luke’s gospel Mary takes center
stage and Joseph is in the background.
In Matthew’s gospel it is Joseph who takes center stage. We learn in verse 18 that Joseph and Mary are
engaged. Engagement those days was
different from our understanding of engagement today. Today engagement is a step before a legal
marriage. In those days engagement was a
legally binding arrangement between two people.
Unfaithfulness was considered adultery and the engagement could only be
broken by death or divorce. They didn’t
really have a marriage ceremony in those days for common people. Only the wealthy would have a big
ceremony. For most common people like
Joseph and Mary your marriage began when you starting living together – as
Matthew points out, “…Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived
together.” Even look at verse 19. Matthew starts the sentence with the words,
“Her husband Joseph…”
Mary being pregnant at this point
would probably raise no one’s eyebrows; except of course Joseph’s who knows
full well what he has and has not done.
Moving on in verse 19 we learn that Joseph
is aware of the pregnancy but he is a righteous man. Righteous here does not mean stuck up and
superior. It means he is a just, kind
and considerate man. He knows what the
law says about what should happen to Mary.
According to Deuteronomy 22 Mary should be executed for her crime. Probably with a torn and broken heart and out
of consideration for this woman he still loves deeply, he decides not to press
charges and instead do the only decent thing he can – divorce her quietly.
Would that God had stepped in sooner,
for it would have been great if Joseph had been let in on God’s little plan
from the beginning, but only now does he have a dream that explains what is
going on. If I’m honest I don’t like it
when God does this kind of thing! I wish
God would include all the players right from the beginning. But I am not God and I do not understand all
things.
All of that is an aside, because the
key thing in the whole passage is verse 21, “She will bear a son, and you are
to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
The name Jesus means “Yahweh helps,”
or, “God saves.” The Hebrew
pronunciation of Jesus is Yesua, a shortened form of Yehosua. Jesus was a common name of the time. There was nothing special about it, and
indeed there are other people named Jesus running around in the Bible. Perhaps the best known in Jesus Barabbas, or
Jesus, son of Abbas, the man Pilate releases, instead of “Jesus BarJoseph”,
Jesus, son of Joseph.
Nevertheless the name has
significance. In both Hebrew and Greek
the name for Jesus is the same as Joshua.
You may recall that it is Joshua that takes over after Moses’ death and
leads the people to the Promised Land. Some
scholars believe Jesus was a popular name in the 1st Century as Jews
sought to have a new Joshua arise who would overthrow the Romans.
In the New Interpreter’s Bible
commentator Eugene Boring makes an all-important point about Joseph naming
Jesus. He says, “The angel gives as
explanation for Mary’s pregnancy, announcing the divine act that has already
occurred. Based on this, a command
follows: ‘You shall name the
child, accepting him as your own and adopting him into the Davidic line as an
authentic “son of David.”’” (New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VIII, Pg. 134) That is why the genealogy is important. The Son of God’s nurture comes from the line
of David, and comes at the hands of a just, kind and considerate man.
In Matthew’s day naming something was
important. To name something was to have
power over it, to create its identity.
Here we see Joseph working along with God’s plan. God is at work. Joseph is a willing participant.
I think the birth story of Jesus is to
teach us that about how God works. God
acts, we are invited to be willing participants. If we won’t, God will still get his work
done. But if we will, then we get to
rejoice in having Immanuel, God with us.
Sometimes Matthew is criticized as
being a product of patriarchy and not caring about Mary – making her only a
passive vessel in the story. That is an
unfair critique. Women will play a
significant part throughout Matthew’s account of Jesus’ life. And contrary to the norms of the time, you’ll
remember from last week that Matthew listed five women in the genealogy.
Nowhere does Matthew give us a cute
baby story about the birth of Jesus.
Jesus comes where God and people work together. This sounds like a great and wonderful way to
live, and indeed it is; at least I hope you find it so. But not all is bliss. Next week we’ll look at the rest of Chapter 2
and we’ll discover that some unexpected people come to Jesus, but some people
are threatened. Death will come to
innocent people because some stand opposed to God’s plan. May we never be found among them.
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