Advent IV A

4^th Sunday of Advent A 

Readings: Isaiah 7:10‑14   Romans 1:1‑7   

Matthew 1:18‑24

As our Christmas feast draws near, we are presented with the mystery of Immanuel, "God‑with‑us," first in Isaiah's prophecy and most completely in Jesus who in the words of the angel to Joseph “will save his people from their sins.”  To prepare ourselves to celebrate the feast properly, let us identify with the obedient Joseph in the Gospel and pray for  the Lord's coming in the words of the refrain of the responsorial  psalm: "Let the Lord enter;/ he is the king of glory" (Ps 24:7c and 10b). 

Isaiah's speaks his prophecy to Ahaz during a threatening invasion that has made "the heart of the king and the heart of the people tremble, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind" (Isa 7:1‑2).  Judah and Jerusalem are being attacked by an alliance of Aram (Syria) and Ephraim (Israel) who want to dethrone Ahaz and make "the son of Tabeel" king in order to force Judah into their alliance against the mighty Assyrian Empire.  Isaiah has already challenged Ahaz to trust the Lord's promises of protection for the Davidic kings and the city of Jerusalem (Isa 7:3‑9; see 2 Sam 7; Pss 46, 48), but the king has decided to put his trust in an alliance with Tiglath‑pileser III, the great king of Assyria (see 2 Kgs 16:5ff).  Now Isaiah challenges Ahaz to ask the Lord for a confirming sign that he will protect Jerusalem and the Davidic line, but the king, with feigned piety, refuses: "I will not ask!  I will not tempt the Lord!"   He has, of course, already determined to rely upon Assyria. In exasperation Isaiah still gives Ahaz a sign confirming the truth of his prophecy. "Listen, O house of David!  Is it enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God?  Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." The name "Immanuel" means "God‑with‑us."  Despite Ahaz' lack of faith, the child will be a sign that God will be with Judah in this crisis.  Isaiah goes on to say of the Immanuel child: “He shall be living on curds and honey by the time he learns to reject the bad and choose the good.  For before the child learns to reject the bad and choose the good, the land of those two kings whom you dread shall be deserted” (Isa 7:15‑16).

The second reading is the greeting of Paul's Letter to the Romans, introducing himself and his understanding of the Christian gospel.  Paul insists that the gospel is both rooted in the promises of the Jewish scriptures but also includes the Gentiles in God's plan for salvation in Christ.  He carefully notes that it fulfills what God "promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel about his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh . . ."   But he also proclaims that the Gentiles are now invited into God's kingdom because Jesus has been "made Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead . .  ."  God's plan is no longer limited to Israel; Paul and his co‑workers "have received the grace of apostleship" so that they might spread Jesus' name and “bring about the obedience of faith . . . among all the Gentiles."

Matthew's story of the annunciation of Jesus' birth to Joseph also fulfills the Scriptures in a way which transcends their original meaning.  Jesus, God's unique Son who “will save his people from their sins,” is conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and will fulfill the name Immanuel, "God‑with‑us," in a way that surpasses all other actions of God in the past.

We cannot help but admire the way Joseph cooperates with this plan.  When he discovers that Mary is with child, he does not wish to expose her to the stoning prescribed for adultery (see Deut 22:20‑21), and so he has "decided to divorce her quietly."   But the angel of the Lord tells him in a dream:" Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.  For it is through the Holy Spirit that  this child has been conceived in her.  She is bear a son and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” In contrast to the disbelieving Ahaz in the first reading, "Joseph . . . did as the angel of the Lord had directed him and received her into his home as his wife."