JESUS IS “GOD-WITH-US”

IV SUNDAY OF ADVENT - Matthew 1:18-24

In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that he was “specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures”; and that the Good News is about Jesus Christ, “the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a descendant of David” (Ro 1:1-3). This great mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God is what we celebrate at Christmas, which is a celebration of the fulfilment of God’s Promise, announced by the prophets, specially Isaiah:

“the maiden is with child

and will soon give birth to a son

whom she will call Immanuel,

a name which means “God-is-with-us.” (Is 7:14).

Our God, who calls himself I AM (YHWH), longs for a relationship with human beings and his desire is so deep and so strong that he wants to be “God-with-us”. The history of salvation presented in the scriptures is a human history in which God is present and plays a role. With the incarnation, God takes his presence to the highest level: 

“And the Word became flesh 

and lived among us, 

and we have seen his glory, 

the glory as of a father’s only son, 

full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14)

Joseph’s dilema

This Sunday’s Gospel introduces the role of Joseph of Nazareth in the fulfilment of God’s promise - that is in the coming of the Word - the Son of God - in human flesh. Jospeh was a carpenter (Mt 13:55) and he had betrothed Mary. However, before they got married,  he found out that Mary was pregnant, and this left him in a very difficult position. Should he denounce her, putting her life in danger, because the law was clear: accused of adultery, she would be stoned to death. Or should he accept the situation and marry her, as if nothing had happened?  But he could not come to terms to do either of them. How could he send to death the one he loved? And how could he marry her, when she was carrying a child that was not his child? Being in a dilema, Joseph decided for a third alternative: to break the engagement and abandon her. Doing that, he would be considered irresponsible, taking upon himself all the blame, but he was ready to do so, preferring this to injure Mary or to live  under the same roof with a grudge against her.

With Joseph, we discover that many times God’s plans interfere with our own human plans and we may remain as if lost. However, in carrying out his plans, God has always a way of leading us to do his will and to find peace in doing so. 

Through a dream

Matthew explains Joseph’s attitude by telling us that he was “a man of honour” and that he wanted to “spare her publicity”. Being so, God had to intervene and he did it through a dream. 

We know that most of the times our dreams are related to our worries and our deep desires. In a way, they speak of ourselves and may force us to reflect upon our lives and to question our attitudes. But we cannot allow the dreams that come in our sleep to rule our lives. Most of the times, they are just dreams, with reality and imagination mixed up. However, there are many people who pay attention to them and ask for interpretation of their dreams, mainly when they are connected with a religious experience or with the word of God. In the Scriptures, we find some dreams that were of paramount importance for the future history of salvation. Jacob dreamt with a ladder reaching to heaven (Gn 28:12) and Jesus would refer to that dream to explain his ministry (Jn 1:51). And Peter dreamt with food coming from heaven (Act 10:11), thus becoming aware that there are no impure foods. In the same manner, Joseph had a dream and the angel of the Lord appeared to him, explaining that Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit and that she was carrying the Saviour in her womb. So he should bring her home and take good care of her. And Joseph, at peace with himself and with Mary, did as the angel told him. He accepted to play the role that God had prepared for him - to be the protector both of Mary and of Jesus. Under his care, Jesus would grow up and prepare himself for the proclamation of the Good News of salvation.

We need to prepare ourselves to welcome the Lord Jesus in our lives, even though he may disrupt our human plans, but it is in him that we will find peace and joy.