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| The Nativity, Sandro Botticelli, 1485 |
Merry Christmas!
St. Matthew’s nativity account is much shorter than St. Luke’s. Luke talks about the angel speaking to Mary, traveling to Bethlehem, wrapping baby Jesus in swaddling cloths, lying Him in a manger, and the angels and shepherd coming to worship Him. Matthew’s account, which we read this evening, includes none of that. Luke focuses on Mary, while Matthew focuses on Joseph. While the blessed virgin Mary is certainly important (she gave birth to the Son of God!), Joseph is much more relatable to us.
The angel Gabriel went from heaven to a small town in Galilee, Nazareth, and spoke directly to Mary. But to Joseph, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream, not even in person.
Mary experienced these things personally, she knew as a matter of fact that she had been faithful to Joseph and that the baby in her womb did not come about the usual way, which meant she knew from her experience that the child in her womb was from the Holy Spirit and was the Son of God. Joseph, on the other hand, could only believe what he was told.
Mary lived throughout Jesus’ earthly life, she got to hear His teaching, see His miracles, watch His crucifixion, and see Him raised from the dead. Joseph died before Jesus did any of those things, and so Joseph never got to experience his faith proved true in this life.
In these ways Joseph is much more relatable to us than Mary. Therefore, it’s worth pondering Joseph’s faith so that we might learn to be faithful today. Joseph’s faith wasn’t just a feeling in his heart which he kept to himself, but it compelled him to live differently and endure suffering for the sake of Christ.
By law, the punishment for adultery was death by stoning, and yet Joseph was merciful. Not only was he initially going to divorce Mary quietly, but after learning that Mary had been faithful and that her child is the Messiah, Joseph took her as his wife. For this decision Joseph endured much mockery and shame. Just think, when they went to Bethlehem, Joseph’s hometown, no one let them lodge with them. According to tradition they had to sleep in a cave on the edge of town where the livestock were housed. Because Joseph stayed with Mary he had to share the shame and mockery with her and Jesus. A little later, because Joseph had stayed with Mary and Jesus, he had to flee Israel and move to Egypt because Herod wanted to kill Jesus.
Joseph endured all of this because of the word of the angel and the word of Mary, “for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Joseph had faith in something he could not experience or see on earth, namely his eternal salvation and the forgiveness of his sins. He believed all of this simply by hearing the Word.
Likewise, today is Christmas Eve, and we are all here in church tonight and we will all be in church in the morning, not because of our experiences, but because we have heard the word of promise and trust in Jesus as the One who saves us from our sins! We haven’t gotten to meet Jesus face to face, we didn’t experience the virgin birth, or Jesus’ miracles, or His crucifixion and resurrection, all we have to go on is the word spoken to us. But like Joseph we remain faithful.
This changes our lives! Like Joseph, we endure shame and mockery from the world because of our faith. To the world we look like a bunch of morons, worshipping a guy who died a long time ago. But we know that Jesus isn’t just a guy, but the Son of God, and that by His death He has conquered death, and what’s more He’s risen from the dead and lives!
Like Joseph, our faith in Jesus as the Messiah gives us the strength to endure the many sacrifices we have to make. For example, the world likes to sleep in, be entertained, or make money on Sunday mornings, but we Christians spend every Sunday here listening to God’s Word and being fed the sacrament of the altar. When most people were safe in their homes, we Christians risked a virus in order to come to church and receive the medicine of immortality. We don’t live for ourselves, but we live for God and one another. We live in this world, but we’re not of this world and we don’t live like everyone else; our lifestyle and priorities are different.
All of this is true for us Christians because the Son of God became man for our sake, because He was crucified for us for the forgiveness of our sins, because He rose from the dead in order to redeem us from death. Because of Christmas, “because the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the World,” we rejoice! The mockery, shame, and suffering we endure for the sake of Christ, is but a reflection of the mockery, shame, and suffering Christ endured on our behalf in order to save us. Thus, Christmas is such a grand celebration, and our gifts and feasts are but a dim reflection of God’s gift of Jesus and the feast which flows from the cross, to the altar, to our tongues.
Merry Christmas!
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