This Week: Isaiah 7:10-16,Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Romans 1:1-7, Matthew 1:18-25

Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Family Lectionary Study;

Sundays from 9:15 to 10:15 in the Prayer Room

Set the Church-year Calendar. This is the last Sunday of Advent. T

Review responses to last week's homework:

1. What things in society push you into a mode of isolation and how do you fight against it?
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2. How do you look for the coming of Christ during Advent?
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3. What is the relationship between doubt and faith?
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4. In what ways do you find yourself looking forward to Christmas, and in what ways do you find yourself dreading this season?
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5. How does your faith lead you through this time?
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Memory Scripture

¹⁸   Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
¹⁹   Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
²⁰   But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
²¹   And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
²²   Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
²³   Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Isaiah 7:10-16,
Ahaz was the young king of Judah facing the threat of the northern kingdom of Israel allying with powerful Syria. His rule in danger, Ahaz was engaging in political maneuvers for survival. Isaiah encouraged him to rely on God, not on other nations, for strength. The king was hesitant even to ask for a sign of God’s favor. The prophet gave one anyway — a young maiden’s child whose name would be "God with us." Most likely, this statement refers to Hezekiah, son of the king’s wife, who would rule Judah, and would be a sign that God had not forsaken his people.

The import of the sign, then, is less a prediction of the virgin birth (the Hebrew words do not necessarily imply "virgin" in the strict sense) but an affirmation that the sign of God’s care is already present. Ahaz need not look for special omens or portents. We too can find the same advice meaningful in our lives: look to the ordinary for the signs of God’s saving presence.

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-1

The Christian community at Rome was composed primarily of Jewish converts whose families had migrated to Rome generations earlier. Paul had not yet visited the city when he wrote this letter, nor had he been involved in their conversion or instruction. In the introduction to his letter to them, which comprises our reading, he affirms his claim as an apostle to non-Jews in particular by pointing to the mission he shares with all apostles — to proclaim the Gospel. He also expresses the link between the incarnation and the paschal mystery: in Jesus, the Son of God became a man precisely to die and rise so that we might have life through him.

Romans 1:1-7

The Christian community at Rome was composed primarily of Jewish converts whose families had migrated to Rome generations earlier. Paul had not yet visited the city when he wrote this letter, nor had he been involved in their conversion or instruction. In the introduction to his letter to them, which comprises our reading, he affirms his claim as an apostle to non-Jews in particular by pointing to the mission he shares with all apostles — to proclaim the Gospel. He also expresses the link between the incarnation and the paschal mystery: in Jesus, the Son of God became a man precisely to die and rise so that we might have life through him.

Matthew 1:18-25

Christian tradition gives us several interpretations of the dilemma Joseph faced when he discovered Mary’s pregnancy. His uprightness could be seen as devotion to Mary in not wanting to expose her to shame and disgrace. It could also be interpreted as devotion to the Jewish law in refusing to take a presumed adulteress as his wife. Finally, this uprightness could be a direct act of humility before God in hesitating to identify himself with what he perceived as the work of the Holy Spirit.

We need not decide which of these interpretations is correct — they all have some basis in tradition and some merit. However, if we consider the ambiguities in Joseph’s dilemma that are common to all of these interpretations, we can find a mirror for our own Christian response to God’s presence in life.

The heart of the matter — the area where Joseph can be our model — is his fidelity and openness to God’s will within an uncertain situation. The Gospel message is often presented as bringing certainty to our questions and doubts, sometimes at the price of oversimplifying and distorting its meaning and creating a blind and false sense of security. Today’s picture of Joseph groping and struggling is a healthy corrective model.

Next week: Isaiah 63:7-9, Psalm 148Psalm 148, Hebrews 2:10-18 Matthew 2:13-23