Isaiah 7: 10-16 (New Jerusalem Bible)
Matthew 1: 18-25 (Common English Bible)
In the 8th Century BC the kings of Syria and Israel turned against the Kingdom of Judah. Yes, two nations of the same faith and heritage turned against one another. The current king of Judah, Ahaz, was unwilling to compromise his peoples’ sovereignty to make an alliance between Israel and Syria.
The Southern Kingdom of Judah had its capital in Jerusalem while Israel’s capital was in Samaria ruled by King Pekah. To the north was the non-Jewish ruler of Syria, King Rezin, whose capital was in Damascus. They have joined forces to wage war against Jerusalem and its king, Ahaz.
Although Ahaz was considered a bad king, God would continue to protect Jerusalem as God has done before. Ahaz is told by Isaiah that God will give him a sign. Behold the Hebrew name “Almah” (young woman) shall conceive and she will bear a child for King Ahaz and his name will be Emmanuel. Isaiah 7:14.
Now here is where it gets confusing. Several hundred of years later there was a revision of the Hebrew Bible. In the years 285-247 BC the Old Testament was translated from its original Hebrew language into the Greek language. Now any Bible scholar would say, the older the manuscript the more accurate it is. But the Jewish Greek writers created a new Hebrew Bible called the "Septuagint" which changed the original Hebrew word “Almah” which meant young woman into the Greek word “parthenos” which meant virgin. Now the context of this writing means everything. It was addressed to King Ahaz and not something several hundred years in the future.
God sent Isaiah with a message for King Ahaz. “Say to him, be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart. While it’s true these two nations, Israel and Syria, are out for your blood or resignation, this is what God says, it will not take place, it will not happen.” The only thing left for Ahaz to do is to believe what God says.
The Gospel of Matthew introduces Joseph as a righteous man but the narrative complicates what righteousness looks like. Faced with Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph resolves to dismiss her quietly, a kind of divorce without bad feelings. But this is not cruelty, it is restraint. He doesn't want any harm to come to Mary even though he might’ve felt that Mary betrayed him. He wants to send her away so she might have a future rather than being vilified and possibly stoned to death. It was the best moral decision available to him given what he knows. Matthew does not portray Joseph as villainous or lacking faith. Joseph is righteous with the limited information that he knows.
The angel’s message does not erase uncertainty or eliminate risk. Mary will still appear pregnant out of wedlock. Joseph will still bear the social consequences of staying with Mary. The dream does not make things safe for them, but lt makes them meaningful.
Unlike Luke’s gospel, Matthew gives us no words from Joseph. When Joseph awakens, he simply acts as the angel told him. Matthew presents obedience not as drama or heroic, but a quiet faithfulness carried out without public vindication.
This is an Advent writing in the truest sense. Joseph did not wait passively, he waited by acting. He does not receive clarity about how everything will unfold, he receives a call to trust God already at work. His obedience is costly. It changes everything about his life.
Obedience is often a derogatory term in some churches. Historically, obedience has too often followed a single harmful control. Men are obedient to God and women are obedient to men. That framework has created patriarchy, abuse and criticism of anyone critical of the status-quo.
Joseph’s obedience protects Mary during a very dangerous and vulnerable time. This allows his family to escape King Herod’s violence and escape to Egypt. His obedience allows Jesus to return to the place where he must grow and begin his ministry.
This is why Matthew can present obedience not as drama or heroic, but as faithfulness carried out. Joseph does not defend himself. He simply acts. This is the same ethic Jesus will later teach in the Sermon on the Mount.
Through Joseph, Matthew offers a reframing of obedience that resists both patriarchy and power. Obedience here is not submission to power, it is the will to surrender to power.
By the 4th Sunday of Advent many people are already somewhere else. Christmas Eve is close. Matthew however interrupts that momentum. He tells the story early and tells it differently, not by a celebration but a time of reflection.
Joseph does not obey a rule, he responds to a reality. He recognizes that God is at work in a way that disrupts the status-quo. And the world will never be the same again.
As we come closer to Christmas, it doesn’t matter if you believe in a literal virgin birth or not believe in a virgin birth or just undecided. The fact is this Cosmic Force called the Christ that has existed before time began, incarnated itself into a human child to show humankind how to love and exist. Emmanuel, God is with us. Unto us, for all of us a child is born for all of us. AMEN.
