INTRODUCTION
Just few days away from Christmas, the liturgy of the Word makes us to understand that the days of preparation and waiting are over. It is now time to live the experience of joy for God has come among (Emmanue-El). He brings good tidings: To those who are afraid of the enemies like Ahaz he says, “do not be afraid.” To those who feel disappointed like Joseph, he says “do not worry for I am part of your disappointment.” And to those who are not living it right like St. Paul did in the past he says, “you can also be my apostle.”
FIRST READING: Isaiah 7:10-14
Here we are in a time when Assyria was a great threat to the surrounding kingdoms because of its strong military power. Tiglath-Pileser II, the King of Assyria had threatened to take over Israel. With the feeling of insecurity, Pekah, the king of Israel immediately sought for alliance with Razin, the king of Syria (also called Aram whose capital was Damascus) as well as king Ahaz of Judah, to join forces against Assyria. But knowing how deadly such a mission will be, Ahaz declined. This made Pekah and Razin to threaten to dethrone him and to install a king who will co-operate with them in their fight against Assyria. Gripped with fear, Ahaz decided to seek protection from the king of Assyria (2 Kgs 16 tells how Ahaz gave him the silver and gold meant for the Temple of Yahweh, imported the worship of the Assyrian god into Judah and sacrificed his son in order to please the king of Assyria who helped him conquer his enemies). This is the context of our First Reading today. It is in the midst of his fear and decision to seal alliance with the Assyrians that God sent Isaiah to assure him that He the Lord will defend him and protect the throne of his father David. But Ahaz felt that this is a time for diplomacy and warfare and not some sort of prophesy. Thus, he refused to listen to the prophet and to ask for sign from Yahweh. This is because having committed himself to the King of Assyria, he was afraid that any breach of such contract will turn out to hunt him. Meanwhile, the prophet insistently gave him a sign: ” A maiden is with a child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Emmanuel.”
WHO IS THIS MAIDEN?
At the time of this prophecy the maiden was thought to be one of the women married to King Ahaz. And perhaps Isaiah himself did not think of this maiden to be a figure to come many centuries after since the prophecy was intended for immediate fulfilment.
WHO IS THIS EMMANUEL?
Many biblical scholars believed that this prophecy was fulfilled in Hezekiah the son of Ahaz and the immediate successor to his throne who brought a religious reform in Judah and led the people to enjoy political serenity. Thus this became an immediate fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah. But because God is so mysterious and cannot be understood in toto, this prophecy will find its perfect and concrete fulfilment in the person of Christ the true “Emmanuel” (God with us).
SECOND READING: Romans 1:1-7
The Second Reading presents a scenario whereby st. Paul introduces himself to the new community of Rome who barely knew his new identity. He identified himself as a slave of Christ and an Apostle of the Gospel of God; contrary to his former identity as a slave of the law and a zealous pharisee. Paul acknowledged that the Gospel of God he brings is Jesus incarnated (that is the mystery of Emmanuel-God with us in flesh and blood). More importantly, Paul reminds them that the mystery of the incarnation will be incomplete without the Paschal mystery. That is to say, without the Resurrection of Christ which is the mystery of “God-who-saves”, the mystery of “God-with-us” is incomplete. Thus, to express the grandeur of the power of the Resurrection, he affirms that his conversion and call as an “Apostle of the Gospel” as well as the salvation opened to the gentles was only made possible through the Resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
GOSPEL: Matthew 1:18-24
The Gospel presents the dawn of a new history; the mystery of God who for the first time comes to take flesh and to be born of his own creature. Matthew showed that for this to come about, the consent and obedience of Mary are not enough; God needed the cooperation of Joseph. And focusing on Joseph, he called him “the righteous” not only because he cooperated in the mystery of the incarnation, but because he had a great respect and value for the dignity of the human person (he did not want to discuss Mary in public, rather he resolved to send her away in secret)
Meanwhile in order to connect his Jewish audience to the Old Testament prophecy and to confirm that it is being fulfilled in their days, Matthew affirms that Jesus is that “Emmanuel” promised by God and that Mary is that virgin. He retains the Hebrew “Emmanu”(with-us) and El (God) as used by the prophet Isaiah but contrasted Isaiah in the use of the word virgin. The prophecy of Isaiah which came in Hebrew used the word “Almah” (a maiden) which does not quickly mean a virgin but a young woman who has not given birth. But Matthew used the Greek “Parthenos” which unambiguously refers to a virgin to affirm that in the perfect and definitely fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, Mary is not just a maiden but truly a virgin through whom the true Emmanuel will be born. He equally used a name that will define the true role of the Emmanuel. The Greek “Iesous” (the Hebrew-Yeshua) which means “God is help” is Matthew’s way of telling his audience that God is not just coming to be with us, but he comes to save us. Hence, he led them from the mystery of the incarnation to the anticipation of the mystery of redemption, the “Pascal mystery.”
LIFE MESSAGE:
AHAZ represents the moments in which we lose focus on God and start relying on our human capacities. Some times when trouble knocks on our doors, we quickly forget the God who has always been there for us. We tend to turn to other sources of power and to persons seeking for aid. Because we often need a quick response, often this makes us to have a prejudiced conception that God takes time to answer prayers, forgetting that God is not just an option, but a necessity for our survival. We must avoid the spirit of Ahaz. When we are filled with this Spirit, we refuse to hear the voice of Isaiah that calls attention back to God.
JOSEPH reminds us that we must learn to obey the voice of God that speaks to us even when the voice is not clear (that is the meaning of the apparition of the Angel in the dream). Secondly, he teaches us that a true Christian is one who consecrates his will to God such that when the situation is contrary to his will, he still find meaning in the will of God think. Think of how humanly painful it is to accept and take care of a pregnancy that doesn’t belong to you. The will of God is a difficult path to walk on; but for those who have chosen to persevere, it always ends in glory. This is why Joseph did not just become a righteous man, but a foster father of the saviour of the world, thanks to his submission to the will of God.
ST. PAUL is a figure that reminds us that even though we may have rebelled against God in the past like Ahaz, we can still turn to him in humility who alone is capable of making us righteous like Joseph. From a persecutor of Christ, St. Paul became a slave of Christ. God can change our lives only if we recognise that he is truly with us (Emmanuel).
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL AND MAY THE JOY OF THE NEW BORN KING REMAIN PERMANENT IN OUR LIVES.
