Now this is
how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to
Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the
holy Spirit. 19 Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous
man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. 20 Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary
your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has
been conceived in her. 21 She will bear a son and you are to name him
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the
prophet: “23 Behold, the virgin shall be with child and
bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the
Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. 25 He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him
Jesus.
Matthew focused on the extraordinary way Jesus was conceived and that his birth fulfilled a divine plan foretold in Scripture. In Judea at that time, betrothal meant that they were man and wife and gave the couple the right to cohabitate. Some texts give the age of girls at betrothal as twelve and a half years old others around 15 years old. The Spirit of God is the author of physical human life (Ez. 37:1-14). The Son of God earned salvation for all mankind. The Virgin Mary conceiving by the Holy Spirit is a theophany, a visible manifestation of God, “Who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its produce, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it (Is. 42:5).”
If a
betrothed young woman was found not to be a virgin, the penalty under the Law was
stoning to death (Deut. 22:20-21). Joseph
did not know of the divine plan and being a just man he would have been
obedient to the Law of Moses and would not marry Mary if she was not a
virgin. Being righteous, he showed mercy
and compassion and did not want to have Mary stoned to death. An angel from God addressed Joseph as “son of
David (v. 20)” and explained to Joseph in a dream that Mary had not committed
adultery. Jesus became a son of David
through Joseph. Joseph was obedient to
God’s instructions and by naming the baby as instructed he adopted the baby.
Jesus
was the son of God, a royal child whose name meant, ‘God is with us (v.
23).’ This can be considered God
fulfilling his promise, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God
(Jer. 30:22; Lev. 26:12).” The finite
and temporal Joseph was given the responsibility of being the father to the
infinite and eternal God. Jesus reversed
the roles when he made us adopted sons of God so that we could participate in
an infinite and eternal life with God.
O infinite and eternal God from whom all life
flows, out of your abundance of love you sent your son into the world to be
cared for by two lowly but righteous people. Help us to imitate your son and obey your
commands even unto death. This we pray
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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