Fourth Sunday in Advent
“All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).”
Overview
On our last Sunday in Advent the readings ponder over the sign God sends to assure us of God’s presence with us. King Ahaz asks the prophet Isaiah, 7:10-26, for a sign that God will be with his people as they face imminent military defeat. Isaiah offers him this; a young woman is with child, she will bear a son who will be called Emmanuel, God is with us. This is not the sign that King Ahaz was expecting. The divine presence he seeks is one of strength and power. The words of the prophesy are echoed in the story of Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1:18-25. Once again, the birth of a child to a young woman is not easy to recognise as a sign of God’s presence with us. Joseph needs the angel Gabriel to explain it to him just as Ahaz needed the prophet Isaiah. With Christmas just a week away we too ponder what it means for God to come not in strength but in vulnerability, where is true divine power to be found and are we able to recognise and embrace it?
FIRST READING
Isaiah 7:10-26
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.’
But Ahaz said, ‘I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah – he will bring the king of Assyria.’
Assyria, the Lord’s instrument
In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria. They will all come and settle in the steep ravines and in the crevices in the rocks, on all the thorn-bushes and at all the water holes. In that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the River Euphrates – the king of Assyria – to shave your heads and private parts, and to cut off your beards also. In that day, a person will keep alive a young cow and two goats. And because of the abundance of the milk they give, there will be curds to eat. All who remain in the land will eat curds and honey. In that day, in every place where there were a thousand vines worth a thousand silver shekels, there will be only briers and thorns. Hunters will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns. As for all the hills once cultivated by the hoe, you will no longer go there for fear of the briers and thorns; they will become places where cattle are turned loose and where sheep run.
GOSPEL
Matthew 1.18-25
Joseph accepts Jesus as his son
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’
All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
