Isaiah 7:10-16 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”  These few verses from Matthew’s Gospel provide all that we are to learn of Jesus’ birth from this Gospel account.  Chapter 2 of Matthew fast forwards to the visit of the Magi, which we will read and celebrate on the 12^th day of Christmas – January 6, the Epiphany.

As we read this morning, we note that this account that establishes the background for Jesus’ birth is from Joseph’s perspective – Joseph’s guidance by the angel.   The account is far less intimate and far less detailed than the account as recorded by Luke.  Only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke include any scripture that describes Jesus’ birth and early years.  And, it is important to note that Luke’s depiction of the adult Jesus is much more of the burden bearer who lifts up the weak and the downtrodden, particularly the women of first century society.  Thus, Luke’s birth narrative, more familiar to us, and which we will hear again on Christmas, recounts the nativity through the experiences of Mary, the Blessed Virgin.  Scholars believe the writer of Luke to be a Gentile writing to the Gentiles – the non-believers – the outcasts.

Matthew, on the other hand, is more traditionally Jewish, more patriarchal, no less sacred, but intended to connect to Jewish tradition and prophecy.  We will note again and again through this coming year, in which Matthew is our base Gospel, Matthew’s goal of affirming Jesus as the Messiah.

Our lesson today begins, “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.” The word Messiah translates from the original Greek, the anointed one; the Messiah had been foretold by the prophets – the voices who spoke God’s words to the people of Israel for the centuries preceding the birth of Jesus Christ, words that all faithful Jews had heard again and again and could recite from memory, words that Christians have included in what we term the Old Testament.  We have read a sampling of these words from the prophet Isaiah, and we hear Isaiah’s prophecy repeated by the angel in our lesson from Matthew.  The virgin will bear a son and he shall be named Emmanuel.

In the verses prior to our lesson for today, The Gospel of Matthew begins with this description: An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  From there, verses 2 through 16 list the generations – Jesus’ genealogy from the first patriarch Abraham, through the great King David, those exiled in Babylon, and finally, Joseph and Mary of whom Jesus was born.

If we were to attempt to read Matthew’s Gospel beginning to end, which I encourage you to do as we begin this year of study of Matthew, you might initially find this boring and meaningless.  But, closer inspection alerts us to the fact that this seemingly endless list of unpronounceable names, expresses the essence of our salvation purely by the grace of God.

Matthew begins his genealogy with Abraham, the epitome of faith, the first patriarch of the Hebrews.  Abraham, we read, was the father of Isaac; no mention of Abraham’s first born – Ishmael, who was born to the maidservant Haggar.  Ishmael and Haggar were banished; Ishmael would be become the first Arab; scripture tells us he would live in enmity with his brother.  Muslims recognize Ishmael as the true heir of the Abrahamic faith.  Yet, Matthew lists Isaac, the child born by Sarah in her old age [no mention of Sarah either].

Continuing, Isaac is the father of Jacob.  Jacob deceived his father Isaac and connived to steal the birthright, rightfully due his elder twin brother, Esau.  Yet, the scoundrel, Jacob, went on to become the father of all Israel; in covenant with God in the years to come, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel.

Jacob fathered twelve sons from whom, with some reconfiguration, come the twelve tribes of Israel, all as the result, it seems, of a stolen birthright.

Of the twelve sons, Jacob’s eldest was named Judah; does that sound familiar?  The tribe of Judah would later inherit the Southern Kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital – quite a legacy.  But, from scripture, we know that it was the eleventh son, Joseph, the son most favored by his father, who would seem to be the most extraordinary.  Unfortunately, and fortunately, Judah conspired with his other brothers to sell Joseph into slavery.  [The “rest of the story” reveals that to be a beneficial move].  Judah later fathered twin sons by his widowed daughter-in-law Tamar, a Canaanite who had disguised herself as a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law.  Even so, Tamar is listed here and the genealogy is carried on through the son born of this incestuous union.

We know nothing of those names that follow until we arrive at the name Boaz whose father is listed as Salmon and mother as Rahab.  We know Rahab to be another Canaanite, like Tamar, and a true prostitute.  Rahab lived in Jericho and provided safety for the Israelite spies as they gathered information necessary to conquer Jericho on the journey into the Promised Land.  Rahab was granted safe haven for her hospitality and is held in high esteem as one of the heroes of faith.  A Canaanite prostitute, she became the mother of Boaz who would marry Ruth, another outsider – a Moabite; a sweet story that we read in the book of Ruth.  Ruth gives birth to Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David.

King David, hailed as the greatest earthly king of God’s chosen people, the youngest of the sons of Jesse, the shepherd who pinned the beautiful poetry of so many of our Psalms, was the father of Solomon by “the wife of Uriah.”  The lovely irresistible Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah at the time of David’s seduction of her, which resulted in the extramarital pregnancy.  In turn, the inopportune pregnancy prompted a coverup that led David to orchestrate the death in battle of his greatest and most loyal officer – Bathsheba’s husband – Uriah.  Bathsheba, the mother of King Solomon, is listed anonymously as “the wife of Uriah.”

The next set of names recounting the genealogy of the next fourteen generations is mostly unfamiliar, until we arrive at our destination: “Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”  Obviously, we do not read that Joseph is the father of Jesus, only that Jesus was born of Mary.

You see, this genealogy recounted by Matthew is not a listing of Who’s Who among the righteous, not a handing down of status of the politically and religiously elite.  This genealogy of Jesus is filled with rascally betrayers, societal outcasts, foreign aliens, the obscure and completely unknown.  Just as for us, this Messianic ancestry encompasses both sinner and saint within the individual person.  We can relate, and we rejoice that God sees our gifts within our flaws and uses those to accomplish his purpose of redemption.

God used each of these flawed individuals to bring about the redemption of all creation by pure grace through the incarnation – the Word made flesh.

Emmanuel, God is with us.  From his coming to earth and at the time of his departure, Jesus assures us of God’s constant presence with us – each of us both sinner and saint.  Even in our flawed state, God sees our gifts and calls us for his purpose.  Matthew’s Gospel begins and ends with this affirmation, closing with Jesus’ words, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Mt. 28:20]

Emmanuel, God is with us.