Written for the Fourth Sunday in Advent
I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.
I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.
Christlike Love
Audio Version
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:26-38 (NRSV)
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
Luke 1:26-38 (NRSV)
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25 (NRSV)
Matthew 1:18-25 (NRSV)
I have traveled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I've done
Holy Father, You have come
And chosen me now to carry Your Son
From “Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)” by Amy Grant
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I've done
Holy Father, You have come
And chosen me now to carry Your Son
From “Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song)” by Amy Grant
On December 10, 1905, the New York World newspaper featured a short story by the great American writer O. Henry titled “Gifts of the Magi.”1 This story is not about the wealthy Persian astrologers who bring gifts to the Christ Child, as one might infer from the title. It is instead about Della and Jim, a young, struggling married couple, who buy Christmas gifts for each other.
On Christmas Eve, Della, who is known for her long, beautiful hair, has her hair cut off and sold so that she can afford to buy a chain for her husband Jim's gold pocket watch, a prized family heirloom. When Jim comes home that evening, Della can see that he is troubled by the fact that she has cut her hair short, so she reveals that she sold her hair so that she could afford to buy him a Christmas gift. Jim assures her that a mere haircut could not change his love for her, and then he gives her the gift he bought for her, jeweled adornments for her long hair. Della then gives Jim the watch chain she bought for him, and Jim reveals that he sold his pocket watch, so that he could afford to buy the gift he gave her.2
Della and Jim both make sacrifices in order to buy each other gifts that are effectively rendered useless by their sacrifices. Though some might call them foolish, O. Henry concludes that “of all who give gifts, these two were the most wise.”3 The word I would use to describe Della and Jim is not wise but rather Christlike, because the love they show for each other is self-sacrificial. It is the kind of love we see in the Gospel story.
In the Gospels, there are two different stories about the birth of Christ. One is told from the perspective of Mary, Jesus' earthly mother, while the other is told from the perspective of Joseph, Jesus' earthly father. The Gospels as a whole tell us that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,”4 but the two stories of Christ's birth tell us that God chose a strange and surprisingly scandalous way of giving God's only Son to the world.
In the Gospel of Luke, we read that one day Mary, a young woman from Nazareth, is approached by a messenger of God named Gabriel. Gabriel says to Mary, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Evidently she is curious as to why he would just walk up to her and greet her in this way, so he says to her,
Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.
For a long time, the Jewish people have awaited a Messiah, a leader who will be anointed by God to save them from oppression and reign as their king in an age of peace. Gabriel is basically telling Mary that she has been chosen to give birth to this long-awaited leader.
Naturally, Mary wonders how she can possibly give birth to a child, when she hasn't... well... done anything that would result in the birth of a child. She asks Gabriel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Gabriel replies, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” In other words, Mary's baby will be conceived miraculously.
Sometimes, when we hear this story, we wonder how Mary feels when she learns that she has been chosen to give birth to her people's Messiah. Surely she is excited that she has been offered a role to play in the redemption of her people, but, at the same time, she must also be concerned about what the people in her town will think when they inevitably find out that she has become pregnant out of wedlock. She is probably well aware that nobody is likely to buy her story that she has become pregnant miraculously. Even if people of that time refer to babies as “little miracles,” as people do in our day, they know how babies are made. They know that babies aren't conceived spontaneously without the help of a father.
To complicate matters even further, Mary is engaged to be married. Her fiance is a man named Joseph, who just so happens to be a descendant of King David, the greatest king their people had ever known. When Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant with a baby, whom he will obviously know he had no part in conceiving, he will surely want to call off the engagement. In their day, an engagement is as legally binding as a marriage, and there are serious consequences for infidelity. The Jewish Law states, in the Book of Deuteronomy, that a woman who is unfaithful to her fiance is to be taken to the gates of her town and stoned to death, alongside the person with whom she was unfaithful.5 Even if the community chooses not to execute Mary, despite what the Law prescribes, her engagement will be over, and she will be left to raise her child by herself as the town pariah.
Mary could say to Gabriel, “I just can't do it. Please find someone else.” All things considered, who could blame her? Instead, Mary, fully understanding the hardships that are surely ahead of her – shaming at best and stoning at worst – says to Gabriel, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
Soon after this strange encounter, Mary travels south from Nazareth in Galilee to the hill country of Judea to visit her relative Elizabeth,6 who also happens to be pregnant under unusual circumstances with a child who will have a role to play in the redemption of their people.7 Undoubtedly Mary uses her her time on the road as an opportunity to sort through everything that has just happened. When she arrives and greets Elizabeth, Elizabeth's baby, who, according to the messenger of God, is filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth, begins moving in the womb.8 Elizabeth returns Mary's greeting, saying,
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.9
Mary then sings a song, which is now known as the Magnificat, to describe how she is feeling at the moment. She begins her song,
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.10
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.10
She concludes her song,
[God] has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.11
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.11
Though Mary is surely concerned about the trials that await her in the near future, it is clear that her concerns are overshadowed by her excitement about what God is doing for God's people through her.
What Luke does not tell us in his Gospel is how Mary's fiance Joseph reacts to the news that Mary is pregnant. For that, we must turn to another Gospel.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that, when Joseph learns that Mary is pregnant, he decides to call off their engagement discreetly. Obviously, Joseph knows that he had nothing to do with his fiancee's pregnancy, so, in his eyes, there is only one logical explanation, that Mary has not been faithful to him. Naturally, he is angry with her, and he is hurt that she would be unfaithful. That said, he still loves her, and he doesn't want anything bad to happen to her. As Matthew points out, Joseph is “a righteous man.”
Though the stories of Christ's birth are familiar to many of us, I suspect that few of us have really considered the ramifications of what Joseph is planning to do. If Joseph breaks off his engagement to Mary without bringing her supposed infidelity out into the open, people will think that Joseph has gotten Mary pregnant and then abandoned her to raise their child all by herself.12 There are words to describe men who refuse to care for the children they bring into the world, most of which one should not use while preaching. Joseph believes that Mary has acted dishonorably toward him, but, by breaking off their engagement discreetly, he will be making himself appear to be the dishonorable one and taking upon himself the consequences of dishonorable actions.13
Fortunately, before Joseph can act, God intervenes. That night, while Joseph is sleeping, a messenger of God, perhaps the same one who approached Mary, appears to Joseph in a dream. The messenger says to him, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph wakes up, he decides not to break off his engagement to Mary, and he decides to help her raise the Child she is carrying as if He is his own.
Today, I would like to suggest, that, in the stories of Christ's birth, the character of the two people God chooses to be the human parents of God's Son is a foreshadowing of the kind of human being God's Son will be.
When Gabriel tells Mary that God has chosen her to bring her people's Savior into the world, she says, knowing the hardships she will surely face, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” One dark night, around thirty years later, Jesus will pray in a garden, knowing that great suffering and even death await Him the next day. He will pray, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” Then, echoing His mother's words, He will pray, “Yet, not my will but yours be done.”14
When Joseph learns that Mary is pregnant, he initially decides to break off their engagement without bringing her supposed infidelity out into the open. He intends not only to save Mary from disgrace but also to effectively to take her disgrace upon himself. Around thirty years later, Jesus will be placed on trial before the religious and political authorities of His day, and He will be sentenced to die by crucifixion, like a terrorist. It is a sentence He will not deserve as a Man of peace. It is often said that, on the Cross, Jesus takes upon Himself the sin and disgrace of all humanity. His crucifixion is commonly associated with the Song of the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah, in which we read,
What Luke does not tell us in his Gospel is how Mary's fiance Joseph reacts to the news that Mary is pregnant. For that, we must turn to another Gospel.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that, when Joseph learns that Mary is pregnant, he decides to call off their engagement discreetly. Obviously, Joseph knows that he had nothing to do with his fiancee's pregnancy, so, in his eyes, there is only one logical explanation, that Mary has not been faithful to him. Naturally, he is angry with her, and he is hurt that she would be unfaithful. That said, he still loves her, and he doesn't want anything bad to happen to her. As Matthew points out, Joseph is “a righteous man.”
Though the stories of Christ's birth are familiar to many of us, I suspect that few of us have really considered the ramifications of what Joseph is planning to do. If Joseph breaks off his engagement to Mary without bringing her supposed infidelity out into the open, people will think that Joseph has gotten Mary pregnant and then abandoned her to raise their child all by herself.12 There are words to describe men who refuse to care for the children they bring into the world, most of which one should not use while preaching. Joseph believes that Mary has acted dishonorably toward him, but, by breaking off their engagement discreetly, he will be making himself appear to be the dishonorable one and taking upon himself the consequences of dishonorable actions.13
Today, I would like to suggest, that, in the stories of Christ's birth, the character of the two people God chooses to be the human parents of God's Son is a foreshadowing of the kind of human being God's Son will be.
When Gabriel tells Mary that God has chosen her to bring her people's Savior into the world, she says, knowing the hardships she will surely face, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” One dark night, around thirty years later, Jesus will pray in a garden, knowing that great suffering and even death await Him the next day. He will pray, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” Then, echoing His mother's words, He will pray, “Yet, not my will but yours be done.”14
When Joseph learns that Mary is pregnant, he initially decides to break off their engagement without bringing her supposed infidelity out into the open. He intends not only to save Mary from disgrace but also to effectively to take her disgrace upon himself. Around thirty years later, Jesus will be placed on trial before the religious and political authorities of His day, and He will be sentenced to die by crucifixion, like a terrorist. It is a sentence He will not deserve as a Man of peace. It is often said that, on the Cross, Jesus takes upon Himself the sin and disgrace of all humanity. His crucifixion is commonly associated with the Song of the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah, in which we read,
Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.15
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.15
It is said that love makes people do crazy things. Love for each other makes Della and Jim give up things that are important to them so that they can buy each other Christmas gifts that turn out to be unusable. Love for God and love for others makes Mary accept God's invitation to bear her people's Savior, even though it will likely cost her her engagement, her reputation, and maybe even her life. Love for Mary makes Joseph willing to take her disgrace upon himself, and love makes him decide to be a father to a Child who, he knows, is not biologically his. Love for humanity makes the Son of God leave heaven, divest Himself of all power and glory, and be born as a human being, only to be rejected and abandoned by His own and executed on a cross like a criminal.16 Perhaps it could be better said that love makes people do Christlike things.
Jesus will say to His disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”17 To truly follow Christ is to reflect His self-sacrificial love into the world. Mary and Joseph, the two people God chooses to raise God's Son, demonstrate through their attitudes and actions the kind of self-sacrificial love Jesus will demonstrate in His life and, most starkly, in His death on the Cross. God may have chosen a scandalous way to bring God's Son into the world, but God has also chosen some wonderful, loving people to be Jesus' earthly parents. May we learn from their Christlike example.
Amen.
Notes:
- Wikipedia: “The Gift of the Magi”
- O. Henry. “The Gift of the Magi.”
- ibid.
- John 3:16 (NRSV)
- Deuteronomy 22:23-24
- Luke 1:39
- Luke 1:5-25
- Luke 1:40-41
- Luke 1:42-45 (NRSV)
- Luke 1:46-49 (NRSV)
- Luke 1:54-55 (NRSV)
- Adam Hamilton. Faithful: Christmas Through the Eyes of Joseph. 2017, Abingdon Press. ch. 2
- ibid.
- Luke 22:42 (NRSV)
- Isaiah 53:4-5 (NRSV)
- Philippians 2:5-8
- Luke 9:23 (NRSV)
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