We have finally arrived at the Fourth (and last) Sunday of Advent and the readings turn our attention directly on the birth of Jesus. Isaiah prophesies His birth and Matthew tells us his version of the Christmas story. Romans reminds us of the call to holiness that is inherent in our Christianity. Together they invite us to ask: What has been my response to the miracle of salvation that began so long ago with the visit of an angel? As we live a life of waiting for the second great coming of the Christ, how are we responding to His first Advent? How are we responding to all of His little Advents in the people and circumstances that we meet each day?

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: 11 Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!12 But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” 13 Then he said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

NOTES on First Reading:

* 7:10-17 Ahaz was king of Judah in the 8th century B.C. At that time the old kingdom had been split into a southern kingdom called Judah and a northern kingdom called Israel. The northern kingdom had entered an alliance with Aram (Syria) against Judah and Ahaz was trying to decide what he should do about it. The king was tempted to ask Assyria for help. The problem was that the price of Assyria’s help was that Judah would become a vassal state of Assyria. Isaiah had advised King Ahaz to trust in God rather than in military alliances and here he tells him to ask God for any sign he chooses as a confirmation of his words. The king refuses but Isaiah announces the sign anyway.

* 7:12 In keeping with his devious character, Ahaz rather hypocritically expresses his preference for depending upon the strength of Assyria rather than trusting in God.

* 7:14 Isaiah may well have had in mind the birth of Hezekiah who would continue the Davidic line thus showing that God was indeed with the royal house of David and His people. The early church, following Matthew (1:22-23) and Luke (1:34-35), saw the more complete and ultimate fulfillment of this prophesy in the birth of Jesus. There has been a great deal of argument about the word “`almah” meaning young woman which appears in the Hebrew text rather than the word, “betula” which is the technical word for virgin. The early church followed the Septuagint (Greek Text) version of the text which uses the Greek word for virgin here. As usual, it is the Septuagint version that Matthew quotes in Mt 1:23 and that Luke uses as a backdrop in Lk 1:34-35.

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7

1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, 4 but established as Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, 6 among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; 7 to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NOTES on Second Reading:

* 1:1-7 The greeting or praescriptio in Paul’s letters follows a standard form, although there are variations. They are based upon the common Greco-Roman epistolary practice, but modified by the addition of Semitic and Christian elements. The three basic components which are always present are: name of sender; name of addressee; greeting. The greeting in Romans is the most solemn of the greetings in Paul’s letters. Paul often adds phrases to describe his apostolic mission in the greeting. This element is more developed in Romans than in any other letter because Paul was writing to a community with which he was not personally acquainted. Whereas in other letters he associates coworker with himself in the greeting here Paul alone sends the letter. The standard secular greeting was the infinitive chairein, “greetings.” Paul uses instead the similar-sounding charis, “grace,” together with the Semitic greeting salom (Greek eirene), “peace.” These gifts, foreshadowed in God’s dealings with Israel (see Numbers 6:24-26), have been poured out abundantly in Christ, and Paul wishes them to his readers. Paul applies the term slave to himself to express his undivided allegiance to the Lord of the Church, the Master of all, including slaves and masters. It is the commitment of the slave to his master that Paul emphasizes when he discusses Christian commitment in terms of slavery.

* 1:3-4 Paul cites an early creedal statement that proclaims Jesus’ sonship as Messianic descendant of David (see Matthew 22:42; 2 Tim 2:8; Rev 22:16) and as Son of God by the resurrection. Jesus Christ is able to communicate the Spirit to those who believe in him and so is called the “life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:45).

* 1:4 Here Paul is not thinking of “Son of God” in the inner-trinitarian sense of Father and Son. Rather he had in mind the unique relationship of Christ to God in the salvific process. For Paul and the entire early church the resurrection made a difference in that process. The resurrection was the event that made Jesus’ relationship with God the pattern for the relationship with God that every Christian should have.

* 1:5 Paul’s recollection of his apostolic office, implies that the Romans know something of his reputation even though they have never seen him personally. The greetings of Paul’s letters often had summaries of the points that were made later in the main body of letter. Paul will address the obedience of faith at length in chapters 6-8 and 12-15. It is faith in God’s justifying action in Jesus Christ that relates the believer to God’s gift of the new life that is made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit (see especially Romans 8:1-11).

* 1:7 Paul often refers to Christians as “the holy ones” or “the saints.” The Israelite community was called a “holy assembly” because they had been separated for the worship and service of the Lord (see Lev 11:44; 23:1-44). Paul considers that each Christian is called to individual holiness. The Christian community regarded its members as sanctified by baptism (Romans 6:22; 15:16; 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 5:26-27). The Christians’ call to holiness (1 Cor 1:2; 1 Thes 4:7) then is a call to make their lives conform to the gift they have already received.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 1:18-24

18 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.

NOTES on Gospel Reading:

* 1:18-25 Most of us are used to hearing the Christmas story as told by Luke (Luke 2:1-20). This is Matthew’s version. It spells out more fully what is summarily presented in Matthew 1:16 but still lacks many of the Christmas elements that we expect to hear. The virginal conception of Jesus is brought about by the Spirit of God. Joseph’s decision to divorce Mary is overruled by the heavenly command that he take her into his home and accept the child as his own. Although the natural genealogical line is broken the promises to David are still fulfilled. Joseph’s adoption of the child places Him in the family of David and thus gives Him a claim to David’s throne. Matthew sees the virginal conception as the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14.

* 1:18 The word usually translated as “engaged or espoused or betrothed” is a relatively rare Greek word, “mnesteveim”, that indicated a situation of a legal marriage contract where the principals don’t yet live together. In Galilee it was the last stage of an engagement prior to moving in together. “Virgin” as used here is derived from the Septuagint (Greek text of the Old Testament often abbreviated as LXX) of Isa 7:14. The Hebrew text uses a word that could mean either a virgin or simply a young woman. The Church has always followed the interpretation of Matthew and of Luke (Luke 1:27) who use the LXX version and therefore call Mary a Virgin.

* 1:19 Joseph is described as a righteous man. This would mean that he was a devout observer of the Mosaic law and thus would have wished to break his union with someone who appeared to be guilty of gross violation of the law. It is commonly said that the law required him to break off his betrothal to Mary, but the texts (such as Deut 22:20-21) usually given in support of that view, do not clearly pertain to Joseph’s situation. In any case he was unwilling to expose her to shame and to subject her to the penalty for proved adultery which was death by stoning (Deut 22:21-23). God’s message delivered him from the dilemma.

* 1:20 In the Old Testament, “the angel of the Lord” is a common designation of God in communication with a human being. Messages in dreams also occur in Matthew 2:13,19,22. These dreams may be meant to recall the dreams of Joseph, son of Jacob the patriarch (Genesis 37:5-11:19). A closer parallel is the dream of Amram, father of Moses, which is related by Josephus (a first century Jewish historian who wrote “Antiquities”).

* 1:21 For a first century Jewish man to name a child was an acknowledgement of the child’s being legally accepted as his child. Thus the reference to Joseph naming the child is often taken to indicate that he is to adopt the child as his son. The boy would then have a legal claim to the throne through his adoptive father, Joseph, who was called “son of David” in verse 20. This was important enough for us to be told, in verse 25, that Joseph did actually name the baby as he was commanded by God.
The name, Jesus, is an Anglicized version of the name Joshua. In first century Judaism, the Hebrew name Joshua (Greek Iesous) which literally means “Yahweh helps” was interpreted as “Yahweh saves.”

* 1:23 Matthew sees God’s promise of deliverance to Judah in Isaiah’s time as being fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, in whom God is with his people. The name Emmanuel is also alluded to at the end of the gospel where the risen Jesus assures his disciples of his continued presence, “. . . I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Scripture text: New American Bible with revised New Testament copyright © 1986,1970, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
Commentary Sources:
Vince Del Greco
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990) (Eds. Brown, Fitzmyer & Murphy)