God of traveling mercies, be with those of these dear readers who are traveling or have loved ones traveling to be with them during these holy days; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
In Sunday school we talked about the two Nativity stories. Only two of the Gospels have narratives about Jesus' birth. The first is Matthew and in his desire to show his Jewish brothers and sisters that Jesus is indeed the Messiash shares what he knew to be fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He utilitzes "this came about to fulfill the prophecy" or depending on your version of the Bible, something along those lines. He shares Jesus' lineage tracing Him back to Abraham, the father of the faith, and includes some important women in Biblical stories. Read verses 1-17 of chapter one of Matthew and see if you can't spot those ladies.
For today, as we prepare for Christ's birth, let's read the verses from 18 on: 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; 19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
Those in my Sunday school class will laugh at the correct spelling of betrothed as opposed to the one that I scribbled on the board. We talked about the marital state of Joseph and Mary. Most scholars believe that betrothal was a legal marriage state in those days between couples who were usually in an arranged marriage. The man had the right to call off the wedding up to the point of the betrothal. If he did not object for a good, legal reason to stop the marriage then he and the bride would come before the rabbi for this ceremony. The betrothal ceremony gave the woman the man's last name and was considered his wife but would return home with her parents for one year. She was not to have sexual relations with her husband yet. During that year she would be the one with the authority to call off the marriage for a valid reason. If a reason such as infidelity came up, the man could divorce her. In Joseph's case, were he to call off the marriage for her being pregnant with a child not his own, then the danger was that Mary could have been stoned to death for breaking the marriage vows. Thus we read that Joseph desired to "divorce her quietly." God intervenes in the sending of an angelic messenger who tells Joseph that this pregnancy and child was the work of God and he was to still take her as his wife and the child was to be his and was to be named "Jesus." The name Jeshua means "the Lord is salvation," so his purpose is stated in his name and in the message given to Joseph: "he shall save his people from their sins." Joseph did as was told and they had a son whom they named Jesus, knowing that his other name was "Emmanuel, God is with us."
If you were casting a Sunday school played just on Matthew's birth story it would involve fewer kids. You'd need Joseph, Mary, some angels, but you'd only need three kids to play the Three Kings. Matthew knew that for his Jewish brothers and sisters to know this was truly a Jewish story about a new Jewish king there had to be royalty involved. Other sources call them "magi" or learned men from the East, but we don't know for certain. What Matthew does record is that they came bearing some powerful and symbolic gifts: Gold, given as a present to a king. Frankincense, long confusing for most, but drop the "frank" and you get what it really is, incense. Incense given to the high priest of God. And myrrh, strong smelling ointment used for the preparation of bodies for burial. Symbolic of this man, son of God, King of kings, our High Priest, who would offer his body as our sacrifice and whose body would be buried. Three days later He would rise from the dead.
Christmas is a celebration of God's love. The gifts should be for God. I doubt most of us remember that or even think of that as we battle crowds at the mall or at the stores. But God gave us the gift in Jesus. May we receive Him again as the One who came to save us from our sins.
PRAYER: God of gifts, I thank You again for Jesus, my gift, my Lord and my Savior. May I be mindful of what You did through Him just for me. Grant me a holy season to thank and praise You for all You have done, are doing, and will do on my behalf. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
---------------PRAYER REQUESTS: Our sister from FUMC-Harlingen, Rita Tanberg is still in the hospital and yesterday was not a good day for her. Rita undergoes dialysis and the shunt in her arm could not work because the veins clogging. A temporary shunt was placed near her neck and doctors were to decide on putting one on her thigh. This is not a very comfortable experience and Rita needs our prayers. Please be in prayer as mentioned above for loved ones on the highways to visit family and friends. Three of our daughters travel today with their families to be with us in Harlingen. One travels tomorrow. Our Christmas celebration will be early and we pray God's mercy on your loved ones and may your Christmas celebrations be filled with His love!
