Journey Home: Mary and Joseph

Journey Home: Mary and Joseph

Study Notes
Key Scripture Texts: Luke 1:26-56; Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-23

Introduction

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.


Refrain
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.





These familiar Advent lyrics derive from a 12th century Latin hymn, translated into English by John Neale in 1851. Commonly sung to the 15th century processional tune, "Veni Emanuel", this hymn is frequently adapted to the several Sundays in Advent, where each stanza conveys one message for the day.

Early in the hymn, the lyricist draws our attention to Israel's "exile" and "captivity", having fallen under the rule of Satan's tyranny. Messiah is asked to come and "open wide our heavenly home", securing a safe path to heaven and an end to misery.

The poem echoes a number of prophetic themes. The title derives from Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Immanuel is Hebrew for “God with us.” The “Rod of Jesse” refers to Isaiah 11:1: “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse”; Jesse was the father of David, second king of Israel. “Day-Spring” comes from Zachariah, father of John the Baptist, in Luke 1:78: “The day­spring from on high has visited us.” “Thou Key of David” is in Isaiah 22:22: “The key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder".

Preliminary Perspectives on The Journey Home
What was Isaiah's message that so inspired the song-writer? The unmistakable idea running through the hymn, as well as the prophet's words, is the return from exile. Two devastating events in Israel's history sent her people from their land to become exiles among the nations, the "goyim". The land of Israel was turned into a desolate place, occupied by foreigners and wild beasts, no longer the dwelling place of Yahweh's Temple and His presence among His people. Centuries before, Israel's forebears lived harsh lives in the Sinai wilderness, and Spartan existence in tents, depending on Yahweh's provision for food and drink. Yet they lived in hopeful expectation that one day Canaan would be their home, and they could leave the desert behind. That hope turned into reality when, under Joshua, the tribes of Israel occupied their new land, the one promised by Yahweh to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

As long as God's people remained faithful to His covenant and observed His Torah, blessings rained down on them in their new land. Their enemies would leave them alone, and their crops would produce rich harvests. Disease would not afflict them, nor would their rulers deviate from following Yahweh's instructions. Yearly they would gather and read Torah, joining in a ceremony of covenant renewal with their leaders. Soon a line of kings would be established under David, and Yahweh would make this special promise to him:
"10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. Yahweh declares to you that Yahweh himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever" (2 Samuel 7:10-16).
Embedded in this "Davidic Covenant" are promises about land, home, kingdom and things "everlasting". This was the great hope of the people of God, led by the one whom Yahweh would call "my son". The "house of David" came to represent the permanent of home for Israel, something reliable, something that would endure. When all else changed, this one thing remained constant in their lives.

From 1000 B.C.E. until 931 B.C.E., the "house of Israel" remained intact under the "house of David". David lived to see his son, Solomon, succeed him, according to God's good promise. Before he died, David reminded Solomon with these words:
"Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, 4 and that the LORD may keep his promise to me: 'If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel'" (1 Kings 2:3-4).
Solomon, in a dedicatory prayer for the Temple be built to Yahweh, added his own confirmation of this promise:
"Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.'" (1 Kings 8:25).
Yahweh answered this prayer with these words:
"5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel'" (1 Kings 9:5)

But tragedy followed Solomon's death. The once united kingdom, living under the promise of this covenant, was torn apart by civil war, resulting in a split, north and south. Only the southern kingdom, called "Judah", remained the permanent heir to David's throne. The northern kingdom went its own way until the Assyrians exiled its residents in 722. Then disaster struck the kingdom of Judah in 586 when Temple and city were reduced to rubble and the people sent into Babylon. Here is "double exile", precipitated by a failure to keep the nation united under David's covenant, following Yahweh's Torah.

Israel was driven from its home, and found itself in foreign lands, living under pagan rulers not of its choosing. In one of the most moving psalms composed during the exile, the poet mourned:
"1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill" (Psalm 137:1-5)
This was the fateful state of a people who had lost its home and was now in exile. But they were not merely exiled from homeland, they felt intensely their isolation from Yahweh Himself. God seemed far away, as if He had abandoned His children to a foreign king.

Why had this happened to them? The prophet Daniel, reflecting on the words of his senior seer, Jeremiah, found himself in prayer one day, and determined to lift the curse of Israel's exile by asking for Yahweh's forgiveness. It was the sin of Israel--its idolatry and arrogance, its abuse of the poor, its dependence on pagan nations for help--these were the causes for her exile. In Daniel 9, the prophet-in-exile asks Yahweh:
"Now, O Adonai our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Adonai, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Adonai, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Adonai, listen! O Adonai, forgive! O Adonai, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name" (Daniel 9:15-19).
In response to Daniel's prayer, the angel Gabriel appears and tells the prophet that God will unfold His plan concerning His people, and, before the appointed time has expired, He determines "to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy" (Daniel 9:24). Included in that plan for a full return from exile, is the arrival of Messiah who will suffer and die, Daniel is also told. Then, and only then, will exile come to end.

As it turned out, Israel was given a foretaste of the "return from exile" when her captors fell to the rising Persian Empire. The generous king Cyrus, called "the anointed one" by Isaiah the prophet (see Isaiah 45:1: the word "anointed" is actually the word "messiah", but is used here in the more limited sense of one whom God has chosen to do His bidding in the world) arranged for the exiled "Judahites", known commonly as "Jews" (a shortened form of "Judah"), to return to their homeland. God's people were making their "journey home" at last. Three distinct restorations from exile took place, starting in 538 B.C.E. Each time a few more captives left Babylon behind and resettled the land. Some had been born in Babylon, like the famous leader of Jerusalem called Zerubbabel whose name means "seed of Babylon", that is, he was born there! Other important figures like Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah led the way for a restored and renewed Israel once more living in her land. Books of the Old Testament which bear their names tell the stories of this return from exile.

But the rebuilt city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple bore little resemblance to the glory days before the exile. People wept when they saw the inferior structures rising on the landscape of "the promised land" (Ezra 3:12-13). They might be "home", but this was not the home many of them had once known. Something was terribly wrong. Recalling the promised temple described by the prophet Ezekiel, they found no comparison with what had been built "after" the exile. Had the exile really ended after all?

There was one more fact, more painful than the rest: David's son had not returned to sit on his throne as God had promised. Only in exile could this condition be possible. You see, no foreign power would allow them to enthrone a Davidic monarch. The kingdom of Judah was still an occupied land, dependent on Persia and her successors. The Jewish nation was merely a province within far flung empires: Persia, Greece, and eventually Rome. This was not truly "her land", but the property of the pagans. Was it possible that Yahweh had not forgiven Israel's sins after all? What's more, not all of the Jews came back from exile: only a small remnant, barely a tenth of those who departed. And what are we to make of the northern tribes, ten of them, who vanished into the cracks of the surrounding nations? Will they never be reunited to their brothers in Judah? How can Israel be Israel truly until she is Israel entirely?

Such questions preoccupied the minds of faithfully Jews following the exile. Prodded by the words of the prophets like Malachi, they chaffed under the loss of fortunes. That prophet discovered a general apathy and malaise in the land. No one took worship seriously. The sins of ingratitude, selfishness, marital unfaithfulness and violence reappeared within Israel's national life. Woven throughout her national sins was Israel's general dishonor of Yahweh. Writing during the late 400's B.C.E., he declares on behalf of God:
"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says Yahweh Almighty" (Malachi 1:6).
After detailing the failures of the restored remnant to keep covenant with their Lord, Malachi makes a startling announcement:
"'See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,' says Yahweh Almighty" (Malachi 3:1).
Malachi writes as if Yahweh had gone away, and left His temple behind. That was of course, what happened when the exile began. Ezekiel offered a dramatic scene of Yahweh's fiery many-wheeled chariot rolling out of the Temple, out of Jerusalem and off to Babylon to be with His people there (see Ezekiel 10 in its entirety for this episode). The real question remained: did Yahweh ever really return? A remnant of His people had returned, but had Yahweh? Those questions receive some resolution when Malachi announces that Yahweh will one day send a messenger to prepare the way for the coming of Yahweh who would come "suddenly" to His Temple. For Jews who wondered where God was, this might have been good news. But Malachi continues:
"2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then Yahweh will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to Yahweh, as in days gone by, as in former years" (Malachi 3:2-4).
But, then, as if to soften the blow, Malachi proclaims: "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:2), a text taken to mean the Messiah whose coming would be announced by the messenger of judgment.

And with Malachi's words, the voice of the prophets fell silent. Not until John the Baptizer appeared on the banks of the Jordan River five hundred years later, would the people of Israel once more have a message from Yahweh: a message that would call them back to God, and prepare the road for the journey home.

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This Advent series pays special attention to this theme of coming home. While we often associate those words with the somewhat romanticized lyrics of "I'll Be Home for Christmas", the depth of the journey home requires a more serious look at "home" in the theology of the Christian story. Each week we will pay closer attention to a pair of biblical characters who are looking for "home" in the sorts of ways Israel was trying at last to come back from exile. This theme is an old one, tracing back to the garden of Eden and the exile from paradise. The whole human race became wanderers and vagabonds, exiled from the presence of God, but in desperate need of homecoming. The writer to the Hebrews tells his readers in the New Testament that the ancient people of God were "looking for a city, whose builder and maker was God" (11:10). And further, the writer of Hebrews tells us:
"13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country-- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:13-16)
They had, so far, not found such a city, but soon, with the arrival of Jesus in human history, home would come to them. This city meant "home", the place where finally they might live forever with God. But try as they might, they could not find such a home in this world.

Bursting onto the pages of the Gospel story, especially Matthew and Luke, is God's great surprise. He is coming home to His people, and to the whole world. But he seeks a home from them as well, a place where He can take up residence and live among them. Just as in the days of ancient Israel, when He chose to place His name and presence in the earthly temple built by Solomon, so now he comes to "tabernacle among us" (see John 1:14 where the word for "live" has this nuanced meaning), that is, make His home among us. The Advent narrative, the Christmas story, essentially means God has taken up residence here, and therefore, we have a home once more, close to God. The words of the Psalmist have come true "Yahweh, you have been our dwelling place (read, "home") throughout all generations" (90:1). With the coming of Advent, the Christian community takes opportunity to reflect on what God's home for them looks like.

This week we examine the lives of two intertwined human beings, Mary and Joseph, snatched from their ordinary lives and taken up into the larger purposes of God. They were God's partners in making a home for God in this world. No accident led early Christians to speak about Mary, Joseph and Jesus as "The Holy Family". In and through their lives, human beings found their way home to God.

Mary: Luke 1:26-56

Annunciation: Gabriel's Announcement to Mary: Please read Luke 1: 26-38
Our journey home begins with an unlikely character, who might have vanished under the shadows of history. We first meet her in a section of Luke's Gospel: 1:26-38, what we might call, "Mary, Act 1". Of importance, Luke does not start his Gospel with her story. Instead, he spends twenty verses at the beginning of chapter 1 narrating the announcement of John the Baptizer's birth to his father, Zechariah. Cast in the language of Malachi and Isaiah, the message from Gabriel literally picks up where Malachi left off. After nearly four hundred years of silence, the word of Yahweh comes to a faithful temple priest who is simply doing his duty in the holy place--on rotation! Quite unexpectedly, this prophecy about the birth of a new prophet brings back online the purposes of God proclaimed throughout the Old Testament. With this announcement, the hope for an end to exile is at hand for Israel. Born to an elderly and barren woman, the promised child would in many ways fulfill the role of ancient figures like Isaac or Samuel. His principal role? Turning Israel back to Yahweh, "he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah…to make ready for Yahweh a people prepared" (Luke 1:16-17; see also Isaiah 40 for further background).

With this stupendous birth announcement as the background, Luke commences his story of Gabriel's next visit, this time to Mary. We pause to remark that "two Gabriel sightings" in one chapter is no coincidence! Gabriel was Daniel's principal connection to the unfolding purposes of God for Israel. When Gabriel reveals his identity to Zechariah, earlier in the chapter, it is as if he is saying, the prophetic plan is back online, and I am here to move it along. Then, for Gabriel to appear to Mary, as to Zechariah, means that they are chosen by God to assist in the fulfillment of salvation history. It's worth noting how he introduced himself to Zechariah:
"I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news" (Luke 1:19).
Gabriel is the bearer of the divine presence and the divine message.

And so he comes to Mary. How is she described to the reader (1:26-27)?
1. Lives in Nazareth, a city of Galilee.
2. A virgin "betrothed" to a man whose name was Joseph of David's house.
3. The virgin's name was Mary.

Placing Mary in Nazareth of Galilee was, to a large degree, to assign her a place on the margins of Jewish society. Galilee itself was nicknamed "of the Goyim [the Gentiles]", indicating the influence of paganism within the northernmost province of Israel. The Romans had a brothel there to service soldiers on leave in that area. Later followers of Jesus would wonder aloud, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth" (John 1:46). Still, God had a habit of choosing the lowly and the unlikely for his purposes. From obscurity, Mary would rise to assume a significant place in the life of Jesus.

Luke chooses the Greek word parthenos to describe Mary. This is the most common word for a woman who has not had sexual relations with a man. Does it have this meaning exclusively? No. It can simply refer to the state of singleness. How do we know its meaning here? Simply from the context, as shall be seen shortly. Her "virginity" is immediately connected by Luke to her marital situation. Luke chooses the word mnesteuomai to express the first stage of a Jewish marriage process. He needs to borrow a Greek word to do this. The actual Hebrew term is 'erusin which refers to the "consent" or "betrothal" stage usually entered into when the girl was between twelve and thirteen years old. This was a formal exchange of consent between witnesses (compare Malachi 2:14). It constituted a legally ratified marriage in our terms, giving the young man rights over the girl. He might legitimately call her "wife", and any compromise of his marital rights could be judged as adultery, even at this stage. However, the wife continued to live at her own family home, commonly for at least a year. Then, at some later time, the formal transfer, the second stage in the process, known in Hebrew as nishu'in, took place when the husband took his wife to the family home where he assumed her support. In Galilee, the law required that she be brought to the family home a virgin, else all of the dreadful punishments for adultery could apply at the husband's insistence. Luke leaves no doubt in the reader's mind that Mary is at the first stage, the 'erusin, and has not yet been taken to Joseph's house.

The name "Mary" is Mariam in Hebrew, comparable to the name of Moses' sister, Miriam. It was a common Jewish name during Second Temple Judaism. The Greek form is "Mariam" or "Maria". Nothing whatever is said about her lineage in this context. However, Luke makes clear that she is betrothed to a man from the house of David, suggesting that the genealogy of Jesus would depend on Joseph's family tree and not hers. We will have more to say about that in our investigation of Joseph's role as described in the Matthew account. Were we pressed to connect Mary to a tribe, it would likely be Levi, since the Levite Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, is called the "kinsman" of Mary in Luke 1:36. Mary's role would confer a different sort of "sonship" on Jesus, and she would leave his connection to David up to Joseph's decision to adopt her future son as his own. But more on that later.

We rely on the words of Gabriel to make sense out of Mary's future role. He says several things to her:
1. Greetings, O favored one (1:28a).
2. Yahweh is with you (1:28b).
"Greetings" is expected in such an address, but "favored one" implies the underlying Hebrew idea of "favor" or "grace", likely rooted in the word hanan also found in the name "Hannah" in 1 Samuel 1 and 2. This would tie the greeting to the announcement of Samuel's birth to Hannah in the Old Testament, taking on a deeper meaning for both Mary and the reader. In other words, this is an epoch-making birth announcement! Coupled with the affirmation of Yahweh's special presence in her life, the annunciation assumes startling proportions, as seen in Mary's response. Whenever ancient figures received a divine visitor, it was usually a source of fear, shock or disturbance. The Greek word for "startled" implies being put out of sorts or "disarranged" by something. She especially "dialogs with herself" about the meaning of the "greeting" (Greek: aspasmos). That is, she can discover no good reason for these "special" words of greeting. She no doubt lived a rather ordinary life up to this point, waiting for the fulfillment of the betrothal and assuming her new role with Joseph.

To such puzzlement, Gabriel replies directly: "You have found favor with God" (1:30), using the Greek word charis, the common word for "grace", derived from the Hebrew idiom found in the Old Testament when God is about to chose someone to do an exceptional task (compare Noah in Genesis 6:9). What then is this exceptional task?
1. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son
2. You will call his name Jesus
Does Gabriel have her attention yet? There are already a host of troubling implications pouring from Gabriel's annunciation to Mary. Shortly, she will start to unpack them. For now, we can only surmise her consternation about the conception and birth, knowing the present stage of her marriage. Still more mysterious (and wonderful) is the identity of her future son. "Jesus" is the Greek form Iesous which roughly transliterates the Hebrew Yeshua, "Yahweh saves". This was, of course, the same name as Moses' successor, Joshua, who delivered Israel from her enemies in Canaan, and brought her into the inheritance of that land. Mary is told she will become the mother of just such a deliverer. But now the plot thickens. Gabriel proceeds to elaborate the role of "Savior", by employing familiar phrases from the Messianic expectations of the prophets:
1. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High
2. Yahweh God will give him the throne of his father David
3. He will be king over the House of Jacob forever
4. There will be no end to his kingdom.

Each of these four affirmations about Jesus belong together. They describe the "son of David" who will once more sit on the promised throne. As we commented in our introduction, the vacancy of David's throne since the exile, has been a lingering and festering problem for Jewish national life. No satisfactory explanation had been offered for this continuing state of affairs. But now Mary is being told that the child she is being asked to conceive and bear fulfills that long-awaiting promise, and, in effect, starts the movement back from exile, and puts Israel once more on its journey home. There can be no home for Israel, until David's son sits on the throne. Yet, mysteriously, Gabriel does not explicitly call him David's son, but rather, "Son of the Most High". That sort of language evokes memories of texts like this one:
"6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of Yahweh Almighty will accomplish this" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Did Mary really understand what it meant for Jesus to be "Son of the Most High", that is, "Son of God"? It's unlikely she gave it the same meaning the Council of Nicea would give it three hundred years later. Nor should we expect her to grasp what John's Gospel tells us about the Word "pre-existing" with God before his incarnation. Nor does Mary necessarily apply the kind of language Paul does to Jesus when he calls him "the image of God, firstborn of all creation", terminology also found in the first chapter of Hebrews. Rather, Mary would have processed these words through the lens of scriptures like Psalm 2 where David writes: "I will proclaim the decree of the Yahweh: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father" (Psalm 2:7). That is, Yahweh proclaims that David has become His son, as His earthly regent and king. Sonship, in ancient Israel, was associated with kingship. The kings of Israel, descendents of David, were accorded this special role. Theirs was the inheritance of Yahweh's blessings and kingdom. They were, in every way, His earthly kingly-sons.

Although Mary had this limited framework to interpret Gabriel's words, she would soon discover that Gabriel intends more than she imagines. Her question reveals her sense of mystery in Gabriel's announcement:
"How will this be since I do not know a man?" We prefer the more literal rendering printed here since it underscores Mary's faithfulness to stage one of her marital contract. Mary and Joseph have not consummated their marriage at stage two, but Mary seems to be saying more than this. "I'm not having sexual relations with any man", she tells Gabriel. Is she merely reporting her consistent virginity, or is she also suggesting her resolve not to violate it, paramount to saying, "I don't do that kind of thing!", implying that she won't do so until the customary next step brings her to Joseph's house? We may not know for certain, but Mary shows resolve in what she says to Gabriel. However, her statement has a degree of perceived urgency, as if the conception will take place before any normal relationship with Joseph takes place during stage two.

Gabriel picks upon her bewilderment, and immediately offers her an explanation, one which stretches her understanding even more.
1. Holy Spirit will come on you.
2. Power of Most High will overshadow you.
3. Therefore, "the holy" being born will be called "son of God".
The language of "Holy Spirit" and "Power of Most High" stand in parallel were these expressions written in Hebrew. Presumably Mary heard them in Hebrew, and would have understood them to be synonymous in meaning: "Holy Spirit, that is, power of Most High, will overshadow you". The Greek word for "overshadow" is episkiazein. When the Hebrew equivalent of this word appears in the Old Testament, it occurs in the context of the Tabernacle, the earthly focus of God's divine glory, His presence among His people. The pillar of cloud was said to cast a shadow (Hebrew: shaken) on the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 40:35; Numbers 9:18, 22), a phenomenon scholars call the "Shekinah Glory", the "overshadowing glory". Various verbs with "shadow" in their roots express Yahweh's presence over: Zion (Isaiah 4:5), the Israelites (Numbers 10:36), Yahweh's chosen ones (Deuteronomy 33:12; Psalm 91:4) and the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:20; 1 Chronicles 28:18).

The notion of the Spirit "hovering over" the formless world at Creation (Genesis 1:1-2) adds the dimension of God's creative power. Psalm 104:30 speaks of Yahweh sending His Spirit (Hebrew: ruah) and things are created, and the face of the earth is renewed. The Spirit creates and gives life, as seen in such passages as Ezekiel 37:14, Job 27:3, and 33:4).

What do we make of these Old Testament "shadow" references in relationship to the Holy Spirit "overshadowing" Mary? We can only assume that the divine presence overshadows her and is responsible for the creation of the child within her. It is not an exaggeration to say that Mary becomes a "sanctuary" for the arrival of Yahweh's presence. Not to the earthly Temple, but to Mary's womb the divine presence comes and creatively conceives the child she will bear. Her body is to be the "temple of the Holy Spirit" for the explicit purpose of being the "home" for God's Son.

But further, we see evidence from texts like this one, that Mary, as "the Daughter of Zion", comes to represent Israel as the place where God makes His journey home:
14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! 15 Yahweh has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. Yahweh, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. 16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 17 Yahweh your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:14-17).

10 Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares Yahweh. 11 "Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that Yahweh Almighty has sent me to you (Zechariah 2:10-11).
These verses parallel to a large extent the ideas found in Luke 1:28, 30, and 31. We might accurately affirm that Mary embodies the ideal "Daughter of Zion" over whom the Holy Spirit spreads the divine presence for the purpose of bringing forth the divine Son. We find other references to "the Daughter of Zion" in 2 Kings 19:21, Psalm 9:14, and numerously elsewhere. Of particular interest is this text from Isaiah:
"11 Yahweh has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.'" 12 They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted" (Isaiah 62:11-12).

Each of these texts make the connection between the presence of Yahweh, the Daughter of Zion, and the idea that God comes to make His home with His people. Gabriel's address to Mary, the way he explains what is about to happen to her, and the description of Jesus as "the holy", all point to this same idea. Yahweh is raising up a new Temple, and Mary's role in the conception and birth of God's Son contributes to the fulfillment of that promise.

To strengthen Mary's faith, and, we believe, to encourage her to visit her relative Elizabeth, Gabriel tells the young woman about the conception of John the Baptizer, even though Elizabeth is advanced in years. He makes the point that Elizabeth is "barren", much the same way Mary has acknowledged that she herself is a "virgin". Both barrenness and virginity are human obstacles to the conception and birth of a child. Both require the creative "overshadowing of the Holy Spirit". And to affirm the certainty that these sorts of things can happen, Gabriel adds: "For nothing shall be impossible with God". Mary would recognize the similarity in language to this Old Testament passage, in which God's messengers told Abraham his aged wife would bear him a son: "Is anything too hard for the Yahweh?" (Genesis 18:14), a maxim also echoed in Job 42:2 and Zechariah 8:6. The close association of both Mary and Elizabeth's conceptions with Abraham and Sarah only underscore the "covenantal" nature of what's about to happen. Even as the original covenant with Abraham received enormous vindication in the conception of Isaac, so also the new covenant begins with a divinely arranged pair of births. One could say that they are "signs" that God is about to do a new thing in the world.

Gabriel's annunciation to Mary climaxes with Mary's acquiescence in the divine plan. To demonstrate her faithful acceptance, Mary says several things:
1. I am the handmaiden of Yahweh.
2. Let it be to me according to your word.

In her role as "handmaiden", the feminine form of the word for "servant", Mary submits to the will and purpose of God. Her words are similar to those of Hannah in the Old Testament who asked for a son from Yahweh so that she might give him back to Yahweh for His service in the Tabernacle (1 Samuel 1:11). According to the prophecy of Joel (2:28-29) the Spirit of God "in the last days" would fall on female servants at a time when God would bring deliverance to Zion. Mary certainly qualifies for this role. But more significantly, she demonstrates acceptance by saying, simply, "Let it be to me according to your word". The Greek verb is a special form of ginomai, known as the optative, and expresses a degree of enthusiasm and intensity, if not urgency. Mary wants this to happen, and tells Gabriel she is ready without reservation.

Visitation: Mary's Journey to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56)
When Gabriel informs Mary of Elizabeth's conception of a child in her old age, he motivates her to travel from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea to spend time with her venerable relative. We are not quite sure of the exact relationship of these two women. Some sources suggest "cousin", but nothing in the text requires this interpretation. Gabriel calls her "your suggenis", meaning a person who shares a common family or descent. Clearly, there is more in their relationship than a congenital connection, for Elizabeth assumes the role of a true mentor to Mary, while affirming the warmth and fidelity of strong family ties. The trip of Mary to the house of Elizabeth is also a journey home. Making the journey would have been an ordeal in itself. Requiring several days, the journey took Mary from the Galilean hills south across the plain of Esdraelon, through the mountains of Samaria, into the Judean hills. She became in the truest sense a pilgrim in pursuit of the divine purpose, and somehow she knew Elizabeth was a critical element in her quest for understanding and faith.

What does she encounter upon her arrival? Elizabeth, Luke tells us, has an epiphany of sorts, herself the vessel for the Holy Spirit who quickens the movements of the unborn John. Elizabeth and Mary are bound together by the Holy Spirit in notable ways. This "filling" of Elizabeth with the Spirit (1:41) enables her to speak, a common way of describing the prophetic gift in the Old Testament (see Genesis 41:38, Numbers 11:25-29, and elsewhere). Elizabeth's inspired words are every bit as authoritative for Mary as were those of Gabriel. But the difference is significant. Elizabeth speaks as one who has also experienced the miracle of conception through the power of God, and, for six months, has grappled with its meaning and purpose in her own life. God has prepared her for her special role in Mary's life, as she now gives God's word to His "handmaiden":
1. Blessed are you among women.
2. Blessed is the fruit of your womb.
3. Why would the mother of my Lord come to me?
Merely your greeting to me caused my baby to leap for joy.
4. Blessed is the one who believes Yahweh will fulfill His word to her.

Through these inspired words, Elizabeth acknowledges Mary's unique role. The idea of being "blessed" comes from the covenant language of the Old Testament. Mary has, Elizabeth confirms, a special covenant relationship to God, due to the child she bears. We may be certain from the details of Elizabeth's words that Mary has conceived. The "fruit of her womb" is, in fact, now blessed. Jesus is called Elizabeth's "Lord" and Mary is already called his "mother". Speaking these words to Mary, Elizabeth intends to strengthen her faith. The leaping of John in her womb is a sign to Elizabeth, and, by reporting it to her, becomes a sign to Mary. Not only is Elizabeth acknowledging Jesus as Lord, so is her unborn child as he "leaps for joy", a common form of worship in the Old Testament. And to assure Mary that the word of God will be fulfilled, she adds the last statement, "Blessed is the one who believes". We must not fail to see "what" Mary believes: Yahweh's word to her. A later scripture will echo this connection: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Even as Elizabeth's child leaps at Mary's arrival, so faith "leaps" into existence when Mary encounters the word of the Lord spoken through Elizabeth. And how do we know this faith truly sprang to life?

Faith finds its voice through the joy of song. In what has been termed "The Magnificat", based on the Latin for "it magnifies", the following several verses (Luke 1:46-55) are literally, a Psalm of Thanksgiving. Carefully arranged into sections, the poem contains numerous references to Old Testament expressions of gratitude to God. The following analysis, following the scholarship of Raymond Brown, shows how the hymn grew out of Mary's deep acquaintance with the Old Testament scriptures, but also how she incorporated them into her new experience of conceiving the Lord Jesus.

Introductory Praise (1:46-47)
Background: Psalm 35:9; 1 Samuel 2:1-2; Habakkuk 3:18

First Strophe (or Stanza) (1:48-50)
Background: 1 Samuel 1:11; Genesis 29:32; Genesis 30:13; Zephaniah 3:17; Psalm 111:9; 103:17

Second Strophe (or Stanza) (1:51-53)
Background: 1 Samuel 2:7-8; Psalm 89:10; Job 12:19; Ezekiel 21:26; Psalm 107:9

Conclusion (1:54-55)
Background: Isaiah 41:8-9; Psalm 98:3; Micah 7:20; 2 Samuel 22:51

We will not present an analysis of the poem in these notes, but would encourage the reader to prayerfully read its words, and, time permitting, look up the Old Testament texts supplying its rich background.
• Observe how Mary begins with the praise of God, honoring his attributes (unique qualities), and only after giving Him adoration, does she commence her thanksgiving for the specific things He has accomplished for her.
• See how even in her declarations of thanksgiving, she continually draws attention to the greatness of God, mentioning his holiness, mercy, strength, and faithfulness.
• She reflects on how Yahweh makes good on His promises to the Old Testament patriarchs. Now it is the same for her, and just as God remembered His mercy to Abraham, he will do so for Mary. In and through the singing of this Psalm, Mary reaches a deeper level of faith, trusting that God will, indeed, cause her to become "the mother of my Lord', as Elizabeth testified in her own canticle of joy.
• The journey home was, for Mary, the journey of faith in God's fulfilled promises.
• Mary "remained" with Elizabeth for three months (1:56), no doubt nurtured by her familial mentor, her "mother" in the faith. All the while the infant Jesus takes shape within her, a source of joy for two women of growing faith.

Before leaving Mary's Magnificat, we should notice how much music fills Luke's narratives of the nativity. A cursory reading of Luke 1-2 reveals no less than five hymns or hymn fragments. Under what circumstances does Israel burst forth in song? Considering what we read in Psalm 137: Israel is in Babylonian exile, and has "hung up" her harps, mourning the loss of her home, and unable "to sing the songs of Zion in a strange land." But all of that has changed. Luke's stories are full of song--joyful song! Elizabeth and Mary join their voices in united expressions of praise to God. The ancient scriptures suddenly take on new life as the breath of the Holy Spirit overshadows the "virgin daughter of Zion", bringing to conception the promised Savior. That's what happens when God's people come home, and when God makes His home among them: "My soul magnifies Yahweh," Mary sings, "and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (1:47). Ancient Israel, at certain times throughout the year, celebrated what were called "pilgrim festivals". These sacred holidays brought the people together to Jerusalem, Mount Zion, where they might experience the presence of Yahweh. Coming from all over Israel, the journey took them "up to the Temple (or Tabernacle in earlier times)". During these "ascents" up the hillside, they would join in singing Psalms (called "Psalms of Ascent"), for they were coming home to Zion. In similar ways, the music in Luke marks a new stage of God's pilgrim people on their journey home.

Joseph
Some Family History: Read Matthew 1:1-17
Newcomers to the Bible sometimes begin reading the New Testament with Matthew 1, and they are at once confronted by a length family tree or "genealogy". Actually, Matthew softens the blow somewhat by his introductory summary: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1). The dual sonship underscored by Matthew points to both the kingly-royal status of Jesus, as well as his more ancient connection to the formative covenant of Yahweh with Abraham. Jesus is, Matthew seems to be telling us, son of a king and son of a promise. Of course, we must not miss the other implication of being a "son of Abraham": in some sense Jesus was a great deal like Isaac, Abraham's son of promise, conceived by Sarah when both parents were too old to have children. This Jesus=Isaac comparison would not have been lost on a Jewish audience, such as Matthew's readers. In some ways, our writer prepares us for what he will soon explain: the birth of Jesus had some irregular features about it! A child born to Abraham arrives through extraordinary means, and in this sense, Jesus is genuinely Abraham's son.

Genealogies within the Hebrew tradition could be of two different types: descending or ascending. What's the difference?
1. Descending genealogies start from an earlier generation and work forward in time, often inserting comments on particular generations or persons who were born along the way. Matthew presents this form of the genealogy, and he does make comments, as we will see shortly.
2. Ascending genealogies start from a later generation, usually the most recent one, and then work backwards in time, usually without comment. The psychology of such an approach is to focus attention on where we finally end up in the past; that is, from whom do we ultimately descend? The reader is kept waiting until the final, earliest generation is listed. Luke presents this form of genealogy (Luke 3:23-38), and ends his list with the simple phrase "who was the son of God", which, of course, is precisely the affirmation he wants to make about Jesus' ultimate origin.

To be "at home" within Jewish understanding was not just to live in a dwelling at a certain place. Rather it was to belong to the people of God who had a shared history, a history that could be traced into the distant path by consulting the sacred scriptures, as well as other traditions, oral or written. Israel had a strong sense of national identity which stretched backward to Abraham, the "father of many peoples". One powerful covenant, renewed in fresh ways throughout its history, bound together this people. "Home" was to be among the people of God, living in the presence of God who spread His glory over them (recall the language Gabriel used with Mary). For this, and other reasons, genealogies were not just boring lists of names in the form "so-and-so begat so-and-so". Instead, they preserved this continuous identity and served to remind Israel how Yahweh had preserved her through time.

Matthew does not start his Gospel with the announcement to Joseph, but reserves that story until after he has made clear the family connections which bound Jesus to his "roots" in covenant history. Nor does Matthew mechanically collect a list of names and spew them on the opening page of his work. In 1:17, he draws attention to his stylized and artistic arrangement of the family tree he transcribes:
1. Abraham to David: 14 generations
2. David to the Babylonian exile: 14 generations
3. Babylonian exile to Christ: 14 generations
So what's Matthew up to here? It's likely that he relied on family trees, perhaps two of them, already known. We discover such lists in Ruth 4:18-22 and 1 Chronicles 2:5ff. To be sure, he adjusted them, adapting their contents for his special purpose. He adds the names of some women (we will discuss this momentarily), and makes sure there is numerical symmetry when he's all done. Consequentially we may safely say that the structure is artificial (that's not a bad thing), while the contents are historical. Why does Matthew insist on the numerical pattern of 3 x 4? Many clever explanations have arisen in 2000 years of biblical scholarship, and we don't intend to widen the speculation in these notes. Some Jewish writers followed the practice of "gematria", uncovering numeric value combinations in biblical words and then drawing out from them some deeper meaning of the text. There's plenty of this done in the Talmud and the Midrash. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet was assigned a numerical value, and then some significance was read "out of" (or "into"!) that number. Do we have gematria in Matthew 1? Without stretching our imagination too much, we find the name "David", in Hebrew, encoded with the number fourteen, a result consistent with Matthew's opening verse that Jesus is "son of David". Matthew seems to be telling his readers: "The Messianic plan was God's conception from the very beginning, and the way history has unfolded right up to the arrival of Jesus Christ, was not an accident, as one can easily see from the symmetry of the generations, and the connection to David's name."

Three distinct epochs of Hebrew history also parallel the normal motions of the moon, Professor Kaplan suggests in a 1930 article from Bibliotheca Sacra: Fourteen days the moon waxes (that is, grows full); fourteen days the moon wanes (that is, grows fractional); fourteen more days and it waxes again. Such symmetry, Kaplan believes may also be intended by Matthew, since the Jewish calendar is lunar, not solar. Matthew's message, then, is clear: Israel's history reached a climax from Abraham to David, it's truly golden years. But tragically, from David onward, national life slipped precipitously toward exile and the loss of home. Yet now, Matthew joyfully declares, "a full moon" is coming, the "son of David" and "son of Abraham" the two great personages who "bracketed" this golden age. "We are due," Matthew informs his readers, "for another golden age. The time is right, for the fourteenth generation since the exile arrives with Jesus." Without reading too much into the text, and understanding how the Jewish mind thought about such symmetries, we seem to be on solid ground here with these explanations.

So then, we might ask with Professor Raymond Brown, "Why bring on the ladies?" Punctuating his genealogy, Matthew drops in these names: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. Numerous theories have tried to explain the reasoning behind their inclusion. We won't examine all the options, but suggest one with the widest consensus. In Brown's words:
(a) there is something extraordinary or irregular in their union with their partners--a union which, though it may have been scandalous to outsiders, continued the blessed lineage of the Messiah; (b) the women showed initiative or played an important role in God's plan and so came to be considered the instrument of God's providence or of His Holy Spirit (Brown, Birth, p.73)
Through the unexpected, God used these women to triumph over human barriers with a view to bringing the Messiah into the world. Scandal and irregular union: these are the features in Matthew's choice of the four women. By placing them where he does, Matthew prepares the reader for Mary's arrival in the most recent episode of salvation's drama. And to that part of the narrative we now turn.

The Annunciation to Joseph: Read Matthew 1:18-25
On all the major points, Matthew's account agrees with Luke's. Joseph and Mary are in their stage one betrothal period, and had not yet "come together" (1:18) in stage two. Before any angel visits him, Joseph discovers that Mary is with child, and has already made up his mind what he will do. Matthew makes clear to the reader that the child is "through the Holy Spirit", thus ruling out our suspicion that Mary has been unfaithful. But Joseph does not know this.

What he does know is that, all else being equal, this is a Torah violation which warranted a Torah sanction. But what will he do? And how will he do it? Matthew conveys to the reader Joseph's character: "an upright man" (Greek: dikaios, the common term for "righteous" or "just"). Because he was dikaois, Matthew tells us, he knew he had to do something to fulfill the Torah requirements. So what part of Torah is in play here? Consider:
20 If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, 21 she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you (Deuteronomy 22:20-21).
This was a case of a young woman who reaches stage two, having gone home with her betrothed husband, but he discovers that she is not a virgin. Torah required stoning to death, although some later interpretations suggested divorce was intended. This seems to be the case with Joseph. He chooses not to expose her to a public humiliation and "symbolic stoning", but opts for a secret divorce instead. His decision to do something shows he was "just, upright" vis-à-vis Torah. His decision to do it quietly (Greek: lathra, related to the verb lanthano, conveying the idea of "secretly, with stealth, undetected, unknown") shows he was merciful. Possessing both of these qualities together enhanced one's ethical stature, more so, than having either one of them alone.

But how would Joseph do this secretly? Every divorce required a written document before two witnesses, according to Jewish practice, and the rabbis confirm this. Even if he suppressed her situation short-term, in the long run her shame would be exposed. Why else would Joseph have divorced her if not for adultery? We have a better perspective when he read about the Old Testament "trial by ordeal", used to "flush out" the covert adulteress. Numbers 5:11-31 provides the details, and each of them is quite public in nature! Joseph has chosen (as was his right) to forego these indignities to Mary. Though he may have believed she was guilty of adultery, he could, under Pharisee law of the "Hillel" variety, offer lesser grounds for divorce which were available under Torah (he was not "pleased with her", for example). Scholars suggest that a quiet divorce is, in fact in this case, a lenient one.

The Lord's angel does not allow these "plans" to reach fruition, no matter how well-conceived Joseph made them. The angel is not named, as it was in Luke. Was this Gabriel? We are not told, though tempted to allow Luke's visitation to Mary to influence our view. Mary's visitation was not called a dream, whereas Joseph's is so designated. Readers familiar with the Old Testament easily draw parallels with a much older Joseph who was also "a dreamer", and whose dreams guided not only his own life, but a whole nation through a famine. The word for dream (Greek: kat' onar, "in a dream") occurs five times in Matthew's infancy narrative, including 2:12 and 2:22.

Addressing him as "son of David", the angel assuages Joseph's fear. Matthew uses a verb form here implying "do not hold back out of fear". He encourages Joseph to move ahead immediately with stage two, using the Greek word paralambanein to express the notion of taking Mary into his home. Once more we see the journey home imagery: Mary, the mother of Jesus, will now have a home because Joseph has been obedient to the angel's words. The Matthew-Luke connection is irresistible:

Mary makes her womb a home for God's son; Elizabeth opens her home for Mary's spiritual nurture; now Joseph brings Mary to his home. All of which fulfills God's larger purpose, namely, that He would make His home with the human race in the person of Jesus, His Son.

And Joseph is assured that no unfaithfulness led to Mary's pregnancy. "Holy Spirit" is the agent of "what was begotten" (that is the literal rendering of the Greek, gennethen). Nothing is said about a god-human sexual union, something wholly foreign to Jewish thought, although common within pagan legends. Put simply, as in Luke, God does not have sex with Mary in any sense of that union. What happens to Mary is simply the creative work of the Holy Spirit, whose supernatural methods far exceed anything we could theorize about the biology of the event.

Moreover, Joseph is now entrusted with the sacred task of "naming" this child, "a son". The angel is asking Joseph to assume not only responsibility for Mary by taking her home, he is also asking Joseph to "acknowledge the child" as "his son" by giving him the name "Jesus". The act of "naming" is both a sign of ownership and responsibility in the ancient world. In a real sense, Jesus becomes "son of David" by being acknowledged by Joseph whom the angel has already called "son of David"! Such "adoption" of the child of another was accepted legal practice within Judaism, and conferred on the child all of the legal rights and privileges held by the adopting father. Recall the opening verse of chapter 1: "son of David", "son of Abraham". Through Joseph's faithful and righteous obedience, Jesus becomes, legally, "son of David". Through the "begetting" of the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes son of the promise, son of Abraham, and as such, he reveals himself as God's Son.

The name "Jesus" (see comments on the Luke passage above) contains within it the notion that "Yahweh saves" or "Yahweh helps". To whom does this salvation extend? "His people", the angel says. And if the readers wonder "Who are these people?", a simple re-reading of the genealogy will remind them. Jews? Of course! Gentiles? They are there as well! Remember the "ladies in the list"! Save His people from what? "Their sins". This is no small promise. As we have noted in our introductory discussions, the prophets of Israel knew full well that the sorry state of the nation was due to its long and unrepentant sins--the kind of sins for which Daniel sought forgiveness. Why does Israel "mourn in lonely exile here"? Is it not because "your sins have separated between you and your God" (see Isaiah 59:2). This is why Israel has not truly "come home", and why God seems distant and has not made His home among them once again. But with the joyful announcement of Messiah's name, Yeshua, the optimism for lifting sins judgment has finally arrived. For if the sins can be atoned and forgiven, God's people can be set free and at last make their journey home. The exile will have ended at last.

Dreams aren't enough for Matthew. As Dickens once wrote in his Christmas Carol, such visions can be due to "a bit of bad beef". No, Matthew needs Scripture, as he often does, to back up his enormous claim, both about the birth and the child. And so, he picks his text from Isaiah 7:14:
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."
All of the elements from the angel's announcement to Joseph are here, as the underscored words show.
• We will not enter the debate over the Hebrew meaning of "virgin" (from almah="young woman", rather than from betula="virgin"). What we do know is that when Matthew quotes the Isaiah passage, he follows the Septugaint (abbreviated, LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made by Jews two hundred years or so before Jesus was born). And in the LXX, the word alma is translated with parthenos, the common Greek word for "virgin".
• Nor will we spend much time discussing the fact that when Isaiah first wrote Isaiah 7, the context for 7:14, he did in fact understand it to apply to events happening in his own time. Only later, do seekers for the Messiah begin to draw connections between this text and the Coming One. Matthew was no exception, and was perfectly satisfied finding all the elements he discovers in the angel's announcement to Joseph.

What about the name "Immanuel" found in Isaiah, instead of "Jesus". First, we need to pay attention to the word "they"--"they shall call his name Immanuel". This would seem to rule out the use of the word for a proper name. After all Joseph and Mary have both been instructed in the same "personal name": "Jesus". What's surprising is the remarkable connection between "Immanuel" and the idea that God has finally "come home" to His people. The Hebrew word is compounded of immanu with el, literally meaning, " with us--God". When God comes to be "with His people", then they have come back from exile, and are at last "at home with Him". The world has become the place where God has made His home, and He does it through the arrival of Jesus, born of a virgin.

If Joseph was "upright" in his leniency toward Mary (at least in his thoughts), he vindicates his righteousness in three additional ways:
"24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus" (Matthew 1:24-25).
1. He takes Mary home as his wife ("stage two"). This shows his faith in the angel's explanation of Mary's pregnancy, that it is not an indication of her unfaithfulness, but rather the creative work of the Holy Spirit.
2. He refrains from sexual union with her during Jesus' gestation. This shows his honor of Mary's body as the chosen vessel to bring Jesus into the world. Much has been made of the word "until". Does this imply he might later have normal marital relations with Mary? Scholars are divided. Some of the discussion rests with later passages in Matthew, such as 12:46-50 and 13:55-56 which refer to Jesus' brothers and sisters. Again, scholars are divided: are these actual siblings, born of Mary, begotten by Joseph? Or are they cousins? Or children from a previous marriage of Joseph? Such questions fuel controversies between the different communions of Christianity. Matthew does not show interest in clarifying these matters, perhaps, because the answers were common knowledge, or, better, because they had no bearing on his emphasis in the Gospel. The Greek word "until" is heos with two sets of meanings: 1) "until, till, for a time", or 2) "while, so long as". If we were to follow the second meaning, our text would read: "and he did not know her while she carried a son, and he called his name Jesus". That is, at no time during the pregnancy did he violate her virginity, but nothing is implied about what took place afterward if we follow this translation. If we claim that he did have marital relations with her afterward, it would need to be argued on other grounds, not those resting on the translation of one conjunction! Matthew's concern, it seems to us, is with showing there can be no doubt that Mary carried Jesus to term, not ever having slept with a man, a fact which we already witnessed in Luke's account.
3. He gave him the God-chosen name, Jesus. The verbs in Matthew 1:25 are past tense:
a. "Did not know (in the marital sense)" is in the imperfect tense, normally suggesting action that is repeating in the past.
b. "She brought forth (or bore)" is in the aorist tense, normally suggesting action that happened during a definite time.
c. "He called" is in the aorist tense, as above.
Are these "past tense" verbs implying things which happened before Matthew tells us the rest of the story in chapter 2? Or are they simply used "historically", telling us how things would, in fact, turn out, and thus become a part of past-tense history? These are all good questions to ponder.

We pause, before our last section, to consider Matthew and Luke juxtaposed. Luke narrates the "overshadowing" of Mary by the Holy Spirit, and then further relates how Elizabeth, in her own home, nurtured Mary. From Matthew's perspective, Joseph has a similar role to play. Faced with exposing an errant bride-to-be during the first stage of their marriage process, he chooses to protect her from public shame, and when he finally knows the truth, he further acknowledges her son as his own, and takes her into his home. Mary appears in both accounts as God's chosen who comes under the covenant of God and His people. She is, as we observed earlier, the "Daughter of Zion", sign and instrument for bringing God's holy child into the world. We are reminded of the Song of Solomon in which the female beloved sings, "He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner (Hebrew: degel) over me is love" (Song of Solomon 2:4). Yahweh will protect and keep His "daughter" blessed through her obedient bearing of the Christ child. At each stage of the journey, the Lord made her truly at home with His purposes.

To Egypt and Back: Read Matthew 2:13-23
For our last reading, we lay aside (for another study) the first section of Matthew 2 which tells the story of the Magi, and take up the narrative with the events following the departure of the Magi "by another way". As the reader recalls from frequent tellings of the Christmas story, Herod the Great would attempt to trick the Eastern Magi into revealing the location of the would-be "king of the Jews". Paranoid beyond belief, Herod assumes the worst, no doubt, as he did at other times in his stormy regal life. Calculating the age of the "Messiah" to be at most two years, he orders the execution of all infants in the vicinity of Bethlehem within that age range. The painful story is recorded in 2:16-17, along with a fulfillment text from Jeremiah 31:15. There, Jeremiah writes about the exile to Babylon, but does so by comparing it to Rachel weeping over her children going down to Egypt many generations before (see Genesis 37:28; 42:15). As we have argued consistently throughout our notes, exile, and the idea of "being away from home", figure large in the background to the Advent of Jesus. But here, in Matthew's own account, that image grows exceedingly large. Death, lament, and dirge surround the text, as we imagine Herod's minions wielding swords, like Pharoah when Moses was a baby in Egypt, killing the infants, two years and younger. Old Testament themes flow together in these verses: Egypt, exile, and exodus--each with its own particular mental associations in the history of Israel.

Why does Matthew bother with this narrative? We think it is because he wants to show us that Jesus, Joseph and Mary are all caught up in the painful drama of the exile, even to the point of becoming fugitives from Herod, seeking refuge in, of all places, Egypt! There are not many good associations between Israel and Egypt in the Old Testament. Two incidents stand out with brilliance.
1. Joseph, sold by his brothers to Midianite traders, ends up in Egypt, eventually as vizier to the Pharaoh's court. Because of his privileged status, and the simple fact that "Yahweh was with him" (refer to previous notes on "Joseph" in our Real Heroes series, available on the church website), Joseph's seemingly tragic life takes a providential turn. Once the victim, Joseph becomes the "savior" of Egypt, and, in time, of his own family, helping ease the effects of a devastating famine. Isn't it interesting that Matthew tells us of "another Joseph", the one who was courageous enough to acknowledge Jesus as his legal son, who spares that son the horrors of Herod's sword by taking him, of all places, to Egypt!
2. Moses, born into slavery, is threatened by Pharaoh's edict to kill the male Hebrew children. But, through the ironic rescue by Pharaoh's own daughter, Moses is spared, and raised as prince of Egypt, only later to become a refugee in the deserts of Midian. Not to be sidelined by the cruelty of fate, Moses is called by God to "return to Egypt" and become the instrument for the liberation of God's people, bringing them out of exile and to the land of promise, the journey home.

Therefore, when Matthew quotes Hosea 11:11, "Out of Egypt I have called my son", and applies the text to Jesus, he is by no means "overreaching" in his interpretation of this Old Testament text. For, in fact, Jesus came into the world to share the painful history of Israel, living in exile, occupied by pagans, ruled by tyrants like Herod, and, in this instance, driven out of Israel to Egypt, the great symbol of captivity and of being "away from home". Yet--and this is Matthew's huge point--in and through the "Flight to Egypt", Jesus once more fully lives out the life of Israel in order that he might save Israel from her sins. Oh, it is true, that Jesus escaped death in this case. But woven into the fabric of Matthew's story is a plain implication: suffering is coming and death is coming, even for the Messiah. For Jesus, it was Egypt today, but the Cross tomorrow. One day the women of Jerusalem would "weep" for Jesus, as he made his way up the via dolorosa, the way of weeping, and lay down his life as humankind's savior. Like Joseph and Moses in Egypt, Jesus would trace and re-trace Israel's national history, relive his own genealogy in all of its tortuous detail: waxing and waning, but finally waxing again in resurrection life. From the exile of death Jesus would finally emerge, victor over death and the grave, Lord of the world, and maker of His Father's new home.

These, then, are the great themes of exile and the journey home, told against the rich background of Israel's ancient scriptures, but now read with fresh vision as part of the wonderful Advent story. "Rise", says the angel once more to Joseph (Matthew 2:20). That's encouraging language for a family without a home. "Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel". Ah, going home at last! And to Israel they went, not returning to Bethlehem, their two-year home in Judea, no doubt near relatives like Elizabeth and Zechariah. But to Nazareth they travel instead, in the district of Galilee. Matthew says they "withdrew" to that place (2:22). The Greek word, anachoreo, has a military connotation among its various meanings, as in, "fall back". Two things nudge Joseph to his "fall back" position: 1) hearing that Herod's son rules Judea, where they had been staying, and, 2) a dream, something we have witnessed before in Matthew's telling of his story. Notice the two-fold witness confirming God's will for Joseph and his family. The "fall back" sense of this Greek verb also suggests that Nazareth was a familiar and stable place for the holy family to put down roots. Although Matthew does not mention Nazareth in conjunction with Mary's home, Luke certainly does, and knowing both traditions we ought to be free to connect the dots.

In vivid and elegant ways, Matthew and Luke paint the canvas with Jesus' nativity and its preparation. Always aware of the Old Testament expectations, but grounded in the harsh reality of the present exile, each writer tells the Gospel story of the Creator God who refuses to abandon His people or leave them homeless. Sending His heavenly messengers, as He often did in ancient times, this same God touches the lives of Mary and Joseph, transforming them from solitary persons on the margins of history into instruments for bringing back from exile the captive people of God. Each, in their own way, makes the journey home. Each discovers that God wants to make His home among them. Guided by the certain truths of sacred scripture, and grounded in a faith nurtured by godly women like Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph come to symbolize for us how we too may arrive under the shadow of God's everlasting home. Perhaps for such persons the Psalm was written:
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust" (Psalm 91:1-2).

And written, to be sure, for us as well. To God Be the Glory! Amen!

Digger Deeper: Journey Home: Mary and Joseph
(Bob Brown)

To gain a deeper understanding of Journey Home: Mary and Joseph, carefully read the selected passages below. To aid you in your study, we invite you to visit the website http://notes.chicagofirstnaz.org, or pick up a copy of the notes at the Connect desk, or from your ABF leader. Now consider the following questions, as you ask the Lord to teach you.

1. As background to your study, read Psalm 137:1-5 and Daniel 9:15-19. What national crisis do you discover within these two passages. What messenger does God send to Daniel? Is he a familiar figure in the Advent story?
2. According to Malachi 3:1 and 4:2-4 what did God promise to do one day for His people?
3. Carefully read Hebrews 11:13-16. What theme, taken from Israel's story, does the writer of Hebrews emphasize?
4. The annunciation to Mary is narrated in Luke 1:26-38.
a. What are we told about Mary?
b. Who appears to her? Why might this be significant? (refer to #1 above).
c. What is the message that he brings?
d. What parts of the message might have been startling to her? What does she question?
e. How does the messenger assuage her fears?
f. What is her eventual response?
5. The visitation of Mary to Elizabeth is described in Luke 1:39-56.
a. Why does Mary travel the difficult journey to visit Elizabeth?
b. How does Elizabeth greet her? Why is this greeting significant?
c. Study the use of the word "blessed" by Elizabeth. What ideas does this word emphasize?
d. Why is the movement of Elizabeth's baby important in the story?
e. When Mary sings her Magnificat, she reveals her spiritual priorities. What are they?
f. In what sense is Mary "at home" with Elizabeth?
6. The annunciation to Joseph is told by Matthew in 1:18-25.
a. Before Matthew tells this part of his story, what does he do in 1:1-17? What features of this passage stand out? How do they prepare the reader for 1:18-25?
b. Do a brief character study of Joseph based on information found here.
c. How does the angel change Joseph's perspective?
d. At the end of the passage what does Joseph finally do? What does he give to Mary?
7. The Flight to Egypt and the Return is recorded in Matthew 2:13-23
a. What associations does Egypt have in the Bible?
b. Why does Joseph take Mary and Jesus to that country?
c. How is their "exodus" from Egypt significant?
d. Where does Joseph take his family eventually? How is this action consistent with themes we have seen throughout this study?
8. Write a few sentences on the topic: "Mary and Joseph: The Journey Home"