Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-december-22-2023
Matthew 1:18-25
The Birth of Jesus Christ
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered 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 home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name 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 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means “God with us.”
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.
We’ve said in the past that New Testament scholars understand that Matthew compiled his gospel to tell the story of Jesus to a Jewish audience. So it should probably come as no surprise that the Gospel of Matthew is the one that tells the story of the birth of Jesus from Joseph’s perspective. In a patriarchal culture, it would make sense to tell the story from the father’s perspective. And that would be especially true in this case, since it was through Joseph that Jesus was connected to the line of David, and it had been foretold that the Messiah would be born into the House of David.
It seems to me that this passage we’re thinking about today shows us a changing understanding of the meaning of ‘righteousness.’
In the ancient Hebrew world, righteousness was understood as strict obedience to the laws of Moses, and insistence that others be obedient, too. So from that perspective, the Pharisees would have been considered very righteous men – they represented the Hebrew ideal of righteousness. You might remember that what the Pharisees objected to most about Jesus was that he accepted and befriended people who did not meet that traditional standard of righteousness – people like prostitutes and tax collectors.
According to that traditional understanding of righteousness, Joseph would have had the right – maybe even the responsibility – to insist that his pregnant fiancée be publicly shamed. Infidelity during engagement was regarded as adultery just like infidelity in marriage. In some very traditional areas, Joseph could have demanded that Mary be stoned. But even in more progressive areas, it would be more common to send a pregnant fiancée back to her family in disgrace. After that, no respectable Jewish man would be willing to marry her. Mary would have lived a lonely and single life in her parents’ home, or be married off in desperation to any man who would have her. That could have been Mary’s lot under the traditional Hebrew vision of righteousness.
But in Matthew’s account, Joseph personified a very different understanding of righteousness. We’re told that Joseph resolved to end the engagement quietly and in a way that would not subject Mary to public disgrace. Instead of putting it all on Mary, that would have meant that Joseph himself would have shared in the embarrassment surrounding the end of the engagement. So Joseph’s decision to put Mary away quietly would have been a self-sacrificial act.
Joseph’s vision of righteousness wasn’t based on strict observance of the laws of Moses. Instead, Joseph’s vision of righteousness included extending forgiveness – even to someone who might have sinned against him in a very painful way. Joseph’s righteousness included a generous measure of compassion, even under difficult circumstances.
And it’s important to notice that Joseph decided to extend that compassion before an angel approached him in a dream – before he learned the circumstances of Mary’s pregnancy.
And the angel God sent called on Joseph to extend even more compassion and forbearance – to take Mary home as his wife. And Joseph obediently played his part in the story just as Mary obediently played hers. Joseph is sometimes said to get no respect in the story of Jesus’ birth, but clearly he deserves some.
These two visions of righteousness still come into conflict among people of faith. Some Christians still understand a righteous life to be one that’s lived in strict obedience to the laws and ordinances in the Bible – including those in the Old Testament. And Jesus taught his followers to strive to live according to those laws. But he also communicated a vision of righteousness like his earthly father’s – one that extended grace and forgiveness to sinners. In fact, Jesus said it was for people like them that he had come into the world.
So when you hear people engaged in disputes about what constitutes a righteous life, think about the role of Joseph in the story of Jesus’ birth, and ask yourself what side of the dispute comes closest to the vision of righteousness that Joseph – and Jesus – would have embraced.
Let’s pray. Lord, by the working of your Spirit in our hearts and minds, empower us to live more and more faithfully by your commandments. But recognizing that we will always fall short of those commandments, let us live out a vision of righteousness that extends grace to others as we ourselves have received it through Jesus. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 132 and 133; II Samuel 7:18-29; Galatians 3:1-14. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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