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,

• Context: The beginning of the Matthew (Mt 1:1-17) gives the "genesis" (birth record) of Jesus from King David. The reading today is the genesis from the Holy Spirit.
• (v.18) Engagement was arranged by elders and had legal consequences for young people as early as twelve for girls and thirteen for boys. The girl stayed with her father until the marriage several years later. During that time if she had a sexual relationship with another man, both could be stoned to death (Dt 22:23-27). An alternative was for the husband to sign a divorce warrant with two witnesses and the wife could be free to marry someone else.
• (v.20) "Angel of the Lord" is a familiar Old Testament figure who is the Lord or the Lord's messenger making known the will of God at crucial historical moments. "Dream" was another familiar way to find God's will, such as by Jacob and Joseph in Genesis (28:10-17 and 37:5-11).
• While Luke's central character was Mary, Joseph here emerged as a major figure through his connection to King David, and his development from confusion to trust and enlightenment. Through this story Matthew declared that Jesus was the Son of God from conception.

Our King, Jesus, Son of God, comes to dwell among us through such simple, struggling and heroic figures as Joseph and Mary.

1. What do I plan to do to prepare for the arrival of Jesus into my home and my soul this Christmas, coming in a few days?
2. Have I grown from confusion to trust and enlightenment like Joseph, or to despair and withdrawal?
3. How do I find the will of the Lord?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community