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.

• 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