Matthew 1.1-25
The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa, and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
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; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
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; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel” (which means, God with us).
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In our Gospel reading today we hear Saint Matthew’s account of the conception and birth of our Lord. And you will, no doubt, have often heard people dismiss this as impossible, because, as we all know, for a child to be conceived it requires a father as well as a mother. As if this is new information of some kind, unknown to Christians today, and unknown to those who wrote the Gospels.
However, one has only to look at the Old Testament to understand that this was a fact of life that was very well known to all men from the dawn of time. At the very beginning of the Bible, in the book of Genesis we read that God created man male and female, Adam and Eve; and he commanded our first parents, and all generations to follow, to be fruitful and multiply.
And if that were not enough, there are many other accounts in the Old Testament prior to the Gospels being written that make it clear the ancients knew how women came to be pregnant. One story, in particular, stands out, one that is referenced in the long genealogy listed by Saint Matthew before he tells us about the virgin conception and birth, the story of the affair that King David had with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. And when the affair resulted in Bathsheba conceiving a child, David then brings Uriah back to Jerusalem. Ostensibly this was that he might receive an report on him; but, in reality, in the hope that he would sleep with his wife and deceive him into believing the child she carried was his. When that plan failed, he took more drastic steps to conceal the affair and arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle, effectively murdering him.
There would have been no need, it is safe to say, for David to pile sin upon sin, crime upon crime, if there was any other explanation possible as to why Bathsheba was pregnant other than adultery.
The basic information concerning human biology had not been lost or forgotten at the beginning of the first century. Saint Joseph most certainly knows the child his wife carries is not his. And he also knows that if makes this knowledge public, all will believe her to be guilty of adultery. This would, at best, result in her being disgraced before all. And, at worst, she would be stoned to death. This is why he decides to divorce her privately.
Indeed, as the Fathers point out, because this is something that is known to all men is part of the reason that Saint Matthew begins his Gospel with a long genealogy. Consider how it reads. This man was the father of that man, and that man was the father of the man that followed, and so on, and so on. Each name drives home the fact that this is the way of things, that every child must have and does have a father. No exceptions.
Until Saint Matthew comes to Jesus. Having stated again and again what is the natural course of events when it comes to conception, he then says, ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way’. The Fathers are quite clear that what is intended by this is a distinct break from what has gone before. In effect, all other men who have come before this were born this way, the way we all know and understand. But now you are to hear something new, something you have not heard before.
Jesus did not come into the world in the same way as other men did. His birth was different, special, unique. No man was involved in his conception. His mother was a virgin before he was conceived and remained one thereafter.
Doubters and disbelievers ask how such a thing could be possible. Those who know and believe the truth understand that with God all things are possible. He created all things out of nothing by the utterance of His Almighty Word. And He caused that Word to take flesh and become man by the overshadowing of a pure Virgin by His Holy Spirit. Just as He had told us would do through His prophet Isaiah many years before.
We are those who know and believe the truth. A truth that we affirm and proclaim each time we proclaim the Creed, the Symbol of Faith, saying that we believe that for our salvation Jesus came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. This is the truth that sets us free from doubt and disbelief, the truth that assures us that nothing is beyond the power of God, the truth that offers salvation of us and all those who will believe in Him. Amen.
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