Each week, Moravians across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean share a common message through their Sunday bulletins. This month, we share insights which expound on Matthew 1:18-25 for the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
Thanks to writers past and present for their contributions to the Moravian bulletin series.
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah Matthew 1:18-25 NRSV
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do 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 as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.
The Name of Jesus
Hermann Weinlick, retired pastor, Minneapolis, Minnesota • December 18, 2022
Expecting an addition to the family, parents ask, “How should we name her or him?” After a favorite uncle or aunt? A name we make up, never used before? The family name of some ancestor? A biblical name? A name unique to our ethnic group?
Today’s Gospel is about Joseph having a dream that tells him what to name the child Mary is expecting. Naming is not up to Mary or Joseph: “You are to name him Jesus.” This is a form of the common Jewish name Joshua, which means “God saves.” God wants to bring humanity back to God, since we have chosen to separate ourselves from God and God’s hopes for us.
But this story is not just about Joseph. It is also about us and Jesus, the one who will be born to Mary. This story is telling us that Jesus is God’s plan to save us, to fix our broken ways of living. Jesus shows us what God looks like in human form. Jesus shows what humans may be capable of. Jesus shows God’s willingness to accept the worse from human systems of religion and government. Jesus invites us to follow him into a fuller, richer life, in tune with God’s hopes to see God’s reflection in those God has created.
Moravian hymn writer Benjamin LaTrobe declared,
Jesus’ name, Jesus’ name,
Source of life and happiness . . .
None need sink in hopeless sadness,
for Immanuel is now with us,
God with us, God with us.
(Moravian Book of Worship, #324)
Not only in one season but every day, let us celebrate the message that came to Joseph. And may we allow that Jesus truly to touch and reshape our lives, so that we live in ways closer to God’s hopes for us.
God is with us
Beth Rohn-Habhegger, pastor, Canaan Moravian Church, Davenport, North Dakota • December 22, 2013
Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” For God, a name was extremely important. So important, in fact, that God sent an angel to the man who would raise Messiah as his son, to reveal to Joseph the name chosen by God. God chose the name Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins.”
The child conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit would grow to be the man who offered us salvation through his death and resurrection. The prophet referred to him as Emmanuel, “God is with us.”
How right that prophet was! In Jesus, God dwelt with us; through Jesus, God reached into our world to bring us into God’s. We find we are a part of God’s world. We are wanted, we are fought for. God isn’t just WITH us; God is with US. God wants us enough to become one of us and to die for us. God wants US, God is with US.
As Advent transitions into Christmas, we celebrate the gift of Jesus, who came to save us from our sins and remind us that God is with us—then, now, and forever.
The God Who Acts
Author unknown • December 20, 1992
According to the Matthean tradition, the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ was a supernatural event: Mary was found with child by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18). The ultimate purpose of this diving act was to demonstrate to the world that God has taken the initiative to redeem lost humanity. God has not forgotten his creation. He has sent his very best into the world to bring about the divine/human reconciliation.
The coming of the Messiah, the Anointed of God, is the commencement of a new era for all human beings. The world was sending an SOS, announcing desperately a tragedy of great proportions. It was the precise moment for God to act and he acted.
When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant, he decided to dismiss her quietly, not realizing that God was behind his courtship and relationship. So when Joseph resolved to abandon Mary, God sent his angel to tell him in a dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).
This divine declaration was a clear indication that God was in control of the situation. And when we permit God to take control of our situation in the midst of the ordeals of life, when everything seems so gloomy and dark, the spark of hope will always appear, as Joseph experienced in his despairing moment.
The same God that Joseph served, we are serving today. God is always at our disposal, always available. He just wants us to trust him.
To Us a Child is Born this Night
Author unknown • December 24, 1989
Most Bible students believe that Mark was the first of the gospels to be written. How eagerly his manuscripts must have been copied and circulated among early Christians! But many readers must have had questions, such as “But when, and where, and under what circumstances was Jesus born?”
To answer these and other questions, Matthew and Luke wrote the gospels that bear their names. Today’s gospel lesson is a part of Matthew’s story. He tells us of a young woman named Mary, and of Joseph, to whom she is engaged. He records the divine announcement of the effect that the child she is about to bear is “of the Holy Spirit,” and is to be named Jesus. He says that this Jesus will be a son of Abraham and David, thus linking him to the people of Israel; he tells us of the visit of the wise men from the East, thus linking him to the Gentile world. He speaks of Herod the King, thus placing him in history. He tells how God intervenes to save him from the sword of that Jealous king, because he is “Emmanuel, God with us.”
And now once more Christ is being born into our world, and for all people, for in his kingdom there is “neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female.” Just as he came long ago into the outwardly mighty, inwardly troubled world, so he comes today into our outwardly rich, inwardly poor world. To you he comes, and to you, and to me, to make us his people so that he may save us from our sins.
(Hymn 55, Paul Gerhardt)
All glory, worship, thanks, and praise,
That thou art come in these our days!
Thou heavenly Guest, expecting long,
We hail thee with a joyful song.
