Matthew 1:18-25 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 1:18-25 on biblegateway.com
Verse 18Now 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 with child from the Holy Spirit. Verse 19Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. Verse 20But 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. Verse 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Verse 22All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: Verse 23"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." Verse 24When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, Verse 25but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
Devotion
For the Advent season we are looking back and reflecting on the previous week's readings.
he Advent litany for today highlights another aspect of hope. We call upon Jesus, ruler of the nations, as cornerstone, as foundation, who makes all people one. The litany calls this deep hope desire. Our desire for Jesus is a desire for reconciliation; it is a desire for the nations and the religions in the world to lay down their arms and seek peace, a much more arduous task then going to war. We are called in our daily lives to do the same: to lay down our weapons, not forgetting but putting aside anger, disdain, hatred. Moving beyond our typical judgments—like Joseph was called by the angel to move beyond his own decision to repudiate Mary quietly—we enter into a plan, God's plan of restoration, that goes far beyond anything we ever could have hoped for or imagined.
Prayer
O king of the nations, and their desire, come cornerstone that binds us in one: Restore the broken, make us new. Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay. Amen.