Friday 18 December 2009

Background

Who is Jesus? This is the question that shapes the beginning ofMatthew's book. He starts by saying that Jesus is the Christ (or'messiah', literally 'anointed one') whom the Jewish peoplebelieved God would send to rescue them from their oppressors and toestablish divine rule. Matthew then claims that this can be seeninJesus' ancestry, which includes some giants of Jewish history(notably Abraham and King David). All of this leads the reader toexpect an unusual birth-story, and here it is. The child isconceived of the Holy Spirit, announced by an angel, born of avirgin, and he will save the people. These events are believed tofulfil the prophecy of Isaiah, an important Old Testamentprophet.

Only two of the four Gospels (literally 'good news') includedetails of Jesus' birth. These two, Matthew and Luke, have littlein common with one another. The circumstances of the birth, therole of Joseph and Mary and the perspectives from which the storiesare related are all so different that some people doubt thehistorical accuracy of both. Others would argue that this mattersless than what the authors are trying to convey: the uniqueness ofJesus. Matthew isn't writing history, he is expressing hisfaith.

Matthew says that Joseph and Mary are not yet married when itbecomes apparent that she is pregnant. According to Jewish law, awoman in this position (and the man with whom she had the affair)were to be stoned. Joseph wants to avoid this, so plans todiscreetly break off the engagement. An angel intervenes through adream, telling Joseph that the usual rules don't apply here. Mary'schild is conceived by the Holy Spirit and he is to be called Jesus.This name wasn't unusual at the time - it is the Greek version ofthe Hebrew Joshua, meaning 'God is salvation'. But it is more thana name; it is like a job title, pointing to what Jesus will do.

To Ponder

How much of your faith is based on historicalfact?

Think back to when you last had to make adifficult decision. Did God guide you? How?

Imagine you are Joseph. How would you explainyour decision to marry Mary to your observant Jewish family? Howmight they respond?