By Rev Roberto Ochoa, Iowa Nebraska South Dakota Conferences’ Minister
“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.” (Matthew 1:18-24, New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
As I write this reflection, it is the final Sunday of Advent, where we light the candle of Love and complete the lighting of the Advent wreath that symbolizes Hope, Peace, Joy and Love in our faith…and await the arrival of the Light of the World that we celebrate and call Christmas.
This gospel account of Joseph, who seems to be an unassuming and yet described as “righteous” finds out that his fiancée [betrothed] is pregnant…and definitely not by him. It is interesting to note here that his reaction isn’t one of demanding retribution of Mary, that one would expect of a perceived stereotypical male ego, instead it is one of affection and concern “unwilling to expose her to public disgrace” and he had planned on a discrete way to act. Based on first century C.E. biblical and historical scholarship, Mary could have been accused of adultery and subject to stoning if Joseph would have chosen to expose her pregnancy. Joseph’s premeditative attempt to save Mary culminated with a dream of an angel appearing to him and urging him to take Mary as his wife and thus saving not only Mary, but the child as well, who was to become Jesus. The miracle of love.
Regardless on how one may feel about this account of Jesus’ birth, the symbolic courageous act of a man to take on a pregnant woman with a child not his, can be called an act of love. We have limited knowledge of Joseph in scripture, though we are given the impression that Joseph was a loving father who raised Jesus as his own, in the account of Jesus disappearing for three days in Jerusalem when he was twelve (Luke 2:41-52).
The miracle of God’s love as demonstrated through the Immanuel (God With Us), for me, sustains me in a world often in conflict. It offers me hope…when I am tempted to give up; It offers me peace…when I lean into the comfort of the Holy Spirit for refuge; It offers me joy…to forge forward to help heal, repair and forgive; and most of all to embrace the Divine Love that is offered me as a child of God…which no one can take away from me, in which is the testimony of my ministry of a liberating and inclusive gospel of Jesus Christ wherever I go. May it be so for you my friends.
This Christmas may the light of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love be upon you and your loved ones, always.
Feliz Navidad beloved friends of the Iowa Nebraska South Dakota Conferences of the United Church of Christ.
Bendiciones y Paz,
Rev Roberto