St Matthew 1:18-25/Isaiah 7:10-14/1 John 4:7-16
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
No evening shepherds. No symphonic host of heaven. No rulers calling for a census. No lowly manger. No swaddling cloths. St Matthew’s narrative of the birth of Jesus lacks all the fanfare and luster we are used to for Christmas. No stuff of living nativities here. That’s all from St Luke. Matthew is more direct.
Perhaps it’s the tax collector in him – no pizzazz, no sparkle, no starry skies or nostalgic nights – he cuts right to the heart of the matter. No fuss. Just the facts. Lean. Jesus came for one reason and one reason only – He will save His people from their sins. That’s it and that’s all.
And you may be feeling a bit let down. After all, we like the cozy manger, the rugged shepherds, the tender lambs. The bursting of the choirs of heaven seem more appropriate for the birth of the Prince of Peace. It suits our tastes. An anxious mother and a fearful husband seem just so, ordinary.
But even with all the glitz St Like gives – which, by the way, is the reading for Christmas Midnight, so maybe we should keep the Vigil after all – even with his glorious account, not sparing any of the wonderful details, the characters are still the same: Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. In the end the birth of the Christ-Child is welcomed only by a few that night (not unlike tonight); and even they had only a short break before they had to return to the flocks.
For Matthew it’s all about getting the “why” of Christmas across. Luke gives us the “what” and everything that goes with it. But either way it comes down to this: Christmas is about Jesus. It is about your salvation, your deliverance from sin.
Maybe Matthew is so direct because everything has been building to this. The entirety of the Old Testament is distilled to this night.
For this was the promise of the Lord spoken by Isaiah: The Virgin shall conceive and bear and a Son, and they shall call His Name Immanuel.
The birth of Isaac foreshadowed this night; and his sacrifice, too.
King David prophesied of this night in the Psalm: The Lord says to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
Zechariah and Malachi foretold this night. Daniel envisioned it. David sang of it in the Psalms. What Israel longed for. What Abraham hoped. What Isaac typified. What Moses foreshadowed and Joshua displayed. What Adam and Eve prayed for. All of it – the fate of the world, the redemption of mankind, rests on the birth of this little Boy – Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
For there were once two other first-time parents; an anxious mother, a fearful husband. She gave birth to a boy, saying, I have gotten a man, the Lord. It was Cain. Eve assumed him to be the One – the Promised Seed of the woman who would crush the head of the Serpent. She was wrong. He only perpetuated the sin of his parents and murdered Abel.
God is love. This is why He created. Adam and Eve, all creation, you, are His beloved. Whoever ever abides in love abides in God. Thus whoever rejects love rejects God. Adam and Eve rejected love. They embraced lust – the carnal desire to be like God. In eating they brought the curse of death upon themselves.
You are their offspring, siblings of Cain, perpetuating your first-parents’ sin. How often have you harbored malice and contempt for your brother in the flesh? How often have you despised the Word of the Lord and offered to Him your leftovers out of obligation, rather than your first fruits in joyous faith?
But as our Lord spoke His prophesy to the wicked King Ahaz, so did He deliver His first Gospel promise to the Serpent: I will put enmity between you and the Woman, and between your seed and Her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
Hear then, O House of David, for unto you is born this night the Skull Crusher, the Seed of the Woman, Immanuel, God with us; Jesus, who will save you from your sins!
All of it comes down to this night! The Redeemer of the world is born to an anxious mother and a fearful husband. Eve’s theology was correct, if only misplaced. The coming of the Savior would be seemingly ordinary, but unbelievably extra-ordinary! His conception would appear to be natural, if not scandalous, even as Joseph assumed. But that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and His Name shall be Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. God has come, God with us, and has put enmity between you and Satan.
Beloved, your kinsman-Redeemer, your brother in the flesh and by faith, has come. He has borne the sin of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and all of their offspring. He has borne your sin. He has crushed the head of the Serpent even as the nail was driven through His bruised heel. He is the Love of God Incarnate and He is rightly named Jesus, for He has saved you, His people, from your sins. Your enemies – sin, death, and the power of the devil – are His footstool.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And you abide in Him and He in you, for He has given you of His Spirit. Even as He breathed the Spirit of life into Adam and Eve, so has Christ Jesus breathed His life-giving Spirit into you. He cleanses you from the dust and ash of your sin, raising you to rebirth in the womb of Holy Baptism. You are presented before Him in holy garments.
He is your eternal Priest, breathing His Spirit upon you in His Holy Absolution; lifting you from the depths of Sheol in repentance, to the heights of heaven by the forgiveness of your sin.
He even sends His messengers, His pastors, as He sent an angel to Joseph, to give you His Word concerning Mary’s Son. His Word, beloved, comforts you in the face of your sleep of death. And it causes you to love one another, as Saint John writes, and as Joseph beautifully exemplifies toward Mary.
You have been reconciled to the Father. You are welcomed into Paradise. And the Lord your God, Immanuel, God with you in flesh and blood, gives you to eat from the Tree of Life once more. For here, at the manger of His altar, He feeds you on the fruit of His Body and Blood from the Tree of His Cross. Here He gives you a Sign. Here God who is Love abides in you and His love is perfected in you.
The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. An anxious mother. A fearful husband. Jesus, your Savior. The Old Testament is fulfilled. The prophets rejoice. You are forgiven. We have come to know and believe the Lord that God has for us. That’s it. And that’s all. Beloved, that is everything. Merry Christmas.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
No evening shepherds. No symphonic host of heaven. No rulers calling for a census. No lowly manger. No swaddling cloths. St Matthew’s narrative of the birth of Jesus lacks all the fanfare and luster we are used to for Christmas. No stuff of living nativities here. That’s all from St Luke. Matthew is more direct.
Perhaps it’s the tax collector in him – no pizzazz, no sparkle, no starry skies or nostalgic nights – he cuts right to the heart of the matter. No fuss. Just the facts. Lean. Jesus came for one reason and one reason only – He will save His people from their sins. That’s it and that’s all.
And you may be feeling a bit let down. After all, we like the cozy manger, the rugged shepherds, the tender lambs. The bursting of the choirs of heaven seem more appropriate for the birth of the Prince of Peace. It suits our tastes. An anxious mother and a fearful husband seem just so, ordinary.
But even with all the glitz St Like gives – which, by the way, is the reading for Christmas Midnight, so maybe we should keep the Vigil after all – even with his glorious account, not sparing any of the wonderful details, the characters are still the same: Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. In the end the birth of the Christ-Child is welcomed only by a few that night (not unlike tonight); and even they had only a short break before they had to return to the flocks.
For Matthew it’s all about getting the “why” of Christmas across. Luke gives us the “what” and everything that goes with it. But either way it comes down to this: Christmas is about Jesus. It is about your salvation, your deliverance from sin.
Maybe Matthew is so direct because everything has been building to this. The entirety of the Old Testament is distilled to this night.
For this was the promise of the Lord spoken by Isaiah: The Virgin shall conceive and bear and a Son, and they shall call His Name Immanuel.
The birth of Isaac foreshadowed this night; and his sacrifice, too.
King David prophesied of this night in the Psalm: The Lord says to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
Zechariah and Malachi foretold this night. Daniel envisioned it. David sang of it in the Psalms. What Israel longed for. What Abraham hoped. What Isaac typified. What Moses foreshadowed and Joshua displayed. What Adam and Eve prayed for. All of it – the fate of the world, the redemption of mankind, rests on the birth of this little Boy – Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.
For there were once two other first-time parents; an anxious mother, a fearful husband. She gave birth to a boy, saying, I have gotten a man, the Lord. It was Cain. Eve assumed him to be the One – the Promised Seed of the woman who would crush the head of the Serpent. She was wrong. He only perpetuated the sin of his parents and murdered Abel.
God is love. This is why He created. Adam and Eve, all creation, you, are His beloved. Whoever ever abides in love abides in God. Thus whoever rejects love rejects God. Adam and Eve rejected love. They embraced lust – the carnal desire to be like God. In eating they brought the curse of death upon themselves.
You are their offspring, siblings of Cain, perpetuating your first-parents’ sin. How often have you harbored malice and contempt for your brother in the flesh? How often have you despised the Word of the Lord and offered to Him your leftovers out of obligation, rather than your first fruits in joyous faith?
But as our Lord spoke His prophesy to the wicked King Ahaz, so did He deliver His first Gospel promise to the Serpent: I will put enmity between you and the Woman, and between your seed and Her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
Hear then, O House of David, for unto you is born this night the Skull Crusher, the Seed of the Woman, Immanuel, God with us; Jesus, who will save you from your sins!
All of it comes down to this night! The Redeemer of the world is born to an anxious mother and a fearful husband. Eve’s theology was correct, if only misplaced. The coming of the Savior would be seemingly ordinary, but unbelievably extra-ordinary! His conception would appear to be natural, if not scandalous, even as Joseph assumed. But that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and His Name shall be Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. God has come, God with us, and has put enmity between you and Satan.
Beloved, your kinsman-Redeemer, your brother in the flesh and by faith, has come. He has borne the sin of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and all of their offspring. He has borne your sin. He has crushed the head of the Serpent even as the nail was driven through His bruised heel. He is the Love of God Incarnate and He is rightly named Jesus, for He has saved you, His people, from your sins. Your enemies – sin, death, and the power of the devil – are His footstool.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
And you abide in Him and He in you, for He has given you of His Spirit. Even as He breathed the Spirit of life into Adam and Eve, so has Christ Jesus breathed His life-giving Spirit into you. He cleanses you from the dust and ash of your sin, raising you to rebirth in the womb of Holy Baptism. You are presented before Him in holy garments.
He is your eternal Priest, breathing His Spirit upon you in His Holy Absolution; lifting you from the depths of Sheol in repentance, to the heights of heaven by the forgiveness of your sin.
He even sends His messengers, His pastors, as He sent an angel to Joseph, to give you His Word concerning Mary’s Son. His Word, beloved, comforts you in the face of your sleep of death. And it causes you to love one another, as Saint John writes, and as Joseph beautifully exemplifies toward Mary.
You have been reconciled to the Father. You are welcomed into Paradise. And the Lord your God, Immanuel, God with you in flesh and blood, gives you to eat from the Tree of Life once more. For here, at the manger of His altar, He feeds you on the fruit of His Body and Blood from the Tree of His Cross. Here He gives you a Sign. Here God who is Love abides in you and His love is perfected in you.
The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. An anxious mother. A fearful husband. Jesus, your Savior. The Old Testament is fulfilled. The prophets rejoice. You are forgiven. We have come to know and believe the Lord that God has for us. That’s it. And that’s all. Beloved, that is everything. Merry Christmas.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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