From: Matthew 1:18-24
The Virginal Conception of Jesus, and His Birth
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
18. St. Matthew relates here how Christ was conceived (cf. Luke 1:25-38): “We
truly honor and venerate (Mary) as Mother of God, be- cause she gave birth to a
person who is at the same time both God and man” (”St. Pius V Catechism”,
I, 4, 7).
According to the provisions of the Law of Moses, engagement took place about
one year before marriage and enjoyed almost the same legal validity. The
marriage proper consisted, among other ceremo- nies, in the bride being brought
solemnly and joyously to her husband’s house (cf. Deuteronomy 20:7).
>From the moment of engagement onwards, a certificate of divorce was needed
in the event of a break in the relationship between the couple.
The entire account of Jesus’ birth teaches, through the fulfillment of the
prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 (which is expressly quoted in verses 22-23) that: 1)
Jesus has David as His ancestor since Joseph is His legal father; 2) Mary is
the Virgin who gives birth according to the prophecy; 3) the Child’s conception
without the intervention of man was miraculous.
19. “St. Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great
things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event
that went to make up his life. That is why Scripture praises Joseph as `a just
man’. In Hebrew a just man means a good and faithful servant of God, someone
who fulfills the divine will (cf. Genesis 7:1; 18:23-32; Ezekiel 18:5ff.; Proverbs
12:10), or who is honorable and charitable toward his neighbor (cf. Tobias 7:6;
9:6). So a just man is someone who loves God and proves his love by keeping
God’s commandments and directing his whole life towards the service of his
brothers, his fellow men” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 40).
Joseph considered his spouse to be holy despite the signs that she was going
to have a child. He was therefore faced with a situation he could not explain.
Precisely because he was trying to do God’s will, he felt obliged to put her away;
but to shield her from public shame he decided to send her away quietly.
Mary’s silence is admirable. Her perfect surrender to God even leads her to the
extreme of not defending her honor or innocence. She prefers to suffer suspicion
and shame rather than reveal the work of grace in her. Faced with a fact which
was inexplicable in human terms she abandons herself confidently to the love
and providence of God. God certainly submitted the holy souls of Joseph and
Mary to a severe trial. We ought not to be surprised if we also undergo difficult
trials in the course of our lives. We ought to trust in God during them, and
remain faithful to Him, following the example they gave us.
20. God gives His light to those who act in an upright way and who trust in His
power and wisdom when faced with situations which exceed hu- man understan-
ding. By calling him the son of David, the angel reminds Joseph that he is the
providential link which joins Jesus with the family of David, according to Nathan’s
messianic prophecy (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12). As St. John Chrysostom says: “At the
very start he straightaway reminds him of David, of whom the Christ was to
spring, and he does not wish him to be worried from the moment he reminds him,
through naming his most illustrious ancestor, of the promise made to all his
lineage” (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 4).
“The same Jesus Christ, our only Lord, the Son of God, when He assumed
human flesh for us in the womb of the Virgin, was not conceived like other men,
from the seed of man, but in a manner transcending the order of nature, that is,
by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the same person, remaining God as He
was from eternity, became man, which He was not before” (”St. Pius V
Catechism”, I, 4, 1).
21. According to the Hebrew root, the name Jesus means “savior”. After our
Lady, St. Joseph is the first person to be told by God that salvation has begun.
“Jesus is the proper name of the God-man and signifies `Savior’—a name given
Him not accidentally, or by the judgment or will of man, but by the counsel and
command of God” [...]. All other names which prophecy gave to the Son of God
— Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (cf.
Isaiah 9:6)—are comprised in this one name Jesus; for while they partially
signified the salvation which He was to bestow on us, this name included the
force and meaning of all human salvation” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, I, 3, 5 and
6).
23. “Emmanuel”: the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, quoted in this verse,foretold about
700 years in advance that God’s salvation would be marked by the extraordinary
event of virgin giving birth to a son. The Gospel here, therefore, reveals two truths.
First, that Jesus is in fact the God-with-us foretold by the prophet. This is how
Christian tradition has always understood it. Indeed the Church has officially
condemned an interpretation denying the messianic sense of the Isaiah text (cf.
Pius VI, Brief, “Divina”, 1779). Christ is truly God-with-us, therefore, not only
because of His God-given mission but be- cause He is God made man (cf. John
1:14). This does not mean that Jesus should normally be called Emmanuel, for
this name refers more directly to the mystery of His being the Incarnate Word.
At the Annunciation the angel said that He should be called Jesus, that is,
Savior. And that was the name St. Joseph gave Him.
The second truth revealed to us by the sacred text is that Mary, in whom the
prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 is fulfilled, was a virgin before and during the birth itself.
The miraculous sign given by God that salvation had arrived was precisely that
a woman would be a virgin and a mother at the same time.
“Jesus Christ came forth from His mother’s womb without injury to her maternal
virginity. This immaculate and perpetual virginity forms, therefore, the just theme
of our eulogy. Such was the work of the Holy Spirit, who at the conception and
birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart fruitfulness to her while
preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, I, 4, 8).
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
| First reading | Isaiah 7:10 - 14 © |
|---|---|
| Once again the Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above’. ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’ Then he said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel. |
|
| Psalm or canticle: Psalm 23 |
| Second reading | Romans 1:1 - 7 © |
|---|---|
| From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures. This news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace. |
|
| Gospel | Matthew 1:18 - 25 © |
|---|---|
| This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’. When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home and, though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus. |
|