Christmas I, Midnight
Matthew 1: 1-25
[Now is proclaimed the beginning of the whole
Gospel, according to Matthew in the first chapter.]
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| He Qi |
This is the book of the
new creation, which has happened through Jesus Christ [or, the generation of
Jesus Christ], a son of David, who is a son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and
his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and
Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of
Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose
mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose
mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King
David.
David was the father of
Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of
Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of
Jeconiah[c] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of
Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of
Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Joseph,
the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the
Messiah.
From Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David to the
deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the exile in Babylon
to Christ are fourteen generations.
The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: Mary, his mother, was
betrothed to Joseph. But before they were aware of having come together, she
conceived a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph however, her husband,
who was an upright man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, was
considering whether he should quietly set her free [or, decided to consider all
this a mystery.] As he was pondering this, behold the angel of the Lord appeared
before him in a dream and said to him:
“Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary as your wife, because that which is to be born of her is
conceived out of the power of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you
shall give him the name Jesus, that is, the Bringer of Healing, for he it will
be who will heal his own of their error and guilt. “
All this took place so that the word of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of
the prophet, might be fulfilled:
“A virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they will call his name
Immanuel, that is, God in our midst.”
Now when Joseph rose from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord
directed him, and he took Mary to himself as his wife, and he knew her not
until she bore her son, and he gave him the name Jesus.
We each of us have an angel who accompanies us through our
lives. This being knows the whys and wherefores of what is often veiled to us.
Christmas I, Midnight
December 25, 2012
Matthew 1:1 –25
The generating of Jesus was long-prepared. It was the
generation of a new kind of human being that would begin with Christ Jesus. The
preparations are finalized when a man, Joseph, heeds the words of the Lord’s
angel. The angel tells him, as angels always do, not to be afraid. The words
make clear to him the nature of the inexplicable events that are occurring in
his life. And angelic direction makes clear his own role in these events—that
his role is to support and protect the mother and child for the sake of world
destiny.
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| Bernhard Strigel |
In the words of a poet, this angel says to us:
I am the bird that knocks at your
window in the morning
and your companion, whom
you cannot know,
the blossoms that light up for the
blind.
I am ….
The thought that suddenly comes
over you at midday
and fills you with a singular
happiness.
….
I am your third arm and your second
shadow, the white one,
…who cannot ever forget you.[1]
Here and now, awake at midnight, we have entered a moment
when the veil between ourselves and the angelic world is very thin. The service
will speak of the offering song of the angelic choirs. We are being invited to
join in offering with them.
For our thoughts and prayers for the world situation are
carried toward the center of the world, to the One born this night. Offering
and adding our soul’s substance of love to the song of the angels strengthens
the great swell of music of offering. For we all have a role to play, however
modest, in world destiny. And in response to the music of the offering song,
there shines toward us all, Christ’s healing light of grace.
www.thechristiancommunity.org
www.thechristiancommunity.org
[1]
“Guardian Angel” by
Rolf Jacobsen, transl by Roger Greenwald http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/390357.html
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