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Matthew 1:18-25
With thanks to page sponsor: "Peace and joy to you from Pastor
Larry Richardson, Christ Lutheran
Church, Nashville, TN."
 | Reading the Text:
|
| Historical References, Commentary and
Comparative Texts:
 | The
Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto. |
| Comparative primary texts about
Purity and Social Relations (see
esp "Woman With Child," "Reason for Divorce," and "Letter of
Divorce,") from Mishna, Midrash, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud. Comparative primary
texts about Sin and Justice
from Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud. At Mahlon H. Smith's Into His Own: Perspective on the World of
Jesus, Rutgers University. |
|
"Jesus Virginally Conceived," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of
the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C.
Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation. |
|
Chapter XVIII,
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians,
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110).
(Longer version only - 4th cent interpolation.) |
|
Chapter XXXIII,
The First Apology of
Justin
Martyr. (c 150) |
|
III.IX.2, 8,
III.XVI.2,
III.XXI.4,
IV.XXIII.1,
Adversus Haereses,
Irenaeus
of Lyons. (c. 180) |
|
IV.7, Against
Marcion,
Tertullian
(c. 210) |
|
Chapter XVII,
Chapter XX,
Chapter XXI,
On the Flesh of Christ,
Tertullian (c.
211) |
|
Chapter
XX, On the Resurrection of the Flesh,
Tertullian
(c. 211) |
|
Chapter
XXVII, Against Praxeas,
Tertullian
(c. 213) |
|
Chapter
IX, Scorpiace,
Tertullian
(c. 213) |
|
I.XXXIV,
I.LXVI, Against
Celsus,
Origen.
(c.246) |
|
II.1,
V.8, Ecclesiastical
History,
Eusebius of Caesarea, (c. 320). |
|
Part
33, On the Incarnation of the Word,
Athanasius of Alexandria, c. 318. |
| Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Chrysostom (c.
380):
|
| From the
Catena
Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas. |
| Commentary on a Harmony of the
Evangelists, John Calvin:
Matthew 1:18-25, 1558. |
| From the Geneva Notes.
 | "The word "till", in the Hebrew
language, gives us to understand that a thing will not come to pass in
time to come: as Michal had no children "till" her death day, 2Sa 6:23.
And in the last chapter of this evangelist: Behold, I am with you "till"
the end of the world." |
|
| From
Matthew
Henry's Commentary.
| "Let us look to the circumstances
under which the Son of God entered into this lower world, till we learn
to despise the vain honours of this world, when compared with piety and
holiness." |
|
| The Observation of
the Birth of Christ, the Duty of All Christians, or The True Way of Keeping
Christmas (Matt 1:21): sermon by George Whitefield. |
| From
Wesley's Notes.
| "To be called, only means, according
to the Hebrew manner of speaking, that the person spoken of shall really
and effectually be what he is called, and actually fulfil that title." |
|
| From the
Commentary on the Whole Bible
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871). |
| From The People's
New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
| "His birth, like his life and his
resurrection, is a miracle." |
|
|
| Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
|
"The Birth of Jesus,"
Gospel Analysis, Sermons from
Seattle,
Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle,
Washington. Detailed background and exegesis. (scroll down) |
|
Dylan's Lectionary Blog,
Advent 4A, 2004. Biblical Scholar
Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary
of the Episcopal Church.
| "Here's the rule
about what happens if you think the woman to whom you're engaged is
bearing someone else's child:
both the woman and the man whose child it is get death by stoning
-- assuming you know the identity of the father, and that the woman
is seized in an area in which someone could have heard her screams
if she cried out." |
|
|
"First
Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary,"
Advent 4, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in
Australia.
| "The Christmas stories always need
connecting with the grown up Jesus if they are not to be sentimentalised.
Don’t put tinsel around the cross at Christmas. The magic of angels and
the virginal conception are the embellishments to enable us to celebrate
that life of compassion and self giving." |
|
|
Exegesis, Matthew 1:18-25, W. Sibley Towner, Lectionary
Homiletics sample.
| "The good news that God comes to
us neither as the enemy nor the punitive judge nor the puppet master
pulling on our little strings, but as Emmanuel, is the story of
Advent and of Christmas, too." |
|
|
"Faith and Doubt, Hope and Fear, Joy and Sorrow - and Dreams," Lisa
Bellan-Boyer, Jersey City, NJ.
| "In Eastern Orthodox icons of the
Nativity, there is often a small scene depicted in the lower left
corner: Joseph, sitting and glumly listening to a man talking to
him..." |
|
|
"Joseph the
Righteous," Advent 4A, Elizabeth Morris Downie, Proclaiming Gospel
Justice, The Witness.
| "Clearly the most dangerous of our
coping mechanisms is denying our own roles as Christians in the public
arena." |
|
|
Progressive Bible Study:
Matthew 1:18-25, Pastor Dan, Street Prophets.
|
"Joseph is a model, then, of the same receptivity to God's will
demonstrated by Mary." |
|
|
Exegetical Notes
by Brian Stoffregen, at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
| "Anyway, it seems to me that the
translation "God is with us" doesn't completely capture the sense of the
Hebrew. The words suggest that "God is in common with us people" -- or
"God is one of us." In this sense, John captures the sense with "The Word
became flesh and lived among us" (1:14a)." |
|
| Matthew 1:18-25:
Comments
(commentary) and
Clippings
(technical notes for in-depth study), Advent 4A, Chris Haslam, Anglican
Diocese of Montreal. |
|
"Do Not Be Afraid,"
Pilgrim Preaching, Keeping company with biblical texts and the people
who hear and preach them, a weblog for preaching, by Mary Hinkle, Luther
Seminary.
| "...alongside the gift
of a baby who bears the very presence of God to humanity is another gift,
a gift that the one who is God with us will keep offering throughout his
ministry: freedom from fear." |
|
|
Matthew in the Margins, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in
Western Australia. |
|
"Fourth Sunday in Advent: Matthew 1:18-25,"
The Matthean Advent Gospels,
James Arne Nestingen, Word & World: Theology for Christian
Ministry, Luther Northwestern Theological School, 1992.
| "To be forgiven is to receive a
future that is under the control not of the previous failure or offense,
but which is in the hands of One who can actually effect a new condition." |
|
|
Lectionary Haikus: Joseph, Among the Hills. |
|
Wellspring of
the Gospel, Advent 4A, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn
Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
| "What
does Jesus’ choice of the word 'abba' tell us about the relationship He
had with Joseph?" |
|
|
"God's Call
to Joseph," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible
Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed
textual notes.
| "The birth of Jesus is primarily a redemptive act,
rather than an incarnational act of God." |
|
|
"Not in Control," Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A Catholic
Resource for This Sunday's Gospel. Adult Study, Children's Story, Family
Activity, Support Materials.
| "How has life turned out differently
than you imagined it? Have you been disappointed or encouraged? Why?" |
|
|
"Awake
from Your Stupor,"
Jerry Goebel, One
Family Outreach. "Focus on scripture from a justice perspective." Exegesis, study, and teen study
and activities.
| "The angel had to 'wake up' Joseph from a
spiritual stupor lest he sleep away his opportunity to participate
in God’s plan. Joseph had to be moved beyond his wishy-washiness and
into a life of responsibility." |
|
| "The
Birthing of Christ," Expository Essay, Dr. William R. Long.
Part 2.
| "...I, for one, would like someone to write a
piece of imaginative literature to show how Joseph and Mary were
received after their decision to stay together." |
|
|
"The Origin of Jesus Christ: Matthew 1:1-25," by Herman C.
Waetjen.
| "Jesus therefore is the integration of both discontinuity and continuity.
As the child of Mary he is a new creation generated by the holy Spirit. As
the adopted son of Joseph he is a descendant of David and Abraham." |
|
|
"Emmanuel: God-Is-With-Us," Advent 4A,
Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R., from Sundays Into
Silence: Reflections on the Sunday Gospels in the Light of Christian
Meditation. Claretian Publications.
| "We are fairly willing to take
responsibility for "our own thing" or our own project but are not very
good about supporting what is started by others. But to be a Christian and
a Christbearer is precisely to take responsibility for the work of the
Spirit." |
|
|
"Practicing
Fidelity," Rosalind Brown. Commentary from The Christian
Century, December, 1998. At Religion Online.
| "The initial silence of God to
Joseph was just as demanding for him as the clarity of God’s words
was for Ahaz. In both situations God was testing the men: Are you
going to act faithfully?" |
|
|
"God
is a Grown-Up (Matt 1:1-25, Luke 2:40)," John C. Purdy. Chapter
1 of God With a Human Face (1993), republished at Religion
Online.
| "God not only knows
what it is like to be born, God also knows the mystery of childhood. God
is a grown-up. God knows the secret way that leads from infancy through
childhood and youth to maturity." |
|
|
"Getting with
the Plan," Chris Repp, Sabbatheology.
| "Joseph now becomes the caretaker
of God's plan." |
|
| "A
Mishnaic Commentary on Matthew 1.19," Daniel B. Wallace,
Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary.
| "...had Joseph sent a bill of
divorce to Mary it could not be retracted once it reached her
because, as far as was evident to him, she had committed an immoral
act. And although he desired to divorce her secretly, at least two
other people had to know about the matter. But since he only desired
to do this and did not actually go through with the act, her dignity
was preserved intact." |
|
|
| Articles & Background:
|
"Nativity of Jesus," wikipedia. |
|
"Empathy
and the New Testament," L. Ann Jervis, McMaster
Journal of Theology and Ministry, 2000.
| "Empathy connotes not just
listening to another’s story but also participating in the
other’s story, so that the listener not only hears and believes
the facts of another’s experience, but actually feels the
experience at some level. To have empathy with another is not
simply to believe what that person says but to feel along with that
person, to participate in that person’s experience.
" |
|
| Companion Pieces at
Religion
OnLine, adapted from The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, 1998.
|
"God's
Way of Acting," N.T. Wright.
| "If
the first two chapters of Matthew and the first two of Luke had
never existed, I do not suppose that my own Christian faith, or that
of the church to which I belong, would have been very different. But
since they do, and since for quite other reasons I have come to
believe that the God of Israel, the world's creator, was personally
and fully revealed in and as Jesus of Nazareth, I hold open my
historical judgment and say: If that's what God deemed appropriate,
who am I to object?" |
|
|
"Light
in the Darkness," Marcus
Borg.
| "Thus
I do not see the basis of the birth stories as history remembered.
Yet I think these stories are true. To use familiar terminology, I
see these stories as history metaphorized, that is, as metaphorical
narratives. And the history that is being metaphorized is not the
birth itself but the Jesus story as a whole. With beauty and power,
these symbolic narratives express central early Christian
convictions about the significance of Jesus." |
|
|
| Virgin Birth: Child of the
Holy Ghost, from And Adam Knew Eve: A Dictionary of
Sex in the Bible, by Ronald L. Ecker. |
|
| Articles in
ATLAS Journals. (Direct link when you are
subscribed and logged in to
ATLASerials online collection of Religion and Theology Journals.):
| Allison, Dale C., Jr., "Divorce,
Celibacy, and Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25 and 19:1-12)," Journal for the
Study of the New Testament, 1993.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Bauer, David R., "The Kingship of
Jesus in the Matthean Infancy Narrative: A Literary Analysis," The
Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1995.
Image Browse -
PDF |
| Borg, Marcus, "Light in the
Darkness," The Christian Century, 1998.
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PDF |
| Brown, Raymond E.,
"The Annunciation to Joseph," Worship, 1987.
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PDF |
| Brown, Rosalind, "Practicing
Fidelity," The Christian Century, 1988.
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PDF |
| Carter, Warren,
"Evoking Isaiah: Matthean Soteriology and an Intertextual Reading of Isaiah
7-9 and Matthew 1:23 and 4:15-16," Journal of Biblical Literature,
2000.
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PDF |
| Copenhaver, Martin B., "Jesus' Other
Parent," Journal for Preachers, 2007. (Sermon)
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| Cousar, Charles B.,
"Disruptive Hope: New Testament Texts for Advent," Journal for
Preachers, 2001. (Section begins on page 29.)
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PDF |
| Craddock, Fred B.,
"The Surprise and Joy of Advent," The Living Pulpit, 1997.
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| Crossan, John Dominic, "A Tale of Two
Gods," The Christian Century, 1993.
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| Davis, Charles Thomas,
"Tradition and Redaction in Matthew 1:18-2:23," Journal of Biblical
Literature, 1971.
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| Dodson, Derek S., "Dreams, the Ancient Novels, and
the Gospel of Matthew: An Intertextual Study," Perspectives in
Religious Studies, 2002.
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PDF |
| Gaventa, Beverly R., "He Comes as One
Unknown," The Christian Century, 1993.
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| Gnuse, Robert,
"Dream Genre in the Matthean Infancy Narratives," Novum Testamentum,
1990.
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PDF |
| Kingsbury, Jack Dean, "The Title 'Son
of David' in Matthew's Gospel," Journal of Biblical Literature,
1976.
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| Klassen-Wiebe, Sheila, "Matthew
1:18-25, Expository Article," Interpretation, 1992.
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| Lagrand, James,
"How Was the Virgin Mary 'Like a Man'? A Note on Matthew 1:18b and Related
Syriac Christian Texts," Novum Testamentum, 1980.
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PDF |
| Marty, Peter W., "Wake-Up Call,"
The Christian Century, 2004.
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PDF |
| Mendenhall, Laura S.,
"Adoption," sermon, Journal for Preachers, 2001.
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PDF |
| Menken, Maarten J.J., "The Textual Form of the
Quotation from Isaiah 7:14 in Matthew 1:23," Novum Testamentum,
2001.
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| Nestingen, James Arne, "The Matthean Advent Gospels,"
Word & World, 1992.
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PDF |
| Niedner, Frederick, "What Child Is This?" The
Christian Century, 2004.
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PDF |
| Nolland J., "No Son-of God Christology in Matthew
1:18-25," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1996.
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PDF |
| Repschinski, Boris,
"'For He Will Save His People from Their Sins' (Matthew 1:21): A Christology
for Christian Jews," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2006.
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| Richter, Kimberly Clayton, "The Advent Texts:
Glorious Visions, Dogged Discipleship," Journal for Preachers,
2004.
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| Scott, Bernard Brandon,
"The Birth of the Reader," Semeia, 1991.
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| Tatum, W. Barnes, "'The Origin of
Jesus Messiah' (Matthew 1:1, 18a): Matthew's Use of the Infancy
Traditions," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1977.
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PDF |
| Via, Dan O., Jr.,
"Narrative world and Ethical Response: The Marvelous and Righteousness in
Matthew 1-2," Semeia, 1978.
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PDF |
| Vinson, Richard, "'King of the Jews': Kingship and
Anti-Kingship Rhetoric in Matthew's Birth, Baptism, and Transfiguration
Narratives," Review & Expositor, 2007.
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PDF |
| Wardlaw, Theodore J., "Preaching the Advent Texts,"
Journal for Preachers, 2007. (Section begins on page 7.)
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PDF |
| Weaver, Dorothy Jean,
"Rewriting the Messianic Script: Matthew's Account of the Birth of Jesus,"
Interpretation, 2000.
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PDF |
| Wright, N.T., "God's Way of Acting,"
The Christian Century, 1998.
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PDF |
| Young, Robert D.,
"Matthew's Christmas Allegory," Journal for Preachers, 2003.
Image Browse -
PDF |
|
| Reviews:
| Aus, Roger David,
Matthew 1-2 and the Virginal Conception: In Light of Palestinian and
Hellenistic Traditions on the Birth of Israel's First Redeemer, Moses.
University Press of America, 2004.
Review
by Wayne Meeks, Review of Biblical Literature, 2006. |
|
| Sermons:
|
"Believe in the Dreams of the Person You Love," the Very Rev. Samuel
G. Candler, Day 1, 2007. |
|
"The Birth of Christ and the Birth of Christmas," Advent 4A, B, C, Rev.
Edward F. Markquart, Sermons from Seattle. |
|
"Joseph and the Virgin Birth,"
Advent 4A, Rev. Edward F. Markquart, Sermons from Seattle. |
|
"Fulfillment: God Is Here," John Jewell, 1998. |
| "God Bearers (Matthew 1:18-24),"
Real
Video Sermon, On-Line
Illustrated Sermon, accompanying Bible
Study and Devotion
by Mike
Slaughter, Ginghamsburg Church, December 2000.
|
| "God Smugglers (Matthew
2:13-15)," Real
Video Sermon, On-Line
Illustrated Sermon, accompanying Bible
Study and Devotion
by Mike
Slaughter, Ginghamsburg Church, December 2000.
|
|
Father Andrew M. Greeley,
"Priest, Author, Sociologist". Commentary and Homily
|
|
| With Children:
|
"Jesus'
Birth," Illustrating the Story (lessons, children's sermons),
coloring pages, activity sheets, crafts, children's songs. MSSS Crafts. |
|
"To See God,"
Rev. Dr. Edgar Mayer, Lutheran Church of Australia. |
|
"Finding a Good Job," Lois Parker Edstrom, Children's Sermon,
Lectionary.org. |
|
"Jesus Is Born,
and Our Wonderful Story Begins," Sunday School
Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc. |
|
Crossword on Matthew 1, Don Crownover's Bible Puzzles. |
|
"Figures of Faith: A Series of Children's Messages for Advent," Laura
Venhuizen, Reformed Worship. |
|
The Christmas Story Crossword Puzzle, downloadable and interactive
online, based on the NRSV Christmas stories from Matthew and Luke. Bruce
Gillette, Limestone Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, DE. |
|
| Drama: |
| Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
|
Clip Art, Matthew
1:20, Fr. Richard Lonsdale, Resources for Catholic Educators. |
| Clip Art Images:
Matthew 1:18-24, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú. |
|
Matthew 1:18-23, Liturgical Drawing, Maria d.c. Zamora,
Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use
these for free.") |
|
Matthew 1:18-23,
at
Cerezo Barredo's weekly gospel illustration.
Liberation emphasis. |
|
| Hymns and Music:
|
| Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week</ | |
