Year A, 4th Sunday of Advent (December 19, 2010)

·         Isaiah 7:10-16

·         Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 (7)

·         Romans 1:1-7

·         Matthew 1:18-25

This thing in Matthew is one of the least convincing stories in the four Gospels. First of all, because he added it. It's not in Mark, and Mark was written first. Did Mark not have this information? It seems pretty important. It's the one thing that everyone today knows about Jesus. Don't you think the same would have been true in the first century? How could Mark never have heard of it, and then twenty years later, Matthew knows about it? That's not really plausible.

On top of that, the birth story introduces contradictions. Between Matthew and Luke, who is even worse, we find out that many people knew Jesus was the Son of God. First Mary, then Joseph, then Elizabeth and the yet-unborn John the Baptist, and presumably Zechariah; then a bunch of shepherds, and/or the wise men and Herod; then Simeon and Anna at the Temple. And not only that, but in Luke's story, the glory of God appears, and an angel, and a multitude of the heavenly host (Luke 2:9-13). The glory of God is not discrete; it comes with a huge light and a lot of noise. People notice the glory of God. It's not something that manifests itself secretly or inconspicuously. If the glory of God appeared to announce the birth of Christ, surrounded on top of that by a multitude of the heavenly host, people would most certainly not have slept through it.

So between Matthew and Luke, we find out that the birth of Jesus was announced by angels, the glory of God, and a multitude of the heavenly host, and at the very least eleven people; but somehow nobody does anything about it at the time; Jesus's bestest buddy Simon never hears that story; and the first guy to write it up doesn't bother mentioning it. Also, by the way, Luke has Joseph living in Nazareth before marriage, whereas Matthew has him moving to Nazareth after living in Egypt for several years to hide from Herod.

Naturally, as a result of these inconsistencies, there is now considerable doubt as to whether Jesus was actually conceived by a virgin and the Holy Spirit. And the funny thing, or maybe the sad thing, is that none of this conception debate is at all necessary. The conception and birth of Jesus are actually not important, which is probably why Mark never mentioned it.

You might say to me, "of course the conception and birth are important; it's the whole point of this." But it's not. The whole point is his death, not his birth. Jesus asked us to remember his death, not his birth. We are redeemed by his death, not his birth. We don't even know the date of his birth, and probably neither did he. Matthew and Luke certainly didn't. But everyone is pretty sure how, when and why he died. That is the important thing.

Again you might say to me that his death is important because of his conception and his birth, but it isn't. It's important because he was the Son of God. To be the Son of God he doesn't need to be conceived by a virgin and the Holy Spirit and to have angels and rich men and the glory of God attending his birth. All he needs is the word of God.

Remember how John was immersing people in the Jordan to formalise their purification from sin and rebirth as purer beings? That's where Mark begins his story. And this guy Jesus, the firstborn son of the carpenter, comes to him to be immersed. And this is what the three say about it:

And when Jesus had been immersed, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17)

And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1:10-11)

Now when all the people were immersed, and when Jesus also had been immersed and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Luke 3:21-22)

That is when God announced Jesus as his son. That's all he needs. God's word creates what it declares. There is no need for virgin births. At the moment when Jesus emerges from the water, being reborn as a new person, God declares: this is my son. And so Jesus is created the Son of God, whether he was conceived miraculously or not.

To emphasise this point, some versions of Luke read instead "You are my Son, the Beloved; this day have I begotten thee." This version is in fact alleged to be older than the standard one. But as we've seen, you can't believe everything you read in Luke. The alternate version might have been a forgery to try to support the adoptionist theory. It's not necessary. What Mark wrote down as the beginning of Jesus's story is all that we need.

So... All this big fuss about Christmas? Sure, if you enjoy it. But keep in mind, it's not really important, and it's very possibly not even true. What matters is that Christ died for our sins.

Praise be to God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.