Jeremiah 23:5-8 / Matthew 1:18-24
Jeremiah prophesies: A descendant of David will rule as king.
A king who had no sons to succeed him posted a sign inviting young men in his kingdom to become his adopted son and rule after him. There were only two qualifications.
The boy must love God and neighbor deeply. A young peasant boy felt moved to apply, but he lacked decent clothes for the interview. Finally, he saved enough money for the clothes. As the boy neared the palace, he came upon a shivering old man begging for clothes. The boy was moved to pity and gave the beggar the clothes he had brought for the interview. Then the boy went on to the castle, wondering if he would be admitted in rags. The boy did gain admittance. When he came to the throne room, he couldn’t believe his eyes. On the throne sat the shivering old man. The king smiled and said, “Welcome, my son.”****
How
generous are we to those in need? The shivering child in the manger turned out
to be the King of Kings.
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When
the kings of God’s people had not fulfilled their mission of guiding the people
to God, the prophet Jeremiah announces that God would do a way with them and
become himself the shepherd of his people. But he will make this new beginning
through a man, a virtuous shoot of the house of David. Through him, God would
become his people’s integrity, the cause of our fidelity.
In the
New Testament, as Matthew tells us, Jesus is this Son of David through Joseph
and Mary and at the same time, God’s own Son. He is indeed “God our integrity,”
and Immanuel, “God-with-us,” Jesus, whose name means “Savior.”
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Most of us would consider ourselves as a common
average person. We don't expect to become someone famous and popular, nor
become someone of high importance like being the President or the Prime
Minister, or the Pope or the Bishop. Most of us would consider ourselves to be
like Joseph, who makes an honest living with his carpentry skills, puts his
faith in God and is a man of honour. Like the people of his time, Joseph was
also waiting for the promise of the Messiah to be fulfilled. But did Joseph
expect it to be fulfilled during his time? And did he ever expect that he would
have an important role in this fulfillment of the promise of God?
Obviously it would be "No". In fact, when Mary was found to be with
child through the Holy Spirit, Joseph being a man of honour and wanting to
spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally.
Yet Joseph accepted the will of God through the promptings in a dream. We may
not have dreams like Joseph to tell us what God wants of us. But we have the
Word of God, the Holy Scriptures to guide us to discern God's will. And we also
have Jesus, the Emmanuel, who will be with us to help us be the person that God
wants us to be.
****
Lord, faithful God, in Jesus, you have given us someone taken from our human flesh and blood, a man, yet your Son, through whom you want to restore integrity and fidelity among us. With him, help us to give to you and also to one another, the proper and adequate response of faithful, serving love, that you expect from your people. Be our God for ever through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
