St. Matthew 1 Dearly beloved,
We gather amidst the light of candles and the flicker of fire. We fix our gaze this night upon the wondrous miracle that is preached by the apostles. On the occasion of the Christmas Eve Vigil we find contrasts. In fact, the whole Christian existence is one of contrasts and surprising reversals. One looks first at the Garden of Eden and we see that a beautiful, perfect existence for Adam and Eve is forever changed. They go from the illumination of God’s favor to the darkness of alienation. A good understanding of the Old Testament would show one that all the generations that come from Abraham demonstrate going from darkness to light and back to darkness, again. Israel in bondage to hard-hearted Pharaoh, they are set free and enter the promised land. We see such contrasts even in the genealogy of Jesus Himself in St. Matthew 1. The genealogy lists four women. These women did not fit the usual Jewish mold for a kingly genealogy. Tamar was a seductress and pretended to be a prostitute. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was a Gentile, a Moabitess, and we hear that Solomon, the great king of the Jews came forth from David and “the wife of Uriah, ” implying David’s sin. What should have been a grand and illuminating genealogy was in fact a demonstration of the darkness of sin, even within the genealogy of Jesus. This is not to the degradation of Jesus. This illumines something more important for us to behold. St. Matthew had a point. Matthew wanted the Jewish people to see what he had been taught. The puzzle pieces had come together. Matthew’s world had been illuminated by the light that dispels the darkness. Matthew so desperately wanted to illumine the lives of the Jewish people. He gives the genealogy of Jesus, the great Davidic line, the line of the great Solomon. There at the end of the genealogy is Jesus. In fact, of the four gospels, only Matthew shows Joseph’s struggle over the pregnancy of Mary. Joseph, a just man, was minded within himself to put Mary away quietly. It is Matthew who gives us the account of Joseph having a dream, where an Angel of the Lord comes to him. It is what this angel says to Joseph that is worth pondering: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Joseph is a son of David. The Jews are sons of David. One of their own, Joseph, came to believe. The angel continued speaking to Joseph, “She shall bring forth a son and you shall call him Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Then St. Matthew proceeds to quote the prophet Isaiah in this regard: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted means, ‘God with us.’” Old Testament Scripture was fulfilled in Jesus. The chapter concludes by pointing out that Joseph did as he was told. He took Mary as his wife and in time she brought forth Jesus. Joseph had been sitting in darkness, in the darkness of the Pharisees. It was one thing to be waiting for the Messiah to come, but it was a completely different matter when the Messiah is in the womb of the woman to whom you were to be married. Similarly, it was one thing to be thinking of the Messiah’s future coming to save His people. It was a completely different matter to have that time be right in the midst of Joseph’s earthly life. Joseph’s world was illumined. The Bible is a running commentary on the works of God in the midst of His creation. We sit this night among the flicker of candlelight, a symbolic way of demonstrating the entire revelation of the Holy Scriptures in a dark, blind world. The prophet Isaiah tells all, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined”(Isaiah 9:2). The Bible is surrounded, then, with example after example of people sitting within the darkness of unbelief and then being illuminated by the love of Jesus. St. Paul is a good example. He persecuted the church, arresting and killing Christians. Then Jesus meets Paul on the road to Damascus and blinds him. Three days later when one of God’s men comes to Paul, scales fall from his eyes and then he is baptized. The candles that flicker in your midst tonight are meant to be a reminder to you concerning your life. The fallen nature of mankind has rendered its inhabitants to be in darkness. They do not understand Jesus. They do not know who He is and what He has done for them. The people of the world live as though God doesn’t exist. They live sinful lives filled with vice and lewd behavior. Do you? But we are reminded in the Holy Scriptures, such as 2 Peter 1:19. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you would do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the day star arises in your hearts.” Psalm 119:105 speaks of the existence of godliness: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Most do not realize, even a good many Christians, that by virtue of Adam’s sin, all the world walks in darkness. The coming of God in the flesh is God dispelling the darkness. What does the birth of Jesus mean for you, for the church, for the world? God in the flesh means that Jesus will walk in the shadows of darkness in your place. Psalm 23 speaks of the Messiah. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil. It is Jesus who walks in the valley of the shadow of everlasting death. He does this in the flesh. He takes your place. Jesus takes your sins. He takes the condemnation meant for you, and He bears it for you. This is that reversal and the great contrast that characterizes the life of the Christian. Jesus who is the light of the world, takes on flesh and walks in darkness. Jesus takes this and brings you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. God’s people from of old have understood the light of Christ as not only illuminating but being a source of comfort and protection. Even Job in the midst of his terrible suffering exclaims, “Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness”(Job 29:2-3). The candle of God shines upon your head. The incarnation and birth of Jesus is the first of many victories that God has over darkness. The day is far spent and the night is at hand. Light your candles and think on the way of Jesus, for truly, “he who walks in darkness has seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined”(Isaiah 9:2). God marks your way with the birth of Jesus. The light illumines your path in front of you as Jesus bears the cross for you. Because of this babe in the manger, you have the blessings of seeing your salvation. You behold the mystery of the entire Bible wrapped in swaddling cloths. You behold your salvation. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall www.frchadius.blogspot.com Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
