Main news for 21 September 2025

Each evangelist describes the Nativity, setting the emphases in his own way. Matthew pays special attention to Joseph. It would seem that in this case Joseph's role is more that of an observer than of an active participant. But that is only at first glance. And it is not only that he had to accept what was happening as part of his own life. The point is that on earth he was to become, in effect, the adoptive father of the Messiah. He did not become, and could not become, His father by blood. But every child, even one born as the Messiah was born, needs a father. Not only the heavenly Father, but also an earthly father. If not a biological one, then an adoptive one. After all, the Messiah had to grow up as a Man. It is not easy for a boy without a father to grow up as a man with a capital M, even when we understand that capital letter in human terms.

If the Messiah had been meant to grow up less a Man than anyone else, perhaps He would not have needed an earthly father at all. But He had to grow up more truly Man than any of us. And therefore an earthly father was absolutely necessary for Him. Only such a father had to be one who could in no way and by nothing harm Him, who could not even inadvertently introduce into His human nature anything incompatible with the fullness of God that the Messiah bears within Himself from the very moment of His conception.

There is little hope in flesh and blood here, not because they are nature, but because in humanity's present condition they are fallen nature. And until the complete transfiguration of the human person, this cannot be corrected. The spiritual life of a person is different: here, even in the fallen state, much can be achieved. A person's soul is more easily corrected than his body. And if it does not become ideal, it is at least possible to make sure that its sinfulness does not poison the life of one's neighbor.

This is, of course, not simple. Direct help from God and effort from the person himself are needed, but a result can be achieved here. Therefore the adoptive father remained the only option in the case of the Messiah, whose human nature had to remain free from sin. And Joseph's consent to this path was required. By taking his wife, he gives God that consent. And he becomes the earthly father of the Messiah. Adoptive, but no less real for that.

Mat 1:20-21

NOTES

Today we read about perhaps the most terrible moment in the life of Saint Joseph. The girl whom he loved, whom he considered the purest and most beautiful - this girl is pregnant by someone unknown... For Joseph this had to become a catastrophe...

Compared with Mark's Gospel, which we have already read, this Gospel brings completely new information: Jesus did not come from heaven already grown and immediately begin preaching; He...

Today at the liturgy we read the whole first chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, which includes Christ's genealogy and the account of His Nativity in Bethlehem. The whole structure of this chapter is determined by a distinctive movement of the plot from Abraham, the forefather of the people of God, to the moment when Joseph gives the newborn Child His name: Jesus. On the feast day itself we will once again read the account of the Nativity from this chapter, and then the account of the adoration of the Magi. But today it is important for us to see this whole human history contained in the long list of names from Abraham to Jesus.

The evangelist Matthew, with his characteristic desire to systematize the information he presents, offers us a fairly conventional scheme of the movement of history, dividing it into three periods of fourteen generations each. It is clear that the numbers he gives are symbolic in character. In its details Matthew's genealogy differs from Luke's genealogy; this is connected with the features of the Jewish system of kinship and fatherhood. But these details are not what matters to the evangelist. Strictly speaking, he gives the genealogy of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who receives the Child born of her as his own and, to the end of his life, protects Him and serves Him. To a certain degree, this is the calling of each of us.

In speaking of the Nativity, the evangelist Matthew leaves the Annunciation outside the scope of his story and directs our attention first of all to Joseph's faith. Having believed the Angel, he rises above human weakness and limitation and becomes a participant in God's saving action. And in the person of Joseph, as later in the person of Christ's disciples, all humanity receives the Child Christ. For the Nativity is the finale of the whole history of falling away from God and seeking paths of return, the history of resisting God and the history of salvation. All human loneliness, helplessness, and mortality come to an end for us in the cave of Bethlehem, where the One is born who will remain with us always, to the end of the age.

${currentDateString}


	After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free.