This post offers visual resources for the week of December 18, 2022 in the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary. It is the fourth Sunday of Advent and we light the candle of Love. It is also the great convergence where the Revised Common Lectionary and the Narrative Lectionary call for the same Gospel text. Matthew 1:18-25 tells the story of Joseph’s dream when a divine messenger tells him to take Mary to be his wife and they should name the child Jesus and call him Immanuel, God is with us.
This week we light the fourth Advent Candle. You can download this virtual advent wreath for FREE and use it on your own website, social media platforms, and in worship. Enjoy!
Revised Common Lectionary AND the Narrative Lectionary | Matthew 1:18-25 | Joseph’s Dream of Immanuel
This year we draw from the Gospel of Matthew in the RCL and the NL. We have looked at John the Baptist for the last two weeks. This week we role back the timeline thirty years and meet Mary and Joseph.Â
What’s In A Name?
This image come from page 1 in A Cartoonist’s Guide to Matthew.
Mary and Joseph were betrothed to be married, but had not been together yet. Mary becomes pregnant. This is a huge scandal. According to the Law of Moses, Joseph had the right to dissolve the engagment and turn Mary away.
Joseph is visited by a divine messenger and told that the child in Mary’s womb was special in a few ways:
- He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
- He fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14.
- He will be the savior of the people. Therefore, give him an appropriate name…
Jesus is called two things in this passage. First, Jesus. This is the Hebrew name Joshua. The name literally means Jehovah Saved. It was the name of Moses’ successor at the end of the Torah (the Exodus story).
Second, Jesus is called Immanuel. It is another Hebrew term that means God is with us.
emanu = with us
el = God
Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 when the prophet comforts Jerusalem during their time of beseigment that God would be with them through the trials. In that context, the child born to a “young maiden” (not necessarily a sexual virgin) was actually Isaiah’s own son. Isaiah was using the span of his son’s lifetime as a timetable for how long it would take for the events he was discussing to unfold.
Matthew is making all kinds of connections between Jesus and the Hebrew scriptures in this chapter.
His main point: Jesus is the Messiah that the Jewish people have been waiting for and, like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and David, he will rescue his people.
Preview PowerPoint
Feel free to use any or all of these slides and images in your own preaching and teaching.
[slideshare id=254436825&doc=matthew1-2-221123132438-3ac40b3b&w=800&h=350]
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