First Reading • Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm • Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Second Reading • Romans 1:1-7
Gospel • Matthew 1:18-24
How many prophecies about Jesus do you think are in the Old Testament? Fifty? One hundred? Maybe one hundred and fifty?
Scripture scholars have counted as many as 300 Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Some place the number as high as 350.
These prophecies begin in the very first chapters of the Bible. After Adam and Eve fall into sin, God promises the woman that one of her “seed” would crush the head of the serpent who deceived them.
A prophecy Christians have always seen fulfilled in Christ. Later, when David is anointed king, God promises that one of his descendants would sit on his throne forever.
During Advent we listen to the prophet Isaiah, who offers some of the most beautiful messianic prophecies. Today we hear one of the clearest: “The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called Emmanuel” – God-with-us.
These are only three of the more than three hundred prophecies that point to Jesus Christ.
No other religion makes such a claim that its founder was announced by God centuries before His birth. Only Jesus Christ.
In today’s Gospel, the angel tells Joseph that the child in Mary’s womb is the Son of God. His Father is none other than God Himself.
Saint Matthew introduces the narrative by saying, “The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.”
The title “Christ” is simply the Greek form of “Messiah,” meaning “Anointed One.”
Since Israelite kings were anointed with oil, people expected the Messiah to be a powerful, royal figure – the fulfillment of God’s promise to David that a king from his line would rule forever. Jesus is that Messiah – the King whose kingdom does not pass away. But His kingdom is not like earthly kingdoms. Many failed to believe in Him because they expected a warrior king flashing visible power. Instead, Jesus comes humbly – born in a stable, laid in a manger, living among the poor, healing the sick, lifting the lowly, and converting hearts.
He never forced anyone to follow Him. Roman emperors-built armies by coercion; Jesus builds a kingdom through love. His power is not violence or domination; His power is mercy.
This is the great contrast of Christianity:
The kingdoms of the world rise by the sword… but the Kingdom of God rises by the Cross.
Violence builds empires that eventually collapse, like Rome.
But love – sacrificial, self-giving love – builds a kingdom that will never fall.
The gospel of Jesus Christ; despite every attempt to silence it; continues to be proclaimed throughout the world.
Jesus the Messiah reveals God’s true intention for humanity – a power used not to crush but to lift up, not to dominate but to heal.
As followers of Jesus, we must imitate that love. Christianity is not a self-help program or a pathway to self-fulfillment. To follow Jesus means to serve others, to deny ourselves, to pick up our cross each day. It means loving to the point of sacrifice – because that is what He did.
Why would anyone choose such a life? Why choose service over selfishness? Because we have seen the love of God made visible in Jesus Christ.
When we fall in love with God, no sacrifice seems too great. In Jesus – especially in His Cross – we see love in its fullness. And that love urges us to share it with the world.
Consider Joseph in today’s Gospel. When he discovers Mary is pregnant, he must feel confusion and heartbreak. He could have denounced her publicly. Instead, out of love, he chooses to spare her.
His plan to “divorce her quietly” meant that he would bear the shame, not Mary. Joseph loved her that deeply.
Joseph also loved God. So, when the angel told him that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, he believed. He trusted that nothing is impossible for God.
He was not afraid to take Mary into his home because he knew that when God asks for sacrifice, it is always to give us something even better.
And he trusted that God would give him everything he needed to be a good husband to Mary and a loving father to Jesus.
Jesus is the Messiah; the promised One. His name, “Jesus,” means that He will save His people from their sins, from everything that leads us toward violence, selfishness, and indifference. He is truly Emmanuel – God with us. To see Jesus is to see God. To receive Jesus is to receive God’s love – the only power capable of transforming the world.
All prophecy leads to the true King whose throne is the Cross.
All God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
As we draw near to Christmas, let us not be afraid to welcome Him into our homes and into our hearts. His coming brings not fear but love, not domination but peace, not destruction but life.arkness to light, from death to life.
