The Fourth Sunday of Advent - December 21, 2025

Summary

Mother Suzanne explores Matthew's brief two-verse account of Jesus' birth, focusing on Joseph's perspective as the earthly father who, like Noah, demonstrated righteousness through silent obedience to God's plan. Despite the challenging circumstances, Joseph chose to stay and marry Mary after receiving divine guidance through a dream, showing how ordinary people can participate in God's extraordinary story. On this fourth Sunday of Advent, when the candle of love is lit, we are reminded that our Emmanuel comes to bring love, healing, and transformation to those who trust and obey like Joseph did.

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                              Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
 and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. 

Transcript

Mother Suzanne:

Restore us, oh Lord God of hosts, show the light of your accountance and we shall be saved. In the name of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Please be seated. Well, good morning and we have entered into the gospel of Matthew. And in Matthew's version of the telling of Jesus in two verses, just two, we are clued into the birth of Jesus. This is what the verses say. Now the birth of Jesus, the Messiah took place in this way. And Joseph had no marital relations with her until she had born a son and he named him Jesus.

Think for just a moment. Two verses. Tell the birth of the Messiah. Literally, if you sneeze or coughed long and hard enough, you could miss the whole thing in the gospel of Matthew. For Matthew, the important thing seems to be stating that the Messiah has been born. The details that we find in the gospel of Luke just aren't there. We don't have this picturesque painting of a baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. That is not the way Matthew tells the birth story of Jesus. However, this is what makes my heart tender towards the story. What we do get in Matthew is the unique perspective of the birth of the Messiah from the view of his earthly Father Joseph. Many stories in the Bible have main characters as men, but this is the only birth story in the entire Bible told from the perspective of the Father led by Joseph.

But in an interesting way, and this is also very interesting, Joseph doesn't say a word. Not one word does he say.

Joseph doesn't say anything about how he feels, what he thinks, or how best to maneuver a difficult situation. In fact, there is complete silence. Not a word is spoken. God comes to him by way of a dream, and that is how Joseph knows what to do. No discussion was needed, but even in the silence, it is made clear that Joseph has been chosen because he is righteous. Well, in scripture, there is another character who is remembered for those exact same words being righteous. Maybe somebody in here knows who that person is. One day, God comes to this man and asks him to build a boat. A boat big enough to store his entire family, lots of animals, because a massive flood was going to come and cover the earth. God says, "If you build this arc, you will be safe." Does anybody know who this righteous man might be?

Noah.

Noah also didn't argue with God. Noah listened to God and was obedient. Therefore, he too is righteous. So just like Noah, Joseph didn't say anything, and we only know that he is righteous by his actions. Even in the midst of a difficult situation, Joseph wants to do what is most honoring for Mary. He wants to quietly leave and leave her be. Don't create a stir. He knows Mary isn't a predicament and he doesn't want to be a part of that predicament. Even still, he wants to honor her. He doesn't want to cause Mary any harm. He wants to leave.

But then a miracle happens. An angel comes to Joseph while he's dreaming. Reassures him, "Don't be afraid," Joseph. The angel is the one that does all of the talking to Joseph and tells him exactly what he needs to do. So when Joseph wakes up, he's not confused. He's clear in his spirits and he's resolute in knowing what he is to do now. He chooses to stay. He chooses to act in a way that was counter to what he should have done. He married her. He didn't leave. He was righteous even in a challenging and difficult situation. He was able to, in that moment, show and know that a greater story was being written and he had an important part to play in it. Not important words to say, but he had an important role to play.

Perhaps Joseph knew and fully understood that he would be the earthly father of the savior of the world. My hunch is that he probably didn't fully comprehend what that means. How could any one person know what that would mean? More than likely, it was probably not even on his radar. But my guess is that he knew something special was happening and he had a part in this grander story. And his part was one of doing and acting in obedience and being present. Just like what a lot of good men continue to do. In many ways, he's living into what I've experienced most men good men to be like. They're providers. They're problem solvers. Sometimes sparse in their words, but constant steady anchors.

And in a difficult situation, we find Joseph is not only honorable, but he is righteous. And truly, this is another miracle of the story. God comes to two people who are very, very ordinary and very, very young. But at the same time, both of them have truly extraordinary responses to God. They weren't superhuman, but they chose differently than what others might have. They were obedient. They had willing and open hearts that God would use for his purpose. And in this case, we're clued in, just like with the story of Noah, that things are going to end well.

We know this because from the get- go, we are told Joseph was righteous. And Joseph, through his steadiness, his obedience, it didn't thwart the plan of God. As odd and hard as it may have been, he did exactly what was asked of him. And some might say, when an angel comes to you, you don't have a choice, but he did. And he chose what was righteous and good. This is where the story hits home from me today. This might give us all pause for thought. How often by our actions and choices that we choose to partake in could in fact thwart the grand story of God, or the opposite is true as well.

By Joseph's actions, we are clued into his spirit and his willingness to be used. And I'm hoping that the story of Joseph is clear why it is on the last Sunday of Advent. His Joseph, he too had his own season of waiting, of expectation, of not knowing how it would all turn out. But what did he do? He trusted and he obeyed. So on this fourth Sunday of Advent where the candle of love is lit, we know that our Emmanuel is soon to come. Thanks be to God. He will be here soon. And just like Joseph, a man of few words, we too don't have to say a thing. We too can revel in this notion that a savior will be given to us, a savior who is among us, even as we wait for his arrival. What matters is that he came so that we might know love.

We might know healing. And most importantly, that we might be changed by a savior who became fully human so that he might fully understand us and we be so moved in our hearts to love him. Amen. And