18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘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 Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ 22 All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God with us.’ 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.

God declares his will in many ways, through the intrinsic order established in nature, in the scriptures which bear witness to his dealings with his people, and through the prophets who announce in words and signs God’s abiding love for us and his judgement upon our wrongdoing. Despite the laws which God has given to us in the world and in his word, still we allow pride and greed to lead us astray. Sometimes it takes a prophetic act to recall us to the truth, as the Archbishop of York has demonstrated, cutting up his clerical collar to remind us of the suffering of Zimbabwe until the crisis there is resolved. The sign given to the House of David is that a young woman will bear a son and will call him Immanuel, or God-is-with-us, for Ahaz prefers to trust in the king of Assyria rather than in the power of God.

The cumulative witness of the prophets through the centuries points to a decisive moment chosen by God, in which history will take a new course for both Israel and the whole world. This moment is identified by Paul and by the Church as the coming of the one who has been anointed by God, descended by birth from the royal House of David, and revealed as the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead. His messianic status is shown and confirmed in the completion of the long prophetic tradition, and demonstrated by his victory over death as a sign not only to the House of David but to all the nations. The gospel is to be preached universally, good news which is attested not only by his words but by the sign of the cross.

The ancient prophecy of Isaiah finds its fulfilment centuries later in God’s plan for salvation, in the person of Mary, whose child is conceived by the power of God before the time of her marriage to Joseph. This intervention in our history signifies that the child to be born is more than a prophet or even a king, for even the greatest men in history have sometimes come from humble origins. Uniquely we learn that Mary’s child truly is the Son of God, information which must have come to the evangelists from Mary herself, treasuring in her heart the earliest memories of the Saviour whom she bore. As the Church began to record in scripture the life and words of Jesus, it established that from the very beginning there were unmistakable signs that he truly was the anointed Son of God, the Messiah sent to bring life to his people, and through Israel to the whole world. As happens so often in sacred history, God reveals himself to us not in kingly power, but in weakness and great humility.