Sunday Before Christmas

Transcript

1 Sunday Before Christmas Κυριακή προ Χριστού Γεννήσεως Όρθρος Κυριακής στις 8:45 π.μ. και Θ. Λειτουργία στις 10:00 π.μ. Sunday Orthros at 8:45 a.m. and D. Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. Ήχος α Εωθινόν Δ Tone: 1 st Morning Gospel: 4 th Presiding Priest: Fr. Nicholas Dassouras 18 Δεκεμβρίου December 2016

2 Την σημερινή Κυριακή εορτάζουμε την μνήμην πάντων τῶν ἀπ αἰῶνος Θεῷ εὐαρεστησάντων ἀπό Ἀδάμ ἄχρι καί Ἰωσήφ, τοῦ Μνήστορος τῆς Ὑπεραγίας Θεοτόκου, κατά γενεαλογίαν, καθώς ὁ Εὐαγγελιστής Λουκᾶς ἱστορικῶς ἠριθμήσατο ὁμοίως καί τῶν Προφητῶν καί Προφητίδων, ἐξαιρέτως δέ τοῦ Προφήτου Δανιήλ καί τῶν Ἁγίων Τριῶν Παίδων, τοῦ Ἁγίου Μάρτυρος Σεβαστιανοῦ καί τῆς συνοδείας αὐτοῦ & τοῦ Ὁσίου Πατρός ἡμῶν Μιχαήλ Συγκέλλου τοῦ Ὁμολογητοῦ. This Sunday we celebrate the memory of all the Just people, from Adam to Joseph, the Betrothed, of the Holy Prophets and Prophetesses, especially of Daniel and the Three Holy Children, of the Holy Martyr Sebastian and his Companions and of our Holy Father Michael the Confessor.

3 ΝΕΑ ΤΗΣ ΗΜΕΡΑΣ / NEWS OF THE DAY Τεσσαρακονθήμερον Μνημόσυνον υπέρ αναπαύσεως των δούλων του Θεού Παναγιώτου Κουμασίδη & Κυριάκου Σδράκα & Ετήσιον Μνημόσυνον υπέρ αναπαύσεως της δούλης του Θεού Παρθένας Παπαχρήστου Fortieth Day Memorial Service for the servants of God Panagiotis Koumasidis & Kyriakos Sdrakas & One Year Memorial Service for the servant of God Parthena Papachristou Η Μακαρία. ο καφές & τα γλυκά που θα προσφερθούν στην κοινοτική αίθουσα μετά την Θ. Λειτουργία είναι προσφορά εις μνήμην Παρθένας Παπαχρήστου, από την οικογένειά της. The Memorial Lunch & the Coffee Fellowship Hour which will be offered at the church house, following the Divine Liturgy, is offered in memory of Parthena Papahristou, by her family

4 Today at 4:00 pm Greek School Christmas Celebration

5 ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΙΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΒΔΟΜΑΔΟΣ WORSHIP SERVICES Τρίτη 20 Δεκεμβρίου 8:00 π.μ.: Όρθρος & Θ. Λειτουργία διά την Εορτήν του Αγίου Ιγνατίου Παρασκευή 23 Δεκεμβρίου 9:00 π.μ.: Μεγάλες Ώρες των Χριστουγέννων Σάββατο 24 Δεκεμβρίου 4:00-5:30 μ.μ.: Θ. Λειτουργία προ Χριστού Γεννήσεως, Μ. Εσπερινός & Κάλαντα Χριστουγέννων Tuesday, December 20 th - 8:00 a.m.: Orthros & D. Liturgy for the Feast of St. Ignatius Friday, December 23 rd - 9:00 a.m.: Great Hours of Christmas Saturday, December 24 th - 4:00-5:30 p.m.: D. Liturgy before the Nativity, Great Vespers of Christmas & Carrol Singing

6 Αναστάσιμον Ἀπολυτίκιον Ἦχος α Τοῦ λίθου σφραγισθέντος ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ στρατιωτῶν φυλασσόντων τὸ ἄχραντόν σου σῶμα, ἀνέστης τριήμερος Σωτήρ, δωρούμενος τῷ κόσμῳ τὴν ζωήν. Διὰ τοῦτο αἱ Δυνάμεις τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐβόων σοι Ζωοδότα Δόξα τῇ ἀναστάσει σου Χριστέ, δόξα τῇ Βασιλείᾳ σου, δόξα τῇ οἰκονομίᾳ σου, μόνε Φιλάνθρωπε. Απολυτίκιον των Πατέρων, ήχος δ Μεγάλα τὰ τῆς πίστεως κατορθώματα! ἐν τῇ πηγὴ τῆς φλογός, ὡς ἐπὶ ὕδατος ἀναπαύσεως, οἱ ἅγιοι τρεῖς παίδες ἠγάλλοντο, καὶ ὁ Προφήτης Δανιήλ, λεόντων ποιμήν, ὡς προβάτων ἐδείκνυτο, Ταὶς αὐτῶν ἱκεσίαις, Χριστὲ ὁ Θεός, ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς. Απολυτίκιον Αγίου Γεωργίου, Ήχος δ. Ὡς τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ἐλευθερωτὴς καὶ τῶν πτωχῶν ὑπερασπιστής, ἀσθενούντων ἰατρός, βασιλέων ὑπέρμαχος, Τροπαιοφόρε Μεγαλομάρτυς Γεώργιε, πρεσβεῦε Χριστῷ τῷ Θεῷ, σωθῆναι τάς ψυχὰς ἠμῶν. Κοντάκιον, προεόρτιον των Χριστουγέννων. Ήχος γ H παρθένος σήμερον, τὸν προαιώνιον Λόγον, ἐν σπηλαίῳ ἔρχεται, ἀποτεκεῖν ἀπορρήτως. Χόρευε ἡ οἰκουμένη ἀκουτισθεῖσα δόξασον μετὰ Ἀγγέλων καὶ τῶν Ποιμένων, βουληθέντα ἐποφθῆναι, παιδίον νέον, τὸν πρὸ αἰώνων Θεόν.

7 Αpolytikion of Resurrection, First Tone Though the tomb was sealed by a stone and soldiers guarded your pure body, yet you arose on the third day, giving life to the world. Therefore, O Giver of life, the heavenly powers praise you: Glory to your resurrection, O Christ! Glory to your kingdom! Glory to your plan of redemption, O only loving God. Αpolytikion of the Fathers, Tone Fourth Great are the accomplishments of faith. In the fountain of flame the three Holy Youths rejoiced as though they were resting by the waters. And the Prophet Daniel showed himself to be a shepherd to the lions, as though they were sheep. Through their prayers O Christ our God, save our souls. Αpolytikion for St. George, Tone Fourth As the one renowned for setting captives free, and for defending those in poverty, the physician of the sick and the champion of kings, do thou, o Victory-bearer and Great Martyr George, intercede to Christ our God for the salvation of our souls. Kontakion of pre-feasting the nativity, tone Third Today the Virgin comes to the cave to give birth ineffably to the pre-eternal Word. Hearing this, be of good cheer, O inhabited earth, and with the angels and the shepherds glorify Him whose will it was to be made manifest a young Child, the pre-eternal God.

8 Αποστολικόν Ανάγνωσμα: Eκ της προς Εβραίους Επιστολής του Αποστόλου Παύλου 11:9-10; Πίστει παρῴκησεν εἰς γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ὡς ἀλλοτρίαν, ἐν σκηναῖς κατοικήσας μετὰ Ισαὰκ καὶ Ιακὼβ τῶν συγκληρονόμων τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῆς αὐτῆς ἐξεδέχετο γὰρ τὴν τοὺς θεμελίους ἔχουσαν πόλιν, ἧς τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργὸς ὁ Θεός. Καὶ τί ἔτι λέγω ; ἐπιλείψει με γὰρ διηγούμενον ὁ χρόνος περὶ Γεδεών, Βαράκ, Σαμψών, Ιεφθάε, Δαυίδ τε καὶ Σαμουὴλ καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, οἳ διὰ πίστεως κατηγωνίσαντο βασιλείας, εἰργάσαντο δικαιοσύνην, ἐπέτυχον ἐπαγγελιῶν, ἔφραξαν στόματα λεόντων, ἔσβεσαν δύναμιν πυρός, ἔφυγον στόματα μαχαίρης, ἐδυναμώθησαν ἀπὸ ἀσθενείας, ἐγενήθησαν ἰσχυροὶ ἐν πολέμῳ, παρεμβολὰς ἔκλιναν ἀλλοτρίων ἔλαβον γυναῖκες ἐξ ἀναστάσεως τοὺς νεκροὺς αὐτῶν ἄλλοι δὲ ἐτυμπανίσθησαν, οὐ προσδεξάμενοι τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν, ἵνα κρείττονος ἀναστάσεως τύχωσιν ἕτεροι δὲ ἐμπαιγμῶν καὶ μαστίγων πεῖραν ἔλαβον, ἔτι δὲ δεσμῶν καὶ φυλακῆς ἐλιθάσθησαν, ἐπρίσθησαν, ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρης ἀπέθανον, περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι, ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος, ἐπὶ ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι καὶ ὄρεσιν καὶ σπηλαίοις καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς. Καὶ οὗτοι πάντες μαρτυρηθέντες διὰ τῆς πίστεως οὐκ ἐκομίσαντο τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν κρεῖττόν τι προβλεψαμένου, ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθῶσιν.

9 The Reading is from from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 11:9-10; BRETHREN, by faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundation, whose builder and maker is God. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephathah, of David and Samuel and the prophets - who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated - of whom the world was not worthy - wandering over deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

10 Ευαγγελικόν Ανάγνωσμα: Eκ του κατά Ματθαίον 1:1-25 Βίβλος γενέσεως Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ Δαυὶδ υἱοῦ Αβραάμ. Αβραὰμ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ισαάκ, Ισαὰκ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιακώβ, Ιακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιούδαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ, Ιούδας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Φάρες καὶ τὸν Ζάρα ἐκ τῆς Θαμάρ, Φάρες δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἑσρώμ, Ἑσρὼμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αράμ, Αρὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αμιναδάβ, Αμιναδὰβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ναασσών, Ναασσὼν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σαλμών,Σαλμὼν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Βοὸζ ἐκ τῆς Ραχάβ, Βοὸζ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιωβὴδ ἐκ τῆς Ρούθ, Ιωβὴδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιεσσαί, Ιεσσαὶ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Δαυὶδ τὸν βασιλέα. Δαυὶδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σολομῶνα ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Οὐρίου,Σολομὼν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ροβοάμ, Ροβοὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αβιά, Αβιὰ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ασάφ, Ασὰφ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιωσαφάτ, Ιωσαφὰτ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιωράμ, Ιωρὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Οζίαν, Οζίας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιωαθάμ, Ιωαθὰμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αχάζ, Αχὰζ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἑζεκίαν,Ἑζεκίας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Μανασσῆ, Μανασσῆς δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αμώς, Αμὼς δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιωσίαν, Ιωσίας δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιεχονίαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν μετοικεσίαν Βαβυλῶνος Ιεχονίας ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σαλαθιήλ, Σαλαθιὴλ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ζοροβαβέλ,Ζοροβαβὲλ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αβιούδ, Αβιοὺδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ελιακίμ, Ελιακὶμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αζώρ, Αζὼρ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σαδώκ, Σαδὼκ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Αχίμ, Αχὶμ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ελιούδ, Ελιοὺδ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ελεάζαρ, Ελεάζαρ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν

11 Ματθάν, Ματθὰν δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιακώβ, Ιακὼβ δὲ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ιωσὴφ τὸν ἄνδρα Μαρίας, ἐξ ἣς ἐγεννήθη Ιησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός. Πᾶσαι οὖν αἱ γενεαὶ ἀπὸ Αβραὰμ ἕως Δαυὶδ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ Δαυὶδ ἕως τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος ἕως τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενεαὶ δεκατέσσαρες. Τοῦ δὲ Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ γένησις οὕτως ἦν. μνηστευθείσης τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Μαρίας τῷ Ιωσήφ, πρὶν ἢ συνελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εὑρέθη ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχουσα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου. Ιωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν παραδειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν. Ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐνθυμηθέντος ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου κατ ὄναρ ἐφάνη αὐτῷ λέγων, Ιωσὴφ υἱὸς Δαυίδ, μὴ φοβηθῇς παραλαβεῖν Μαριὰμ τὴν γυναῖκά σου, τὸ γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ γεννηθὲν ἐκ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἁγίου τέξεται δὲ υἱὸν καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ιησοῦν, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. Τοῦτο δὲ ὅλον γέγονεν ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ κυρίου διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος, Ιδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσιν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Εμμανουήλ, ὅ ἐστιν μεθερμηνευόμενον Μεθ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός. Ἐγερθεὶς δὲ [ὁ] Ιωσὴφ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου ἐποίησεν ὡς προσέταξεν αὐτῷ ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου καὶ παρέλαβεν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αὐτὴν ἕως οὗ ἔτεκεν υἱόν καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ιησοῦν.

12 The Gospel Reading is from Matthew 1:1-25 The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa, and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born,

13 who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. 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; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.

14 Today's Gospel reading contains what some people think is one of the most boring parts of Scripture, a genealogy. This particular genealogy is that of Jesus. And you may be wondering, "Why should I read about the family tree?" The answer is: because family trees can actually be very interesting, especially this one. Why did Matthew begin his gospel with a family tree? First, he did so because genealogies were not uninteresting to the Jews. Without a properly researched family tree the Jews could not prove their tribal membership or right to inheritance. The Jews to whom Matthew was writing would be very impressed that Jesus could trace his lineage all the way back to Abraham. Secondly, Matthew begins with a genealogy because it summarizes Old Testament history in a memorable way and serves as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments. Thirdly, Matthew's genealogy establishes Jesus' real humanity. As one Bible commentator put it: "Jesus is no demigod from pagan mythology, but a real man with a family tree." Fourthly, Matthew's genealogy establishes Jesus' kingship, tracing his ancestry, as it does, right back to King David. And finally, Matthew turns what could be a boring family tree into an exciting statement of God's love for all people. What can we learn from the family tree? Jesus' family tree teaches us a few things about our faith.

15 We see in this genealogy that we have a faith which relies on God's grace. It is highly unusual to find women's names in a genealogy of this time period. And yet we find the mention of 5 women here: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary. All of these women, except for Mary, were Gentiles, alien to the people of God. Judah got a wife for his son Er, presumably from among the Canaanite people, and her name was Tamar. Rahab was a Canaanite. Ruth was a Moabite, a descendant of the incestuous Lot, the nephew of Abraham. There was a curse on the Moabite people. Bathsheba had been married to Uriah who was a Hittite. This shows us that our God is no narrow nationalist or racist. If even Gentiles could be included in the family tree of the Messiah, then all types of people can be included in God's family. 4 out of 5 of these women were suspected of, or actually committed adultery. Judah and Tamar committed adultery with one another, resulting in the births of Perez and Zerah. Rahab had been a prostitute in Jericho before Joshua and his men took the city. Bathsheba and David committed adultery with one another. Ruth was not an adulteress. But then there was Mary who was suspected of adultery. I think that Matthew is trying to tell us that God works in some mysterious ways and through some surprising people. Jesus' genealogy also includes some of the most evil kings of the Old

16 Testament: Joram, Ahaz, Amon. What are we to make of this? We may conclude that God did not stoop into our sordid human story at Christmas only; he was stooping all the way through the Old Testament. There is a play by Oliver Goldsmith entitled: She Stoops to Conquer. One of the lead characters, a young, single man was very shy around high society women, but was very forward with women of the lower class. One of the high society women whom young Marlowe met actually fell in love with him. However, she couldn't seem to connect with him because he was always so nervous when he was around her. Her solution was to dress up as one of the servants. Thus the title of the play: She Stoops to Conquer. Stooping to conquer is exactly what our Lord did throughout the entire Old Testament, and that is supremely what he did in his incarnation which we celebrate at Christmas. In order to conquer sin, God stooped down to become a human being. He became part of sinful humanity. The reason why he stooped in this way was in order to conquer sin, by paying sin's penalty for people like you and me. He had to be fully human to pay that price, but he also had to be fully divine, and sinless, in order to pay for the sins of humanity. Matthew's genealogy of Jesus reveals to us a God who stoops in love to conquer sin.

17 What application is there for us in all of this? First: Be patient in waiting for God's answers; God always keeps his word. God promised in the Old Testament times that he would send a Messiah, a king, to save his people from their sins, and he did. God will keep his promises to you as well. Second: Matthew's genealogy helps us to recognize that all Scripture has value. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful..." In a home Bible study in Ireland in the home of Doug and Merrie Gresham who is the step-son of C. S. Lewis, a priest told Doug that he wanted to teach on the Gospel of Matthew in their home Bible study. He said, "Fine, but why don't you skip over the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew." The priest said, "No, I think we should start from the very beginning of the Gospel and not skip over anything." Doug agreed, reluctantly. Interestingly enough, when the priest taught on Matthew 1 and the genealogy of Jesus it led to a very emotional time of sharing amongst the people of the group as he talked about how God includes the outcasts in his family. In fact, there was a woman attending the Bible study that night who gave her life to Christ as a result. So you see, all Scripture can be used by God to bring people to himself and to make us more like Christ. God can even use a seemingly boring genealogy to transform our lives and touch us with his grace. I wonder: Have you come to the God of grace who stoops to conquer sin? Have you come to the one who reveals himself as king through this wonderful genealogy? You may feel like an outcast today, but God wants to include you in his family through Christ if you will just receive his love and forgiveness.

18 God's Way of Acting by N.T. Wright Jesus' birth usually gets far more attention than its role in the New Testament warrants. Christmas looms large in our culture, outshining even Easter in the popular mind. Yet without Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 we would know nothing about it. Paul's gospel includes Jesus' Davidic descent (Rom. 1:3), but apart from that could exist without mention of his birth. One can be justified by faith with no knowledge of it. Likewise, John's wonderful theological edifice has no need of it: God's glory is revealed not in the manger; but on the cross. If you try to express any New Testament theology without Jesus' death and resurrection, you will find it cannot be done. "Man shall live for evermore," says the song, "because of Christmas Day." No, replies the New Testament. Because of Calvary, Easter and Pentecost. Matthew's story, told from Joseph's point of view, reminds one of various biblical birth stories, such as that of Samson in Judges 13. Matthew's whole hook is about the scriptures being fulfilled in Jesus. The angel, the dream, the command not to be afraid, the righteous couple doing what they are told-all is familiar. Like Samson, the promised and provided

19 child has a dangerous public future: here, the true king of the Jews is born under the nose of the wicked king, Herod. This is a major theme in Matthew's Gospel. His picture of Jesus' messiahship has both feet on the ground of first-century realpolitik. Matthew tells us that Jesus fulfills at least three biblical themes. He brings Israel into the promised land; "Jesus" is the Greek for "Joshua." As Immanuel, he embodies God's presence with his people (Isaiah 7:14, quoted in 1:23). As the new David, he is the Messiah born at Bethlehem (2:5, fulfilling Micah 5:1-3). In the genealogy, Jesus is the point toward which Israel's long covenant history has been leading, particularly its puzzling and tragic latter phase. Matthew agrees with his Jewish contemporaries that the exile was the last significant event before Jesus; when the angel says that Jesus will "save his people from their sins" (1:21), liberation from exile is in view. Jesus, David's true descendant, will fulfill the Abrahamic covenant by undoing the exile and all that it means. Well-known problems abound. Why does the genealogy finish with Joseph if Matthew is going to say that he wasn't Jesus' father after all? This cannot have been a problem for Matthew or he would hardly have followed the genealogy so closely with the story of the virginal conception. It was enough that Jesus was born into the Davidic family; adoption brought legitimation. Further, anyone can say that Matthew made it all up to fulfill Isaiah 7:14 ("the virgin shall conceive"). Since Luke doesn't quote the same passage, though, the argument looks thin. Is Bethlehem mentioned only, perhaps, because of Micah 5:2-4? Again, Luke doesn't quote the same passage, but still gets Mary to Bethlehem for the birth. Some have questioned whether Herod would really have behaved in the way described in Matthew 2; the answer, from any reader of Josephus, would be a firm yes.

20 One can investigate, as many have, whether there really was a star. One can challenge the flight into Egypt as simply a back-projection from a fanciful reading of Hosea 11:1. These are the natural probing questions of the historian. As with most ancient history, of course, we cannot verify independently that which is reported only in one source. If that gives grounds for ruling it out, however, most of ancient history goes with it. Let us by all means be suspicious, but let us not be paranoid. Just because I've had a nightmare doesn't mean that there aren't burglars in the house. Just because Matthew says that something fulfilled scripture doesn't mean it didn't happen. What then about his central claim, the virginal conception itself, dropped almost casually into the narrative, with no flourish of trumpets? Some have argued, of course, that there is instead a flourish of strumpets: Matthew has taken care to draw our attention to the peculiarities (to put it no stronger) of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Batlisheba, presumably in order to warn us that something even stranger is coming; or perhaps to enable us, when the news is announced, to connect it with God's strange way of operating in the past. He is hardly likely on this occasion, however, to have made up the story of Mary's being with child by the Holy Spirit in order to "fulfill'" this theme. What about Luke, who tells the story from Mary's point of view? His setting is just as Jewish as Matthew's, with verbal and narratival allusions to and echoes of the Septuagint. Like Matthew, he insists that with this story Israel's history is reaching its God-ordained climax. But his emphasis, unlike Matthew's, is on the very Jewish point that this birth is a

21 direct challenge to the pagan power: in other words, to Caesar. This fits with Luke's whole emphasis: the (very Jewish) gospel is for the whole world, of which Jesus is now the Lord. Israel's god is the king of the world; now, Jesus is the king of the world. Attention has focused on the census in Luke 2:2-whether it took place and could have involved people traveling to their ancestral homes. But Luke's point has been missed. The census was the time of the great revolt-the rebellion of Judas the Galilean, which Luke not only knows about but allows Gamaliel to compare with Jesus and his movement (Acts 5:37). Luke is deliberately aligning Jesus with the Jewish kingdom-movements, the revolutions which declared that there would be "no king but God." The census is not, of course, the only query that people have raised about Luke's birth stories. Jesus' birth at Bethlehem seems to have been a puzzle to Luke, which he explains by the census, rather than something he invents for other reasons. The fact that Luke does not mention the wise men, nor Matthew the shepherds, is not a reason for doubting either; this sort of thing crops up in ancient historical sources all the time. Of course, legends surround the birth and childhood of many figures who afterwards become important. As historians we have no reason to say that this did not happen in the case of Jesus, and some reasons to say that it did. But by comparison with other legends about other figures, Matthew and Luke look, after all, quite restrained Except, of course, in the matter where the real interest centers. Matthew and Luke declare unambiguously that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. What are we to make of this? It will not do to say that we know the laws of nature and that Joseph, Mary, the early church and the evangelists did not. Mary and Joseph hadn't seen diagrams of Fallopian tubes, but that doesn't mean they didn't know where babies came from. Hence Mary's question to Gabriel (in Luke), and Joseph's determination to break the engagement (in Matthew). Nor can we say that if we believe this story we should believe all the other similar ones in the ancient world as well. Of course, the argument " miracles are possible therefore virginal conception is possible, therefore

22 Jesus' virginal conception may well be true," also commits one to saying, "therefore Augustus's virginal conception may well be true." But that is not my argument. My argument, rather, works in three stages. First, the position I have reached about the resurrection and incarnation of Jesus opens the door to reconsidering what we would otherwise probably dismiss. "Miracle," in the sense of divine intervention "from outside," is not in question. What matters is the powerful, mysterious presence of the God of Israel, the creator God, bringing Israel's story to its climax by doing a new thing, bringing the story of creation to its height by a new creation from the womb of the old. Whether or not it happened, this is what it would mean if it did. Second, there is no pre-christian Jewish tradition suggesting that the messiah would be born of a virgin. No one used Isaiah 7:14 this way before Matthew did. Even assuming that Matthew or Luke regularly invented material to fit Jesus into earlier templates, why would they have invented something like this? The only conceivable parallels are pagan ones, and these fiercely Jewish stories have certainly not been modeled on them. Luke at least must have known that telling this story ran the risk of making Jesus out to be a pagan demigod. Why, for the sake of an exalted metaphor, would they take this risk-unless they at least believed the stories to he literally true?

23 Third, if the evangelists believed them to be true, when and by whom were they invented, if by the time of Matthew and Luke two such different, yet so compatible, stories were in circulation? Did whoever started this hare running mean it in a nonliteral sense, using virginal conception as a metaphor for something else? What was that "something else"? An embroidered border, presumably, around the belief that Jesus was divine. But that belief was a Jewish belief expressed in classic Jewish God-language; while the only models for virginal conception are the nakedly pagan stories of Alexander, Augustus and others. We would have to suppose that, within the first 50 years of Christianity a double move took place: from an early, very Jewish, high Christology, to a sudden paganization, and back to a very Jewish storytelling again. The evangelists would then have thoroughly deconstructed their own deep intentions, suggesting that the climax of YHWH's purpose for Israel took place through a pagan-style miraculous birth. To put it another way. What would have to have happened, granted the skeptic's position, for the story to have taken the shape it did? To answer this, I must indulge in some speculative tradition-history. Bear with me in a little foolishness. Are they tradition critics? So am I. Are they scholars of ancient history? So am I. Are they reconstructors of early communities? So am I. Are they determined to think the argument through to the end? I speak as a fool-i am more so. This is how it would look: Christians came to believe that Jesus was in some sense divine. Someone who shared this faith broke thoroughly with Jewish precedents and invented the story of a pagan-style virginal conception. Some Christians failed to realize that this was historicized metaphor, and retold it as though it were historical. Matthew and Luke, assuming historicity; drew independently upon this astonishing fabrication, set it (though in quite different ways) within a thoroughly Jewish context, and wove it in quite different ways into their respective narratives. And all this happened within, more or less, 50 years. Possible? Yes, of course. Most things are possible in history. Likely? No.

24 Smoke without fire does, of course, happen quite often in the real world. But this smoke, in that world, without fire? This theory asks us to believe in intellectual parthenogenesis: the birth of an idea without visible parentage. Difficult. Unless, of course, you believe in miracles, which most people who disbelieve the virginal conception don't. Maybe, after all, it is the theory of the contemporary skeptic that is metaphor historicized. The modernist belief that history is a closed continuum of cause and effect is projected onto the screen of the early church, producing a myth (specifically, a tradition-historical reconstruction which sustains and legitimates the original belief so strongly that its proponents come to believe it actually happened. This foolishness is, of course, a way of saying that no "proof" is possible either way. No one can prove, historically, that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. No one can prove, historically, that she wasn't. Science studies the repeatable; history bumps its nose against the unrepeatable. If the first two chapters of Matthew and the first two of Luke had never existed, I do not suppose that my own Christian faith, or that of the church to which I belong, would have been very different. But since they do, and since for quite other reasons I have come to believe that the God of Israel, the world's creator, was personally and fully revealed in and as Jesus of Nazareth, I hold open my historical judgment and say: If that's what God deemed appropriate, who am I to object?

25 The Story of Saint Sebastian Nothing is known about St. Sebastian's youth other than the fact he may have come from southern France and he was educated in Milan, he was a Roman martyr, was venerated in Milan even in the time of Saint Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way, probably near the present Basilica of St. Sebastian. Devotion to him spread rapidly, and he is mentioned in several martyrologies as early as 350. According to tradition he joined the Roman Army in 283 AD, ostensibly to be of service to other Christians who were being persecuted by the Romans. St. Sebastian distinguished himself and for his excellent service, he was promoted to serve in the Praetorian Guard to protect Emperor Diocletian.

26 While serving as a Praetorian Guard, Marcus and Marcellian, twin brothers, were imprisoned for refusing to make public sacrifices to the Roman gods. The brothers were deacons of the Christian Church. During their imprisonment, their parents visited them to implore them to renounce Christianity. However, St. Sebastian convinced both parents to convert to Christianity. St. Sebastian also converted several other prominent individuals, including the local prefect. This led to his discovery and he was reported as a Christian to Emperor Diocletian in 286. The Emperor, who was already infamous for ordering the deaths of hundreds of Christians, scolded Sebastian and ordered him to be killed by having him tied to a stake on a training field and used as target practice. Archers riddled his body with arrows, his body was described as, "full of arrows as an urchin." Believed to be dead, the archers left his body for retrieval and burial. He was recovered by Irene of Rome, whose Christian husband was a servant to Diocletian and also martyred. Irene discovered that Sebastian was still living and she hid him and nursed him back to health. Once well, Sebastian went in search of Diocletian to surprise him. He managed to catch Diocletian by a stairwell and proceeded to criticize him loudly and publically for his persecution of the Christians. Diocletian, surprised that Sebastian was still alive, was immediately taken aback, but recovered his composure. This time, he would not permit Sebastian to escape with his life. He ordered his former guard to be beaten to death with clubs, then thrown into the sewers. His body was recovered by a Christian woman, named Lucina, and she secretly buried him in the catacombs beneath Rome. Nearly 80 years after his death, around 367, his remains were moved to a basilica in Rome, built by Pope Damasus I. His body, or at least some relics from his body were reportedly removed and shared with a community of monks in France. His cranium was sent to a German monastery where it was placed in a special silver case in 934. The relic remains in its case today in a special reliquary in Ebersberg.

27 St. Sebastian was commonly invoked as a protector against the plague. According to historical records, he defended the city of Rome against the plague in 680. His association with the plague could be because he survived being shot full of arrows and in pagan belief, pestilence was delivered by arrows shot by the gods above. Even Christian Romans would appreciate this symbolism. That symbolism is even captured in artwork as late as the Renaissance, where artists painted plague victims with black arrows in their body. The legend of Saint Sebastian is important in art, and there is a vast iconography. St. Sebastian is depicted with arrows shot into his body, often tied to a post or a tree. His second execution is virtually never depicted. St. Sebastian is the patron saint of soldiers, athletes, and those who desire a saintly death.

28 Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us)