Matthew believed, even if modern people don't, that Mary was a virgin.  Our culture, however, treats virginity as the sad fate of the unattractive, a status to get beyond in our quest for fulfillment.  No wonder people don't believe.

   When asked, "Why are you so holy?" Mother Teresa responded, "You talk as if holiness were abnormal.  Holiness is normal.  To be anything else is to be abnormal.  Why aren't you asking unholy people why they are unholy?"  Mary's virginity is about holiness, virtue, goodness.  In my last book I explained why I believe she was a virgin - partly by weighing how much virtue mattered then.  It matters now.

   Jesus' birth is the "fulfillment" of Scripture - not a crystal ball prediction coming true, but a cup overflowing, a catharsis, God's labor of love over us reaching its climax.  Immanuel means "God with us."  God is with us always, everywhere, but nowhere more clearly focused, perfectly unveiled, or trumpeted joyously than in the birth of Jesus.  And if God is with us, how we live matters; being virtuous matters.

   Lord, let my body be the temple of your Spirit; may your goodness be mirrored in all I do.

James

james@mpumc.org

Sunday's sermon on Matthew 1:18-25 may be heard by clicking here.

The complete eAdventWithMatthew series can be found on our web site.