4advA   12/12/16

Isaiah 7:10-14.   God is so much in love with us that he came to be with us (Emmanuel) in the flesh.

Matthew 1:18-24.  This text relates to us how the Son of God became man without losing his divinity.  The Holy Spirit conceived the child Jesus (Savior) in Mary.  God is with us.  Joseph was obedient to God, as was Mary and as was Paul to his calling in the second reading

 

 

 

 

Romans 1:1-7.   “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle” to the Gentiles.  In turn, the Gentiles “are called to belong to Jesus Christ;” “to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.”  The proper response to a calling is to be obedient.

Paul brings the good news of Jesus, the Messiah, to the Gentiles.  Jesus descended from David according to the flesh yet at the same time “established in power according to the Spirit of holiness” (divinity).  As the Spirit brought divinity into flesh, so also the Spirit daily brings humanity into holiness/divinity.