1. The Promised Son Matthew 1:1-6, 17 p. 889

Christmas  Advent [“coming”] – four weeks before Christmas  Widely celebrated:  True meaning has been replaced.  E.B.White: “to perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.”  Christmas is a sacred event – Pope Benedict XVI.

1. Promised Son  Abraham: start of a specific salvation plan. (Gen 12:3)  Moses: promised another great prophet (Deut 18:18)  Promise to Abraham carried through younger sons:  Isaac – younger than Ishmael.  Jacob – younger than Esau.  Judah – younger than Reuben.

1. Promised Son...  The work of God.  Not following normal human traditions  Comes through the lesser and weaker.  Other details were a bit confusing:  Great king (Isa 9:6-7)  Suffering servant (Isa 53:4-5)

1. Promised Son...  One thing was clear: For all nations (Isa 49:6)

2. Son of David  The promised descendant of King David (2 Sam 7:12)  God chose someone and identified him so that he could be recognized!

2. Son of David...  Other details:  Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)  Preceded by 2 nd Elijah (Mal 4:5, Matt 11:13-14)  Ministry would start in Galilee (Isa 9:1-2)  God intended that he would be recognized!

3. Son of the Nations  Four women in the genealogy:  Tamar (Canaanite / Aramean) Gen 38  Rahab (Canaanite / Jericho) Josh 2  Ruth (Moabite) Ruth 1-4 [cf. Deut 23:3-4]  Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba: Hittite?) 2 Sam 11 Mother of SolomonMother of Solomon

Living it  Aztec’s – God’s fed by human blood  Human sacrifice practiced in many human cultures  Payments for favourable interventions but the gods  Assumption: God’s need to be kept on side.

Living it  Christmas is a very different story:  God reaches out to us because of love.  A God who offers himself in sacrifice.