Christmas Eve (Eve/Matthew)
Contents
As We Gather
Though Ahaz did not dare to ask the Lord for a sign, Isaiah shared God’s prophecy, promising a sign to the house of David, that “the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us.” We profess our belief in the Nicene Creed, confessing that Jesus was “incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.” This is the sign, the prophecy fulfilled in the conception and birth of the Son of God to the blessed Virgin Mary.
The promised sign is first received by the House of David in the person of Joseph, David’s descendant, who received the strange news in remarkable faith. Joseph believed the word of God and professed his belief by the marvelous example of immediate and quiet obedience. Risking scandal and disgrace, he nonetheless took Mary to be his wife and cared for her in faith and love. He loved her with a love that can come only from God, demonstrated in the Incarnation: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.”
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Introit (Psalm 24:1, 3–5; antiphon: Psalm 2:7)
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I will tell of | the decree:* the Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have be- | gotten you."
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The earth is the Lord’s and the full- | ness thereof,* the world and those who | dwell therein.
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Who shall ascend the hill | of the Lord?* And who shall stand in his | holy place?
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He who has clean hands and a | pure heart,* who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear de- | ceitfully.
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He will receive blessing | from the Lord* and righteousness from the God of his sal- | vation.
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Glory be to the Father and | to the Son* and to the Holy | Spirit; as it was in the be- | ginning,* is now and will be forever. | Amen.
Collect of the Day
O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Isaiah 7:10–14
The Old Testament reading is from Isaiah, chapter seven.
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
This is the word of the Lord.
1 John 4:7–16
The Epistle is from First John, chapter four.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
This is the word of the Lord.
Matthew 1:18–25
The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the first chapter.
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 from 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 these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from 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, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (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 given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Psalm 110:1–4
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The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my | right hand,* until I make your enemies your | footstool.”
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The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty | scepter.* Rule in the midst of your | enemies!
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Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy | garments;* from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth | will be yours.
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The Lord has sworn an will not | change his mind,* “You are a priest forever after the order of Mel- | chizedek.”
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The Lord is at your | right hand;*he will shatter kings on the day | of his wrath.
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He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with | corpses;* he will shatter chiefs over the | wide earth.
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He will drink from the brook | by the way;* therefore he will life | up his head.
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Glory be to the Father and | to the Son* and to the Holy | Spirit; as it was in the be- | ginning,* is now and will be forever. | Amen.
