Thursday, September 20, 2007

Mt 1, 19-21 He will save his people from their sins

(Mt 1, 19-21) He will save his people from their sins
[19] Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, 8 yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. [20] Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. [21] She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
(CCC 430) Jesus means in Hebrew: "God saves." At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission (Cf. Lk 1:31). Since God alone can forgive sins, it is God who, in Jesus his eternal Son made man, "will save his people from their sins"(Mt 1:21; cf. 2:7). In Jesus, God recapitulates all of his history of salvation on behalf of men.

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