The King Shall Come

The opening scene of today’s gospel is filled with names of people and places that readily evoke the expectation of Christmas: Gabriel, Nazareth, Joseph, Mary… Yet, the name that would most stick out to a Jew at the time of Jesus would have been that of David. God had promised that a king of the line of David would rule over his people forever. Exile and destruction had left many questioning if God had forgotten his promise. The family tree of David seemed to be annihilated, that is until the angel Gabriel brings good news to the a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the House of David.