The Greatest of These is Love

The Greatest of These is Love

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
   and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Matthew 1:18-25

The year was 1961. 

The scene was our Southern Sydney Youth fellowship meeting.

The young leader was reading to us from 1 Corinthians chapter 13. As he approached the end of the passage he confidently snapped his Bible shut and continued from memory. ….”and now these three remain, faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is …um, faith? …er hope?” then scrambling to find the right page again triumphantly stated, “No, the greatest of these is love!”

God’s great love is central to today’s reading.

Two unlikely parents-to-be find themselves in a difficult situation. Joseph the righteous man who has never had marital relations with his future wife and Mary, his fiancee who is pregnant before marriage. 

It’s easy to imagine what emotions may have surfaced during this troubling time - fear, shame, uncertainty, disbelief, inability to control the future, misunderstanding and lack of trust. For other reasons, maybe, is this any different from what we are experiencing today in our broken world?

For better or worse, we flawed human beings with all our hopes and dreams, goodness and evil, strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and disappointments continue to walk this earth bringing hate and havoc but also healing and wholeness. God is the supplier of all we need, his forgiveness, his reassurance, his hope and ”the greatest of these” - his love.

Are we willing to rise up in the darkness to carry that love in our hearts and share it with others? In the words of Pope Francis, to “listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. To take the church to the margins where no one ever goes, to open the doors of grace to the people we find there and love  them all the way home?”

The irrepressible love of God broke through at Christmas. It must always break through. It is unfailing, unbounded, endures to a thousand generations, is better than life, is rich, lavish, long, high, wide and deep, stronger than death. It never gives up. It is of God. It is God. It will always find a way.

Joseph found it in love that is “patient, kind, not rude but always protects". Mary found it in a love that “always, trusts, always hopes and always perseveres.” We find it in the child of Mary for whom we wait again this Advent, the son she bore whose name is Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.

This is how God showed his love - he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.

Eric and Carolyn Hatfield live on Dharawal Country and have spent nearly six decades serving together in a variety of ministries and churches. Their work has often focused on encouraging young people and engaging in social transformation, including climate justice and support for First Nations Peoples. Most recently, they have led Pyjama Church for ten years - a community named by its young members for the warm, safe space it offered to freely be themselves and explore questions of faith.

This devotional is the twenty-second in a series of daily email devotionals for Advent 2025 reflecting on the realities of our broken world along with the unshakable hope that love still breaks through. It explores how God’s love disrupts, heals, and transforms - breaking through darkness, despair, and injustice to bring light, joy, and renewal.

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Common Grace is a diverse movement of individuals, churches and communities passionate about Jesus and justice. We have come together as those from different Christian traditions who stand in the continuity of the historic Christian faith, centred on the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ as witnessed to in holy scripture. This series highlights the diversity of followers of Jesus across these lands. These voices may not agree with one another (or with you), but they are each an expression of longing for the God whose love we see break through in Jesus.

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