"Who were the wise men that visited Baby Jesus? Where did they originate? What does their visit mean?" * * * The traditional story bursts with details: three kings, with names hard to pronounce, begin from different countries to follow a moving star. They ride on their camels until the star guides them to Bethlehem, where they find the newborn Jesus lying in a wood manger surrounded by shepherds. There they present him with expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. That scenario shares but one detail with the biblical account, and that is the gifts. Matthew does not count the Magi … [Read more...]
BETHLEHEM’S BABIES (2)
"It is hard to celebrate Christ's birth with joy when I read about Herod killing all the boy babies of Bethlehem. Can we find any beam of light shining through this horrible and senseless event?" * * * More than a thousand years after Rachel's death, Jacob's descendants of the Southern Kingdom were snatched from their homeland and taken at spearpoint to faraway Babylon. Ramah, five miles north of Jerusalem, was a gathering place for the exiles. Rachel's "children" are dead and dying. Jeremiah captures the scene -- in the verses which Matthew quotes and throughout the Book of Lamentations. … [Read more...]
BETHLEHEM’S BABIES (1)
"It is hard to celebrate Christ's birth with joy when I read about Herod killing all the boy babies of Bethlehem. Can we find any beam of light shining through this horrible and senseless event?" * * * We could wish that Matthew's Christmas story stopped with the Magi and the wondrous star, but it doesn't. The Magi had asked Herod's help in locating the newborn king, and the tyrannical despot had asked them to return with the baby's exact address. Instructed by a heavenly dream, they returned home instead (Matt. 2:1-12). When he realized that the Magi had come and gone, Herod ordered that … [Read more...]
WHEN GOD BECAME MAN
The greater miracle, it has been said, is not the virgin birth of Jesus but the fact that in that wondrous conception the eternal God took on human nature and the Creator condescended to join his creation. Mary's son is none other than Immanuel -- "God with us" (Matt. 1:23). Like the Magi, we fall down and worship him. The Christmas carol has it right: "Hail, the incarnate deity!" He who existed in the form of God emptied himself and was made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6-7). It is part of the mystery of godliness that in Jesus of Nazareth God was "revealed in the flesh" (1 Tim. 3:16). He … [Read more...]
CHRISTMAS — PROPHECY FULFILLED
This Christmas I am impressed anew that we are seeing biblical prophecy fulfilled before our eyes. Not the kind of prophetic fulfillment about which the sensationalists talk and write best-seller books for the gullible masses -- about Middle Eastern conflict and geopolitics and world banks and bar codes at the supermarkets. No, something far more solid and biblical than any of that! God's word to Isaiah 2,700 years ago has come to pass: "The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope." All you have to do is turn on the radio, or go … [Read more...]
OBSERVING CHRISTMAS
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "The church that I attend doesn't recognize Christ's birth at Christmas. Our minister talks about mothers on Mother's Day, veterans on Veteran's Day and being thankful on Thanksgiving, but never do we hear a word about Jesus' birth during the Christmas season. We have a 'holiday' party after one of our church services and sing Jingle Bells but never Silent Night or Away in a Manger. Doesn't it seem selfish to leave Jesus out of our holidays?" * * * By ignoring Christmas as a religious occasion, your church is following a tradition as ancient as the Reformer … [Read more...]
MATTHEW’S GENEALOGY OF JESUS
Matthew begins his Gospel with a selective list of Jesus' ancestors that both omits from and adds to the official records in First Chronicles 1-3. His intent is not to recite a detailed family tree but to make three points about Jesus. First, Jesus is the prototype of a new creation. The word "genealogy" in Matthew 1:1 translates the Greek word genesis, as does "birth" in Matthew 1:18 in the better manuscripts. Matthew's opening phrase, "The book of the genesis of," appears ten times in the Greek version of Genesis, where it organizes those ancient stories of origins (Gen. 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; … [Read more...]
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
She could have said "no," you understand. It was a sacrifice unheard of -- a call to trust and submission unprecedented in human history. This young Jewish virgin sees an angel, who tells her that she will miraculously conceive the Son of God who will reign on David's throne (Luke 1:26-35). But who will believe her? Joseph, to whom she is betrothed? Her parents? The villagers in Nazareth? Rumors will fly. There will be furtive looks -- and obvious stares. A virginal conception. Right. But Mary is full of faith. "Behold, the bondslave of the LORD," she replies. "Be it done to me according to … [Read more...]
THREE ANGELIC ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dr. Luke was a practicing physician, a prudent man -- and his Christmas story is sober truth. It is sobering truth as well. For it says that approximately 2,000 years ago, on days that were otherwise inconspicuous, in an obscure sliver of the globe three angelic visitations occurred, each announcing the coming of the Savior of the world. The first visitation was to an old priest named Zacharias (Luke 1:5-22), the second to a young virgin named Mary (1:26-38), the third to a group of humble shepherds (2:8-20). As we might expect with sudden visits from angels, the recipients in each instance … [Read more...]
SALVATION HISTORY RENEWED
The Bible relates the story of God's activities in human space and time, by which he intends to rescue very many people from judgment, death and all the consequences of human sin. The British refer to this divine agenda as "the scheme of redemption." Americans call it "the plan of salvation." The Germans label it "salvation history." Scripture writers speak of God's "purpose" or "good will." This salvation history is both earthly and heavenly -- it happens on earth, but with heavenly power and with a heavenly goal. God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary results. The Old … [Read more...]