What difference did the birth of the Christ Child make? All the difference in the world! His birth inaugurated a season—33 years as the doorstep to eternity–culminating in the Cross and victory over death, and the empty tomb to prove the Risen Christ was accepted by God as sufficient sacrifice for the sin of all […]
Shepherds and Angels, Heaven and Earth Rejoice!! In the moment, Mary is giving birth, deep in the throes of labor. If we had a split screen or Zoom array like Hollywood Squares, we’d also see Joseph helping, the animals watching, perhaps oddly silent, or as the song says, “lowing”. We’d see shepherds busy at work […]
“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born … there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke. 2:6-7) Couldn’t God have provided a better lodging for the mother of the Son of God and His only Son, the Christ Child? Sure He could have, but it would have ruined […]
Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town […]
Everyone was happy about a new baby! All of Elizabeth’s friends, family, and neighbors gathered and shared her joy. Never mind if they’d perhaps gossiped about her or derided her infertility during less charitable moments… Luke 1:57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her […]
What’s the right thing to do? It’s often hard to know. The Bible admonishes us, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Joseph was a righteous man and wanted to do what was theologically correct to maintain that righteousness. According to the law, […]
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As […]
Of all the unlikely people to receive Divine Intervention, it would probably have been Mary. She was a genuine nobody in a nowhere world called Nazareth. She was a simple Jewish girl with a simple Jewish faith and betrothed to a simple Jewish man with a simple righteousness that stands out in its pristine beauty […]
Have you ever been rendered speechless? Being at a loss for words is fairly common. Being suddenly deprived of your ability to speak is odd, if not otherworldly. Divine Intervention. The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and […]
Yeah, standing up for your faith in politically hostile environments can get you in trouble. Big trouble. King David knew it—Saul hunted him like an animal for 15 years before he finally became king. Daniel knew it—he was put in the lions’ den and saved by God’s hand. Jesus knew it—He was crucified but rose […]
