The Least of Jesse’s Sons to Become the Greatest In most of the instances when Jesse appears in Scripture, it’s in relation to his son David, as in “David, son of Jesse,” or simply “the son of Jesse.” Yet the first time we encounter Jesse in the Bible, this is not the case. Here’s what […]
Luke Bible Study, Day 4 Today’s passage: Luke 2:1–38 Focus verse:“I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10) Joseph and his pregnant fiancée travel to Bethlehem for a mandatory census. Unable to find a place to stay, they hunker down in a barn. There, among the stench […]
Mary Receives Shocking News An angel visits Mary, a teenage girl engaged to be married. The angel celebrates her as one highly favored by God. Perplexed, she wonders about the angel’s shocking greeting. Then he further stuns her by saying she will become pregnant, and her child will save her people. “How,” Mary asks? “I’m […]
At the Temple Anna and Simeon Bless Jesus Today’s Passage: Luke 2:39 Focus Verse: They returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. (Luke 2:39) As we’ve covered, Mary and Joseph go to the temple in Jerusalem when Baby Jesus is eight days old. They do so to consecrate him to God as their […]
Joseph and Pregnant Mary Travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem Today’s Passage: Luke 2:1–5 Focus Verse: Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David. (Luke 2:4) As our journey toward Jesus’s birth unfolds, another complication arises. Caesar Augustus decrees that a census will take place […]
Baby Jesus in the Temple Today’s Passage: Luke 2:21–24 Focus Verse: He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. (Luke 2:21) The shepherds arrived shortly after Jesus’s birth to see the child the angel had told them about. Our story picks up eight days later, when it’s time […]
Anticipating the Arrival of Baby Jesus I don’t really think of Christmas Eve as a holiday as much as the prelude to one. Yet there is—or should be—a spiritual reason to celebrate Christmas Eve. Anticipating Christmas As a child I looked forward to Christmas Day with much excitement. On Christmas Eve I found it hard […]
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of […]
When I say giving birth to Jesus, I’m not talking about Mary in a Bethlehem stable, birthing our savior into this world in human form. Instead I’m referring to birthing Jesus in a spiritual sense, of giving him to others. When Paul writes to the church in the city of Galatia he uses an intriguing […]