Fullness
Read: Ephesians 1:3-10 . . . as a plan for the fullness of time. (v. 10) When Paul in Ephesians 1 climaxes his words about all the spiritual blessings we receive through Christ Jesus, he says that it is all possible because God made known the mystery of salvation in “the fullness of time.” We […]
All Things
Read: Colossians 1:15-20 . . . and in him all things hold together. (v. 17) After having looked at the early parts of the four Gospels, we will now look at other New Testament passages that remind us of what we are celebrating at Christmas. Today we come to an eye-popping passage from the apostle […]
Tabernacling
Read: John 1:14-18 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (v. 14) Earlier this month we used the analogy of the Bible as a keyboard. When one note is played, it forms chords with other parts of Scripture. The word usually translated as “dwelt” in John 1:14 creates not just a chord, but […]
Unrecognized
Read: John 1:6-13 . . . yet the world did not know him. (v. 10) John’s prologue is lofty poetry—it’s lyric. Curiously, however, John interrupts his own poetry in verse 6 to call a time-out. He needs to make clear that this Word of God he is singing about is not John the Baptist. That […]
Shines
Read: John 1:1-5 The light shines in the darkness. (v. 5) We saw earlier how Mark introduced us to “The beginning of the gospel.” Today John takes us back to the ultimate beginning by opening with the identical words from Genesis: “In the beginning.” Although John doesn’t contain any narrative about Jesus’ birth, he gives […]
Consolation
Read: Luke 2:22-40 Simeon . . . was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. (v. 25) This is our eleventh and final day of reflections from Luke. We have spent more time here than in the other three Gospels because Luke has so much more to tell us about the months surrounding […]
Unto You
Read: Luke 2:8-21 For unto you is born this day . . . a Savior. (v. 11) Thirty years ago this month our daughter was born. I was serving as a pastor and because the birth took place in the wee hours of the morning on a Sunday, I called my lead elder to say […]
The Birth
Read: Luke 2:1-7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son. (v. 7) Christmas is nine days off yet, but today we come to Luke’s classic telling of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. For anyone who has been a Christian for a while, all of this sounds so familiar. It is the inspiration behind a million […]
A New Song
Read: Luke 1:67-80 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. (v. 76) Zechariah used his nine months of silence to deepen his relationship with God. Unable to speak or carry out his normal duties as a priest, Zechariah thought long and hard about what the angel Gabriel had said to […]