Son of God, Son of Man, Part 1

The lineage of Jesus seems to emphasize certain aspects of the nature of the newborn Jesus. Matthew accounts for the earthly “fathers” of Jesus ranging from Abraham to Joseph. Abraham, as you recall, is the father of the son of promise, Isaac. At an impossible age,...

Jesus’s Family Tree

Anyone working on his or her family lineage is excited to reach back to the fifth, sixth, or seventh generation. Highly unlikely, even with today’s technology, is reaching to the tenth generation. The combination of Matthew’s and Luke’s writings, however, produce the...

Simeon and Anna

Mary and Joseph have fulfilled the law of circumcision for their newborn child on the eighth day and are now back in Bethlehem making preparations for their return to Nazareth. Before they leave, however, Mary must obey the law of purification (Luke 2:22–24; Lev....

The First New Year’s Day

It was a very busy time in the land of Judea as the timeline for BC (Before Christ) came to a close. Quirinius was governor of Syria (Luke 2:2), Herod the Great was king over Judea (Matt. 2:1), and Caesar Augustus called for a census of the entire Roman world (Luke...

Christmas Day

The monk Dionysius Exiguus does not receive as much credit as he deserves. His mathematical calculations in the fifth century ushered in not only the BC/AD timeline but also valid determinations for the equinox, solstice, leap year, moon and solar cycles, and Easter....