Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

“Tell us who you are.” –John 1:22 God asks us two questions, “Who is the liar?” (1 Jn 2:22) and “Who are you?” (Jn 1:19) The two questions often go together. Sometimes the liars are us because we lie about who we are. We are tempted to give the impression we’re the Messiah and the center of attraction. However, that’s a false impression and a lie. We are also tempted to answer the question, “Who are you?” with “what we do.” When someone asks, “Who are you?”, we answer, “I worked there” or “I do this.” These too are lies....

“God has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of His Son Which cries out ‘Abba!’ (‘Father!’)” –Galatians 4:6 “Mary” Christmas and Happy New Year! The Holy Spirit came to Mary, and she conceived Jesus (Lk 1:35). The Spirit cried out in her heart “Abba” (Gal 4:6; Rm 8:15). Mary became not only the mother of God but also the daughter of God the Father. When Mary saw Jesus lying in the manger, nursing at her breasts, saying His first words, taking His first steps, playing games, learning to be a carpenter from Joseph, crying, laughing, or saying His prayers,...

“He came to the temple now, inspired by the Spirit, and when the parents brought in the Child Jesus to perform for Him the customary ritual of the law, he took Him in his arms and blessed God.” –Luke 2:27-28 Some orthodox Jews have the custom of using the birth of a baby boy as an occasion to discourse on the coming of the Messiah. An older relative traditionally starts the conversation with the question: “Could this baby be the Messiah?” Then various relatives wax eloquently about the coming and the glories of the Messiah. Some people may have thought...

“Coming on the scene at this moment, [Anna] gave thanks to God and talked about the Child to all.” –Luke 2:38 Anna the prophetess had been coming to the Temple to worship for roughly sixty years – over twenty-thousand days worshipping God daily in the Temple! How easy it would be to not be alert the one day out of twenty-thousand that the Savior and Messiah showed up! Moreover, Anna didn’t have the benefit of advance notice that the Lord had given to Simeon (see Lk 2:26). Anna had to be ready and alert every day for twenty-thousand days. She...

“Whoever keeps His word, truly has the love of God been made perfect in him.” –1 John 2:5 Out of love and obedience, Mary and Joseph kept God’s commandments. The commandments required purification of the mother after childbirth and circumcision of the male child on the eighth day after birth (Lk 2:23; Lv 12:8; Ex 13:2). Mary and Joseph could have perhaps been tempted to feel that the special circumstances of the birth of their special Child placed them above the law. After all, many in positions of power have considered themselves above the law throughout human history. However, Mary...