Taking Up the Cross Luke 9:18–27 If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 Christ’s description of discipleship in Luke 9:23 includes the command “Follow me.” Having heard of self-denial and cross-bearing, we may find ourselves looking about for some motivation that […]

Losing Jesus Luke 2:41–50 The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. Luke 2:43 If Mary and Joseph could lose Jesus in a place like Jerusalem, you and I can certainly lose the sense of the presence of Christ wherever we may be. We can find ourselves drifting spiritually, and

Looking for Redemption Luke 2:21–40 She began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:38 Anna understood more about the full significance of the coming of Jesus Christ than any of the others who appear in the nativity narratives, for she

Our Bethlehem Luke 2:8–20 Let us go over to Bethlehem. Luke 2:15 On the way to the manger, the shepherds went through the city of Bethlehem, seeing it for what it was. When they came to the manger they saw a great contrast. When they left the manger to go back to their fields and

Christmas Paradoxes Luke 2:1–7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. Luke 2:7 Why has the birth of this one man, Jesus Christ, so seized upon the minds and imaginations of men and women? Answers to that question are found in the paradoxes of the Christmas story. One obvious paradox is of purity in the

It’s Absurd Luke 1:26–38 Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Luke 1:34 The Christmas story seems absurd to many. It claims that the birth of Jesus is the birth of God, that is, the birth of one who was both man and God. How can that be?