Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14 (NRSV) Isaiah was prophet to King Ahaz, among others, and it was to this young king Isaiah delivered the prophecy of a young woman with child. Isaiah's prediction held near-term significance for the beleaguered Judean ruler. … Continue reading A Virgin Shall Bear a Son
HER STORY: The Birth of Christ, The Midwife
She is an imagined character, but she was surely there, a midwife to help the young Mary give birth to her first baby. What if the midwife was local to Bethlehem? What if she had already helped the aging Elizabeth give birth to her one and only child? Even though the character is imagined, there … Continue reading HER STORY: The Birth of Christ, The Midwife
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HER STORY: The Birth of Christ, Virgin Mary
As the most written about woman in the whole Bible, what is your impression of Mary? There are thousands upon thousands of images of her, the beatific and holy Madonna, mother and child, otherworldly in her serenity; and the grieving mother holding her crucified son, again beatific, serene, otherworldly.We might get the impression that as … Continue reading HER STORY: The Birth of Christ, Virgin Mary
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Isaiah 7: Second Chances
Ahaz did not have faith in God, and so he was not going to be able to stand firm at all. He refused God’s promise, protection, and perspective. He turned in fear to what he really had faith in―an alliance with Assyria.
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Advent: Perfection in Numbers
There is a second explanation as to why Christmas falls on December 25, a spiritual one. Today's post is taken from an article written for the Biblical Archaeology Society.
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Prophecy of Christ
He was born in the hamlet of Bethlehem, an inconsequential dot on the map, but it was the birthplace of Kings, the very root and stump of Jesse, and from it now sprang this young shoot, the ruler who would sit on the throne of Judah forever.
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Prophetic Heredity
the most important name given to Jesus is the one Matthew used in his genealogy, in verse 1, verse 16, verse 17 and verse 18: Christ, Messiah, the anointed one.
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Divine Heredity
When I was a young girl, there was an enormous social stigma attached to having a baby when you weren’t married. You got sent away to extended family, had the baby in secret, started another life, or gave the baby up for adoption, very privately. Children raised out of wedlock didn’t have the same legal rights as children born to or adopted by a married couple.
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Royal Heritage
But, if Matthew had ransacked the whole Old Testament, he’d have been hard pressed to find four more unlikely candidates for the Messiah’s genealogy than the following women.
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Christmas Series
Beginning Monday, Grace and Peace will present seven posts on Jesus' heritage and birth, bringing the nativity narrative through Matthew's gospel.
