John's Meditation

12/26/23 • 30 min

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | John 1:1-14
Unlike Matthew and Luke, John’s reflection on the birth of Jesus is more of a philosophical meditation than a historical retelling. He sets the birth of Jesus in the context of Genesis (In the beginning) and in a way that challenges the Greek view of reality. Jesus’ birth will bring light into darkness, just as we find in Genesis 1 and 2. But more remarkably we find that the invisible will become visible, the divine will become human, all in service to the opportunity for God to dwell with us as his children.

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Mary's Song

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Luke 1:39-56
Luke narrates the story of Jesus’ birth through the story of Mary, who in this passage breaks into what is one of the most famous songs in all of Christendom. For Mary the news that God had seen her and her people caused her to burst into song. Jesus’s birth, as we will see in Herod’s story, is a threat to those already in power and a source of joy to those longing for liberation.

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Herod's Fear

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE | Matthew 2:1-12
The birth of Jesus was the arrival of a King whose presence in the world ‘disturbs’ us the way it did Herod; a word that means “acute emotional distress”. As Wright put it, this news is political dynamite. Jesus is the true king of the Jews, and Herod is the false one.” And the arrival of the Magi underscores that Jesus’ reign is not limited to one nation, but that his rule would bring God’s justice and peace to the whole world (Psalm 72; Isaiah 11:1–10). Fittingly, Matthew concludes his gospel with Jesus’ admonition to his followers to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28), pointing back to the scene we have here.