Tag: Christmas
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From the Manger to the Cross (and other Christmas Notes)
In Luke 2, heaven opened when the angels met the shepherds. It’s interesting how much this theme of heaven opening shows up in Advent and Christmas hymnody, e.g.• “O Come O Come Emmanuel” – “Key of David come and open wide our heavenly home”• “Good Christian Men Rejoice” – “he hath opened heaven’s door”• “While…
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“Let’s Keep Christmas Commercialized” by David Chilton
David Chilton article “Let’s Keep Christmas Commercialized” no longer seems to be available but it’s a classic, so I reprint it here (hoping I am not violating any copyrights): Every year about this time, there rises a hue and cry about the “commercialization” of Christmas, accompanied by impassioned pleas to get back to the “real…
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Christmas Approaches
“The wonder of Christmas morning is that today we are summoned to look at the baby in the manger and recognise whose stamp, whose imprint, he bears. On Christmas morning we find ourselves gazing at God inside out. This baby is what you get when the stamp of divine nature leaves its exact imprint in…
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The Politics of Simeon (Luke 2)
In Luke 2:28ff, an elderly prophet named Simeon takes baby Jesus into his arms and sings a prophecy over him. The short song has three themes: This last point is especially relevant, both politically and missionally. Baby Jesus has come to accomplish a mission of salvation. That mission now continues through the church, as Jesus,…
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Christmas and Christology: The Reason for the Season
Merry Christmas! As we approach Christmas, it’s important to remember what this season is about. In a word, Christmas is about Christ. Christmas is about Christology. Christmas is about the Father sending his Son, the Christ, into the world through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is God and man, two complete natures…
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A Christmas Chronology: Notes on Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2
If you put the first two chapters of Matthew and the first two chapters of Luke together, you can basically plot the first 40 days of Jesus life with a good bit of detail. Both Matthew and Luke record the day of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (day 1). Luke tells us he was circumcised on…
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