By the time Matthew 2 draws to a close, Joseph has had four separate dreams directly from God to guide him in a new direction. He’s not the Joseph we know whose story is characterized by meaningful dreams, is he? The Bible’s original Joseph, whose story gets going in Genesis 37, both receives dreams from God and is blessed to interpret the dreams of others. These dreams take Joseph’s story eventually into Egypt, from which his family’s descendants would later…

Luke tells us of shepherds and singing angels. But Matthew tells us of King Herod and the “magi.” We often call them “wise men,” but the title of magi (a term used quite unfavorably in Acts 8 and 13) tells us they are likely practitioners of some dark spiritual magic and/or astrology. They are from east of Israel, which could mean anything as far as geography goes, but at least means they are not fellow Israelites, nor worshipers of Israel’s…

Let us ponder a question, one so obvious we may forget to ask it. Why do we need Jesus? If a quick and simple answer springs to mind, maybe we can push deeper. Yes, we need Jesus, but why? What is it about Jesus that we can’t live without? What hole would be left in our lives if Jesus were suddenly absent from them? This question is important as we enter Matthew’s Gospel because Matthew, through his genealogy and through…

For Christmas we turn to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, who tell us the events surrounding Jesus’ birth. But we can find a word on Christmas in Mark’s Gospel too. To do so, we turn not to a manger, but to a boat. Jesus and his disciples are out upon the Sea of Galilee when a doozie of a storm threatens to capsize them. While the disciples anxiously try to remedy the situation as best they can, Jesus lay…