Category: Heart of Christmas

Epiphany After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem. —Matthew 2:1 Epiphany (meaning “to reveal”) is arguably the oldest and most significant of all the...

The Magi “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” —Matthew 2:2 No single tradition is more widely adhered to during the Christmas season than that of giving...

Are Images Idolatrous? The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of...

The Christmas Tree Tradition To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. —Revelation 2:7b This Christmas season, as in those gone by, it is commonplace to hear...

Can Santa Claus Be Saved? The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” —Luke 1:35 Believe it or not, even...

What Child Is This? When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear...

Did the Christ of Christmas Claim to Be God? I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! —Revelation 1:17b–18a When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, He asked His...

One Person—Two Natures In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came...

Immanuel In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. —Colossians 2:9 The reason we rejoice at Christmas is that the Baby born to Mary and Joseph on the first Advent was no ordinary child. As Matthew records,...

Tidings of Comfort and Joy For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the...

Census Considerations In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to...