‘The Sun of Righteousness’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #1 Each year, as the daylight hours shorten, and the dim sun casts long shadows over a still land covered in snow, Christians await the manifestation of the true and eternal light of the ‘Sun of...
The genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of DavidReflections on the Nativity Gospels, #2Matthew 1:1-17 We begin with the begats: Abraham begot Isaac, and so on. When we read the Gospel of Matthew, we often stumble over these names, or skip them...
‘So all the generations…’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #3Matthew 1:1-17 As it turns out, the three lists of the ancestors of Christ that open the Gospel of Matthew are not merely endless, but rather endlessly fascinating. They are a keynote to Matthew’s...
“All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord…’’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #4Matthew 1:18-25 In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declares Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to...
‘We have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #5Matthew 2:1-12 When the ‘fullness of the time had come,’ St. Paul tells us, God sent forth His Son (Galatians 4:4). The most impressive manifestation of Christ’s...
‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah…’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #6Matthew 2:1-12 ‘A light for revelation to the Gentiles.’ So the elder Symeon called the baby Jesus as he held in infant in his arms (Luke 2:32). The clearest symbol of this enlightenment...
‘They rejoiced with exceedingly great joy’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #7Matthew 2:1-12 The Magi, or Wise Men, have always been a blessed part of the Christmas season, as well as enjoying a prominent role in Western religious art. Did Matthew perhaps have an...
‘Out of Egypt I have called my Son’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #8Matthew 2:13-23 The infant Jesus faced a devious and savage enemy in King Herod of Judea, who plotted to slay the child as a perceived rival. This vicious tyrant thus brought about the massacre...
‘Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John’Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #9Luke 1:5-25 One of the most esteemed icons in the Orthodox Church depicts Christ in his majesty as Pantocrator (ruler of the universe), and flanked by the...
‘Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you’ Reflections on the Nativity Gospels, #10 Luke 1:26-38 As an angel announces to the priest Zachariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear John the Baptist, we are brought to the very cusp of the appearance of the Emmanuel,...
