Today's main idea: Jesus comes close to us as a real person. He brings God's presence and comes to save us from our sin.
Read Slowly
In Day 1, we looked at Jesus' suffering and victory. Now we return to his birth.
These stories may be familiar from Christmas. Try to notice them again. Joseph faces a painful decision. Mary cares for a newborn. Shepherds hear news they never expected. Through it all, God is making Jesus known.
God Helps Joseph Understand
Mary is pregnant before she and Joseph have come together as husband and wife. Joseph plans to end their marriage agreement quietly rather than expose her to public shame.
An angel tells him that the child is from the Holy Spirit. Something Joseph could not understand on his own is now explained.
God is at work before Joseph knows what is happening. Joseph's next step is to trust what God has told him.
Joseph must respond to God's explanation while the future is still unfamiliar. Receiving the truth about Jesus changes the decision before him. He can obey the direction he has received without seeing the whole life ahead.
We can practice that same willingness when Scripture makes a next step clear. An unanswered question about tomorrow need not keep me from telling the truth or caring for someone today.
Remember: I can act on what God has made clear while other questions remain.
His Name Tells Us Why He Came
The angel tells Joseph to name the child Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.
Before Jesus teaches or performs a miracle, we learn why he has come. Sin is the wrong in our hearts and actions that separates us from God. Jesus comes to deal with it.
Matthew also calls him Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Jesus is his given name. Immanuel explains what his coming means.
Matthew returns to this promise at the very end of his Gospel. The risen Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 28:20 that he will be with them always. God's presence joins the beginning and ending of Jesus' story: the child is God with us, and the risen Lord stays with the people he sends.1
As we learn to obey Jesus, we can depend on his presence. The promise attached to his birth continues into the ordinary work of following him.
The names belong together: the one who is with us is the one who saves us from sin. His presence gives comfort and brings us face to face with our need for rescue.
When Jesus shows me something that needs to change, I can remember why he came. I can welcome his correction as the work of the Savior who has drawn near to help me.
Remember: I can welcome Jesus' correction because the one exposing my sin came to save me.
Joseph Does What God Says
Joseph wakes up and follows the angel's instructions. He takes Mary as his wife and names the child Jesus.
Matthew shows Joseph's trust through his actions. He receives responsibility for Mary and the child, even though he did not expect his life to unfold this way.
The angel addresses Joseph as a son of David. When Joseph names Jesus, he receives the child into his family and gives him a place in David's family line. This quiet act of obedience belongs to the larger story of God's promised King.1
We may never face Joseph's situation, but we know what it is like to hear something true and then decide whether to act on it.
Joseph's response takes the form of receiving Mary and naming the child. God's word changes what he does with the responsibility in front of him. This quiet obedience has a place in the story of the promised King.
I can ask what the truth I have heard now requires of me. Sometimes trust becomes visible through one ordinary action that no crowd will notice.
Remember: The next quiet act of obedience can show that I trust what God has said.
Jesus Enters Ordinary Human Life
A ruler orders a registration, and Joseph travels with Mary to Bethlehem. While they are there, Jesus is born.
Mary wraps him and places him in a manger, a feeding trough. The child who will be called Lord needs to be held and cared for.
The Lord enters a life of travel, birth, feeding, and care. His humble beginning gives dignity to the ordinary human needs we sometimes treat as beneath spiritual attention. God has come near within real human life.
I can bring Jesus the tiredness of caregiving or the demands of a household. Caring patiently for someone can be part of my response to the Savior who himself received a mother's care.
Remember: Ordinary acts of care matter in the life Jesus entered.
The Shepherds Hear Who This Child Is
Shepherds are working at night when an angel appears. They are afraid, but the angel brings good news.
The baby is called Savior, Christ, and Lord. Savior tells us he brings rescue. Christ means Messiah, God's promised King. Lord tells us he has authority.
The shepherds are told to look for a baby lying in a manger. The humble child is the one heaven celebrates.
Luke mentions the manger three times: where Mary lays Jesus, the sign the angel gives, and what the shepherds find. The details connect the birth, the announcement, and their discovery. Heaven's great titles lead them to this particular child in these humble surroundings.2
We learn to recognize Jesus by what God reveals about him. His greatness is already present while Mary is caring for him in the manger.
The angels praise God and announce peace among those with whom he is pleased. God's saving work has arrived through Jesus.
The sign leads the shepherds to a feeding trough. They must let God's words identify the child instead of expecting his surroundings to prove his greatness. The humble scene holds the Savior heaven has announced.
That teaches us to let Scripture guide our recognition of Jesus. We can listen for his truth even when the setting is simple and the people telling us seem unimportant.
Remember: I learn to recognize Jesus by God's word, even in humble surroundings.
People Respond in Different Ways
The shepherds go to Bethlehem, find Jesus, and tell others what they heard. Then they return to work praising God.
Mary responds more quietly. She remembers what has happened and thinks deeply about it.
Both responses matter. We can speak about Jesus with others, and we can spend quiet time considering what we have learned.
The shepherds return to the work they left, now praising God for what they have heard and seen. Mary carries the events within her and continues considering them. Meeting Jesus gives both speech and reflection something true to hold.
I can pause over a detail in Scripture before rushing on. Then I can share what I have understood in my own words and take that gratitude into an ordinary task.
Remember: What I learn about Jesus can change how I return to ordinary life.
The Child Receives the Promised Name
On the eighth day, the child is circumcised and named Jesus. His family follows the practice God gave Israel and the name the angel announced.
The child promised by God now lives among them with a name they speak and a body they care for.
The Jesus we meet here is the same Jesus who will give his life on the cross. His purpose to save is part of his story from the beginning.
The name given before his conception is now spoken over this particular child. God's promise has become part of the family's daily obedience. The one they hold is the Savior whose purpose Matthew has already explained.
When I pray to Jesus, I am coming to someone who entered our history to save. His purpose gives me reason to approach him with my actual need for forgiveness.
Remember: The name of Jesus reminds me that I can come to him for rescue.
What We Learn About Jesus
Jesus is God with us, the promised King and Lord. He enters human life humbly and comes to save us from sin.
He invites us to trust him, obey his word, and recognize that ordinary life can become a place of worship.
How the Readings Fit Together
Matthew explains who Jesus is and why he comes. Luke shows how humbly he enters the world.
Joseph obeys. The shepherds tell others and praise God. Mary remembers and reflects. Each response helps us think about our own response to Jesus.
Take a Moment with Jesus
- What clear act of obedience am I postponing until I understand everything?
- Where do I need to receive Jesus' correction as part of his saving care?
- What detail about Jesus could I carry into an ordinary responsibility today?
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for coming near and giving your life to save me. Help me trust you with ordinary life and with the things I need to change. Teach me to listen, obey, and give thanks. Amen.
One Thing to Do
Before an ordinary task, pause and read Matthew 1:21–23. Thank Jesus that he is with you. Then take one clear step of obedience, such as telling the truth or apologizing.
Carry This with You
Jesus is God with us and the Savior who came for us. I can welcome him into my real, everyday life.
Sources Consulted
Source citations
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Holly Hearon, Commentary on Jesus as Immanuel, Working Preacher, Luther Seminary. On Joseph naming Jesus and the promise of God’s presence at both ends of Matthew. ↩ ↩2
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Luke A. Powery, A Manger Ministry, Duke University Chapel, December 24, 2012. On Luke’s three references to the manger and the sign given to the shepherds. ↩
What is one thing you want to remember?
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