Matthew

If so, what did he mean?

If God is our salvation and stronghold, why are we just as vulnerable as anyone else?

Do baptizer and baptized constitute a hierarchy? How was Jesus’ baptism fulfilling all righteousness?

And six stars they offer for our own

Even Jesus is unable to escape the consequences of sin, becoming a victim of human violence.

For which he needs to invent some prophecy

It must have been a strange sight: grown adults, prostrate before a toddler.

Before Mary can cut the tags off the brand-new frankincense, the weeping starts.

Thank God Joseph recognized him.

Joseph has a massive decision to make.

John the Baptist is not sure if Jesus is very Christlike.

John is thinking about Jesus arriving as an adult, not a baby.

John the Baptist is calling for more than a cognitive recognition of wrongdoing.

In the midst of anxiety, it can sound like an attractive option for a swift end to come.

If we take the doctrine seriously, then we dare not draw the circle of salvation along religious lines. Or any lines at all.

The translators hope that “the colonial language that was forced upon us can now serve our people in a good way.”

Now we tend to see it as a virtue—at least for some people.