January 10 / Luke 2:1-20

Luke 2:1-20 “Notice what you notice.” A couple of things today… First, my NKJV text had in verse 17 that the shepherds made it “widely known” what they had heard and seen. But that verse had a footnote that “widely” was omitted in (presumably) an earlier translation. To my mind the NKJV added “widely” because …

January 9 / Matt. 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18-25 “Notice what you notice.” Verse 25, “…until…”, as in “Joseph … kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a son.” I well remember from my Catholic childhood the phrase, “Blessed Mary ever virgin”. The obvious follow-up to that phrase is that Joseph never consummated his marriage to Mary, Jesus had no …

January 8 / Matt. 1:1-17

Matthew 1:1-17 “Notice what you notice.” Genealogies have always been a challenge to most Bible readers. That’s certainly the case for me, especially when I had prior knowledge that Matthew’s genealogy and Luke’s genealogy were quite different from each other. And after extolling Luke’s virtue a few days ago as a research historian, I found …

January 7 / Luke 1:67-80

Luke 1:67-80 “Notice what you notice.” I have probably noticed before, but never really took it to heart how much Zacharias’ prayer/prophecy is more about Jesus than John. Check it out – the only reference specifically to John is contained in one sentence in verses 76 and 77: “And you, child, will be called the …

January 6 / Luke 1:57-66

Luke 1:57-66 “Notice what you notice.” We’ve heard these birth narratives and read them so many times that they have become so very familiar to us. Sometimes it’s hard to find something new. But I am confident that in reading and re-reading these passages again and again that something will stand out for you. That …

January 5 / Luke 1:39-56

Luke 1:39-56 “Notice what you notice.” Again today it was something really simple that I have read over and over and just never seen it. And again, it was a combination of two verses, 39 and 43. Verse 39 tells us that Mary went “…to the hill country, to a city of Judah” to visit …

January 4 / Luke 1:26-38

Luke 1:26-38 “Notice what you notice.” Today it was something really simple, really mundane that I had never seen before. It was a combination of two phrases, “…the angel Gabriel was sent…”, but more importantly, “And having come in…”. Simple, but previously lost on me. I’ve always imagined Gabriel appearing to Mary, hovering above her …

January 3 / Luke 1:5-25

Luke 1:5-25 “Notice what you notice.” Today it was “He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” When I think of the Holy Spirit’s activity in this world I often have Pentecost in mind or a few phrases in the Gospels of Jesus’ being “filled with the Spirit”. For …

January 2 / Luke 1:1-4

Luke 1:1-4 “Notice what you notice.” I’m taking those words to heart this year, especially when we have really short readings like today. So my first “notice” today was “many”, as in “…many have written…” or “…many have compiled…”. I have always heard that Luke had copies of Mark and Matthew in front of him …

January 1 / John 1:1-18

John 1:1-18 Today we begin another journey, different than those roads we have taken in the past. Yesterday John suggested that our old RTB bus analogy falls short, that actually we are all on mopeds, traveling on our own, each guided differently than the others. We found John’s analogy both humorous and intriguing. But to …