For the next five days (December 22-26) I plan to share multiple selections from the Gospels around the story of Christmas, adding background and context to our impression of a babe in the manger. I find it insightful and worshipful to read these familiar passages over and over while I consider this amazing birth.

I won’t offer much commentary, as I hope the words of scripture speak as you read and consider their meaning. My prayer is that these passages help you focus a bit more on the reason for the season—always challenging for me.

(Many thanks to my friend Andy for curating and sharing this selection of passages).

John 1

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Luke 1

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

²³ When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Photo by Jon Tyson

Perhaps David had a family Christmas celebration* in mind when he prayed, set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

David prayed for discretion and wisdom in his speech. He did not declare an intent to remain silent, but asked instead for a careful watch over his words. David set himself up to listen well and respond carefully.

Of course, David ruled an entire nation, and needed all the insight and perception he could gather. An understanding leader listens more than they talk.

Which is a mindset that works well with family gatherings, office parties and outings with friends. Asking the Lord to set a guard over my mouth is never a bad prayer to pray.

Psalm 141 in week fifty-one of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino

*I realize that David never attended any Christmas celebrations, as Jesus was yet to be born, Santa hadn’t been invented, and ugly sweaters were only a dream. But if David threw a Christmas party, I’m sure it would have been a rager.

When reading of the winepress of God’s wrath, three images immediately come to mind. A song, a book, and a video.

The song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, begins with this line: Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored...

John Steinbeck wrote a book we all read in high school, The Grapes of Wrath, focusing on the plight of families forced off their land in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. You can’t help but feel their pain: How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can’t scare him – he has known a fear beyond every other (chapter 19).

And the video? A VeggieTales classic: We Are The Grapes of Wrath. I love the line, We are the grapes of wrath—so stay out of our path!

The promised judgement of the Lord inspired artists and writers for years. Wine of such horrific provenance swallows bitter and fouls the stomach. In my mind, the horrors of the American Civil War remain especially poignant, when God poured out his wrath on battlefield after battlefield across the nation.

Wonderfully, and most graciously, judgement is not the end. The Battle Hymn of the Republic finishes with this stanza:

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

For those who embrace that death and transfiguration, we can truly join in and sing—Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Revelation 14 in week fifty-one of reading the Bible cover to cover

Picture is the first edition cover of The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939

We’ve all spoken without thinking. As the saying goes, more than once I’ve opened my mouth and inserted my foot. Job’s friends proved pretty good at this as well.

I like Job’s response to their commentary: If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.

Silence = Wisdom.

I find this to be true. I’m better off listening before speaking, and sometimes listening and not speaking at all. When people are in pain, like Job, advice falls flat. Timing matters, and frequently I’m not ready to hear opinions even if offered in good faith. Presence, with silence, makes for better consolation.

For seven days and seven nights Job’s friends sat with him in silence. They watched him suffer and stayed by his side. Their presence helped. Then, they started to speak, which annoyed Job to no end.

Words kill, word give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose (Proverbs 18:21 in The Message).

I choose how and when I use my words. Often the best choice is not to use them at all.

Job 13 in week fifty-one of reading the Bible cover to cover

Job and His Friends (1869) by Ilya Repin