Birth of a King?
So, after last week's study, you might or might not start the Jesus story with Christmas. Matthew and Luke do though, and if we're going to go through the gospels chronologically, we'll probably have to start with them. (3) Miracle Births As we saw last week, Mark starts his story with the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. John the Evangelist starts his story with creation and the position of Jesus in the story of God and man. Both gospels leave off the details of Jesus’ birth. 1. Why might details of Jesus birth not seem relevant to Mark? 2. Why might they not seem relevant to John? Which begs the question, why do they matter to Matthew and Luke? Let's start with Matthew. 1. Read Matthew 1:18-25 1. Betrothal was a legal agreement, and families would generally keep the betrothed couple apart. Matthew has already...