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The Birth of the Messiah

 

Sessions

References

 

Matthew and Luke both begin their account of the good news of Jesus Christ with two quite different stories of Jesus' conception and birth. These nativity stories draw deeply on imagery found in the Old Testament to proclaim that Jesus, Lord and Messiah, was not simply adopted as God's Son at his resurrection, or revealed as God's Son at his baptism in the River Jordan, but was indeed the Son of God from his birth.

We studied the infancy accounts of Jesus in Matthew and Luke in two sessions on Dec. 21, 2003 and Jan 4, 2004, using as our primary reference Father Raymond E. Brown's booklet An Adult Christ at Christmas. Essays on the Biblical Christmas Stories. Matthew 2 and Luke 2, derived from his magisterial commentary, The Birth of the Messiah. A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Also see our series on the gospel narratives preparing for the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 1, based on Father Brown's booklet A Coming Christ in Advent.

 

Sessions Downloads*

 

PDF Format

PowerPoint

1a. The Meaning of the Magi; The Significance of the Star (Matthew 2:1-23)

1b. The Meaning of the Manger; the Significance of the Shepherds (Luke 2:1-21)

Presentation (406 KB) Presentation (491 KB)

2a. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:22-40)

2b. The Finding of the Boy Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52)

Presentation (422 KB) Presentation (485 KB)

 

*To download a presentation or handout, click and hold (Macintosh) on the link in the bright blue box under the desired format, or right-click (Windows) the link and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link as." Information on the format of the downloadable files can be found here.

 

Presentations were by David Monyak. Any errors, awkward phrasings, poorly expressed ideas, problems in documentation, and / or opinions are solely his responsibility.

 

 

 

References

 

Primary Reference

An Adult Christ at Christmas. Essays on the Biblical Christmas Stories. Matthew 2 and Luke 2. Raymond E. Brown. The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1978. ISBN 0-8146-0997-X

 

Other References

The Birth of the Messiah. A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Raymond E. Brown. Doubleday, New York. 1993. ISBN 0-385-49447-5