The Bible In A Year
Advent/Christmas week 1 of 3
December 17-22, 2018
Readings for the week
Theme: Exploring the promised coming of Jesus as told in Matthew and Luke.
Monday An introduction to Jesus & his relatives- Matthew chapter 1, Genesis chapter 38, Joshua chapters 2 & 6
This story of Jesus begins with a genealogy. Do you recognize any names? What do you notice about the blood line of Jesus? There are only a few women mentioned in Jesus’ ancestry. Today we read about two of them.
Tuesday more relatives – The book of Ruth
This is a love story. It is important to note that in the Hebrew the term “feet” was used euphemistically for male genitalia. (Keep this in mind next week when you read Isaiah.)
Wednesday -Numbers chapters 1 & 2
Thursday -Numbers chapters 3 & 4
Pay attention to the work of the priests
Friday -Luke chapter 1, Psalm 62
Pay close attentions to the song of Mary and the song of Zechariah. From what scriptures do they draw their inspiration?
Saturday – The book of Malachi
The Bible In A Year
Advent/Christmas week 1 of 3
A Framework for Understanding
The Christian Year
Like the chronological calendar, the days of the year are divided into different seasons. Unlike the chronological calendar, the seasons of the Christian calendar have irregular lengths that change each cycle. This is caused by having some holy days and their corresponding seasons based on the chronological calendar, and others based upon the lunar calendar. Christmas is always on December 25, whereas Easter is on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Our celebration of Christmas is a fixed date, but Easter can be as early as March 22, or as late as April 20.
The Christian year begins with the first Sunday of Advent. The season of Advent begins 4 Sundays before Christmas. While Christmas is a fixed date, the day of the week on which it falls changes yearly. The season of Advent can begin as early as November 27th or as late as December 3rd.
The season of “Christmastide” is Christmas Day and the twelve days that follow it. The song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is grounded in Christmastide. In England there are many other days honored during these 12 days, such as December 26: “boxing day” when gifts are given to servants/employees. Shakespeare’s play “The Twelve Night” originally opened on the 12th night of Christmastide.
The 12th day is named “Epiphany” and is the day the arrival of the Magi is celebrated. In many Latin American countries January 6th is the day to exchange gifts, as the magi gave gifts to Jesus. .