Wade Johnston, Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis: MO, 2025.
This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
This story points us from our unlikely heroes to the even more unlikely, and joyous, good news that Jesus’ birth for us was just as unlikely and unexpected.

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The goal of Christian living isn't to gather in and store up two, three, four barn-fulls of good works for ourselves.
Every Christian face-plants. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been saved by grace, we still face-plant.
Likewise, when God says, "Do this and you will live," we go about under the illusion that we have the ability to accomplish what God demands of us.
I'm always surprised to hear people say, “If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing.” But we’re all sinners and we all sin every day.
You can talk to me about how Jesus is really forgiving and how you want me around, but what happens when things don’t change in a month?
Who was this Jesus, who could do such things?
In the twinkling of that eye the perishable will become imperishable, and our bodies will be changed and become more glorious than we ever could have imagined.
There is no Psalm as well known as Psalm 23
But when God's Word of Law and Gospel are tuned up, when they're properly distinguished, then Jesus' words rain down on us like thunderbolts.
Among the things that perturb me about modern Christianity is our residual clinging to a sort of “Christian-karma.”
The truth is, a Christian's holiness is hidden outside himself in Christ through faith.
Are our resolutions righteous? Is our commitment to self-improvement a selfless act motivated by love for the neighbor?