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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Despite the mathematical incongruity, the church confesses that Christ is one hundred percent human and one hundred percent divine.
The wrong god means love remains frail, fickle, or a fiction. The right God means love is the most reliable thing in all the world.
Wisdom lurks in the outer places. Rich gratitude sprouts from the impoverished and forgotten.
By the end of this prayer of wrestling, David finally has the strength to claim victory over his lying enemies.
Peace is ours, even when what seems like the end draws near, because we know who Christ is and we know what Christ has done, and we know that who he is and what he’s done is all for us.
Be relieved, whatever has had you anxious. He is with us and about his Father’s business, which is your salvation.
We now are the magi: we worship Christ because of who he is, but also because of what he has done for us and what he continues to do in his gift-giving to us.
This article is part of Stephen Paulson’s series on the Psalms.
It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
Jesus rests in a manger in the days to come, but don’t be fooled.
The love of God is creative, always giving, always reviving.
This is the third article in a special three-part Advent series on how Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king.