The Advent of Christ: Scripture Reflections to Prepare for Christmas

Perhaps the Christmas story has become almost too familiar. A virgin giving birth. A child laid in a manger. Shepherds greeted by angels. The Christmas story has become so familiar that the profound, even shocking, nature of the incarnation might be overlooked. But what if we had never heard the story before? What if we were hearing it for the first time, like the first-century Jews? These events certainly would not be taken for granted--they would signal something new: the dawning of the long-awaited Messiah.