Listen "How do you answer these two questions about Christmas?"
Episode Synopsis
Who is Jesus—and what did he come to do?
Luke 2 doesn’t answer those questions with abstract theology or lofty claims. It answers them with a story.
In this episode, we slow down and listen carefully to Luke’s Christmas narrative—not as sentimental background music for the season, but as a bold theological proclamation. In a world ordered by emperors, censuses, power, and prestige, Luke introduces Jesus in a radically different key: born in obscurity, laid in a manger, announced not to elites but to shepherds on the margins.
So who is Jesus, really?
And what kind of mission begins this way?
Drawing on the Jesus' birth narrative in the Gospel of Luke, we explore how Luke presents Jesus as the true Lord whose identity stands in quiet but profound contrast to the rulers of his age. And we ask what Jesus came to do—not merely to offer private comfort or future escape, but to inaugurate God’s saving reign through humility, peace, and faithfulness.
This episode invites you to hear Luke 2 with fresh ears and deeper attention—to see how the identity and mission of Jesus are woven together from the very beginning, and why that still matters for how we understand the gospel today.
Merry Christmas!
MATT'S BRAND NEW BOOK
Free to Be Holy: A Biblical Theology of Sanctification
https://amzn.to/4gOn4gN (print)
https://amzn.to/47pttuz (Kindle)
GET THE VIDEOS
https://my.seedbed.com/product/free-to-be-holy/
GET UPDATES FROM THEOLOGY PROJECT
https://www.theologyproject.online/subscribe
This page contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Music used with permission - "Steps" by Anno Domini Beats
Luke 2 doesn’t answer those questions with abstract theology or lofty claims. It answers them with a story.
In this episode, we slow down and listen carefully to Luke’s Christmas narrative—not as sentimental background music for the season, but as a bold theological proclamation. In a world ordered by emperors, censuses, power, and prestige, Luke introduces Jesus in a radically different key: born in obscurity, laid in a manger, announced not to elites but to shepherds on the margins.
So who is Jesus, really?
And what kind of mission begins this way?
Drawing on the Jesus' birth narrative in the Gospel of Luke, we explore how Luke presents Jesus as the true Lord whose identity stands in quiet but profound contrast to the rulers of his age. And we ask what Jesus came to do—not merely to offer private comfort or future escape, but to inaugurate God’s saving reign through humility, peace, and faithfulness.
This episode invites you to hear Luke 2 with fresh ears and deeper attention—to see how the identity and mission of Jesus are woven together from the very beginning, and why that still matters for how we understand the gospel today.
Merry Christmas!
MATT'S BRAND NEW BOOK
Free to Be Holy: A Biblical Theology of Sanctification
https://amzn.to/4gOn4gN (print)
https://amzn.to/47pttuz (Kindle)
GET THE VIDEOS
https://my.seedbed.com/product/free-to-be-holy/
GET UPDATES FROM THEOLOGY PROJECT
https://www.theologyproject.online/subscribe
This page contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Music used with permission - "Steps" by Anno Domini Beats
More episodes of the podcast Theology Project with Matt O’Reilly
What Do We Mean when We Talk about Grace?
09/09/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.