Week 1: The Word Became Flesh

The Big Picture

We begin our journey through the New Testament not with a manger scene but with eternity. John’s prologue reaches back before the first verse of Genesis, declaring that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This is a deliberate theological decision: before we witness the birth of a baby in Bethlehem, we must understand who this child truly is. The eternal Logos, the creative agent through whom all things were made, the light that has been shining since before the cosmos existed – this is the one who will take on human flesh. Without this cosmic frame, the Christmas story shrinks into mere sentimentality. With it, the incarnation becomes the most staggering event in the history of the universe.

From that eternal vantage point, we then descend into the gritty, particular world of first-century Palestine. Luke, the careful historian, introduces us to an aging priest named Zechariah burning incense in the temple and a young woman named Mary in the backwater town of Nazareth. Through angelic announcements, prophetic songs, and an unexpected genealogy, God is setting the stage for the fulfillment of centuries of promise. The Magnificat and the Benedictus – the great hymns of Mary and Zechariah – root this story firmly in the Old Testament narrative of God’s faithfulness to Israel, to Abraham, and to David. These are not new promises but ancient ones finally coming to fruition.

Matthew adds his own essential perspective, tracing Jesus’ lineage through the royal line of David and revealing Joseph’s quiet, obedient faithfulness in the face of an impossible situation. Then Luke brings us at last to Bethlehem, where the King of the universe is born in the most humble circumstances imaginable, announced not to the powerful but to shepherds working the night shift. Together, these five readings form a complete theological introduction to the person of Jesus Christ: eternal God, long-promised Messiah, and now an infant wrapped in swaddling cloths. This is the foundation on which the entire New Testament rests.

This Week’s Readings

Key Characters This Week

• The Word (Logos) – The pre-existent second person of the Trinity, the agent of all creation, who becomes flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.
• John the Baptist – Introduced in John’s prologue as a witness to the light; his birth story is told in Luke 1.
• Zechariah – An elderly priest of the division of Abijah, husband of Elizabeth, father of John the Baptist.
• Elizabeth – A descendant of Aaron, barren in old age, who miraculously conceives John the Baptist.
• Mary – A young virgin from Nazareth, betrothed to Joseph, chosen to bear the Messiah.
• Joseph – A righteous man of the house of David, who obeys God’s command to take Mary as his wife.
• Gabriel – The angel who delivers God’s announcements to both Zechariah and Mary.
• The Shepherds – The first to receive the news of Jesus’ birth, representing the humble and marginalized.

Key Locations

• Heaven / Eternity – Where the prologue of John begins, before time and space existed.
• The Temple in Jerusalem – Where Zechariah receives the angelic announcement while serving at the altar of incense.
• Nazareth – The small Galilean town where Mary lives and receives Gabriel’s visit.
• The Hill Country of Judea – Where Elizabeth lives and where Mary visits, prompting the Magnificat.
• Bethlehem – The city of David, where Jesus is born in fulfillment of Micah 5:2.

Key Themes

• Incarnation – The central mystery of this week: God taking on human flesh. John’s prologue establishes the theological reality, and the birth narratives show it unfolding in history. The infinite becomes finite, the Creator enters creation.
• Fulfillment of Promise – Every passage this week connects back to Old Testament promises. The genealogy traces the Davidic line, the hymns echo Hannah’s prayer and the prophets, and the birth in Bethlehem fulfills Micah’s prophecy. God is faithful across centuries.
• Reversal of Expectations – God consistently works through the unexpected: a barren elderly couple, an unmarried young woman, a quiet carpenter, a feeding trough for a crib, shepherds as the first witnesses. The Kingdom arrives upside-down by the world’s standards.
• Light and Darkness – John’s prologue introduces the cosmic conflict between light and darkness that runs through the entire New Testament. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Memory Verse

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14 (ESV)

Day 1 | Next: Week 2