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THE DAWN OF REDEEMING GRACE: Daily Devotions for Advent from Matthew 1,2
SINCLAIR FERGUSON
As dawn broke on that first Christmas morning, the sun rose on a new era: God's king had come to earth to bring about his kingdom.
Join Sinclair Ferguson as he opens up the first two chapters of Matthew's Gospel in these daily devotions for Advent. Each day’s reflection is full of insight and application, and will help you to arrive at Christmas Day awed by God's redeeming grace and refreshed by the hope of God’s promised king.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 7
PART ONE: The Family History
1. In the Beginning 14
2. “The Hopes and Fears of
All the Years” 19
3. Cherchez la Femme? 24
PART TWO: The Family
4. A Virgin Conception 31
5. A Waking Nightmare 36
6. Dream Angel 42
7. “Tidings of Comfort and Joy”? 47
8. What’s in a Name? 52
9. “Isaiah Hath Foretold Him” 58
10. The Way of Obedience 64
11. Joseph’s Restraint 70
PART THREE: The Visitors
12. Wise Men from the East 80
13. A Dangerous Turning 85
14. Knowing Without Going 91
15. Can You Trust a Herod? 97
16. Following a Star 102
17. Finding Christ 107
18. A Divine Warning 113
PART FOUR: The Journeys
19. Long Journeys 122
20. Out of Egypt 128
21. The Child Pogrom 133
22. Another Prophecy Fulfilled 140
23. Safe to Go Home? 146
24. Jesus the Nazarene 152
INTRODUCTION
They say time is relative, and it can certainly seem that way as Christmas approaches. To a busy parent—with presents to wrap, cards to send, meals to prepare, and spare batteries to remember to buy—time seems to fly. There is not enough of it—and there is simply too much to do. But to a child, the days of December seem the longest in the whole year; they pass more slowly than the last few miles of a tedious journey. No wonder C. S. Lewis’s description of Narnia as a land where it was “always winter but never Christmas” resonates with children. They do not need to go through the back of a wardrobe to feel that—all you do is turn the calendar to the month of December!
Today’s children are not the first to think that Christmas can’t come soon enough. Indeed, that was the feeling of generations of Old Testament believers: a feeling picked up in the words of Charles Wesley’s hymn “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”:
'Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the Virgin’s womb.'
“Late in time”? Jesus came late?
Our own experience sometimes gives certain words an atmosphere unique to ourselves. Perfectly innocent words can have a chilling effect on our emotions! For me, “late” is one of them. I cannot hear it without feeling that I am being accused! Perhaps it is because I can still hear in my mind the shrill voice of one of my teachers shouting at me, “Ferguson, you’re late” (when I wasn’t!). With that kind of memory, it is hardly surprising that to me the phrase “late in time” has a somewhat negative ring about it.
Was Jesus also “late”? No, Wesley did not mean Jesus came at the wrong time. But since God’s people had been hoping for his coming ever since the divine proclamation of Genesis 3:15 had promised the arrival of one who would bruise the serpent’s head, it must have seemed a very long time. The believers of the Old Testament were often heard crying out, “How long, Lord?” Would it always be winter but never the long-promised Christmas?
When it has been my responsibility to arrange the items of praise for the first Sunday in Advent, I have always chosen to begin with a 12th-century hymn that captures this sense of waiting and longing:
'O come, O come, Immanuel And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell thy people save, And give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.'
God may seem slow, but he is always on time. He has never been late. But if you read through the Bible from the beginning, there is something thrilling about turning over the blank page between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The first thing you encounter is Matthew’s summary of the long years of waiting (1:1-17). But now the snow is melting, and winter is giving way to Christmas (1:18 – 2:23). The arrival of the Lord Jesus is the dawn of a glorious new era.
Matthew’s Gospel begins with two chapters on the nativity. It may seem strange that he does little more than mention the actual event of that first Christmas Day. (“She had given birth to a son,” 1:25, and “After Jesus was born…”, 2:1; that is all he says.) But he has his reasons. Births take place every day of the year, ever hour of the day. But this birth was different, and Matthew wants to spend most of his time helping us to understand why it was.
As this Christmas approaches, I invite you to join me in exploring what Matthew says about those days that marked the dawn of redeeming grace and about how Christ’s light breaks into our lives today.
I am grateful to The Good Book Company for allowing me the rare privilege of writing a book that perhaps many thousands of people in different parts of the world will read simultaneously, even reading the same pages on the same days. By doing so, we become a great company of individuals united by the shared experience of reflecting on Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus. It is the prologue to the greatest story of all—the story of Jesus. And it is one that will make many millions sing Joseph Mohr’s famous lines again this Christmas:
'Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light,
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!'
My prayer is that as you read, you will experience “the dawn of redeeming grace” because “Christ the Saviour is born.”
Sinclair B. Ferguson
"Sinclair Ferguson knows how to write deep theology that helps simple people like me. And there is no deeper topic than the Advent of our glorious Lord in this broken world. The Dawn of Redeeming Grace is written by a wise author offering us rich insights, so that we journey more confidently from this world to that which is to come." - Ray Ortlund, Renewal Ministries, Nashville
"It is hard not to be a little envious of Sinclair’s uncanny knack of unpacking familiar material in a manner that causes one to say, ‘Why didn’t I see that?’ These short readings have helped me read my Bible with fresh insight, and in the process my heart has been strangely warmed." - Alistair Begg, Senior Pastor, Parkside Church, Cleveland; Bible Teacher, Truth for Life
"For many of us, the road through the Christmas story is very familiar territory: so familiar that we have a hard time seeing it through fresh eyes. In The Dawn of Redeeming Grace, Sinclair Ferguson is a worthy and helpful guide, pointing out insights we may have missed and guiding us toward wonder and worship." - Nancy Guthrie, Author and Bible Teacher
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