Christmas 1 December 30, 2018 The Sunday of Jesus’ Presentation – Simeon and Anna
First Sunday after Christmas
Luke 2:22-40 & Galatians 4:1-7
December 30, 2018
“Adoption”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Christmas story is also a story of adoption, of course. Lest we ever forget, Jesus was adopted by His earthly father, Joseph. Joseph wasn’t the biological father of Jesus. Yet after an angel visited him in a dream, he decided to adopt Jesus as his own child. And interestingly enough, when Matthew traces the genealogy of Jesus, he does it through the line of Joseph, even though Joseph was an adoptive father. That’s pretty cool. Adoption is a huge part of Christmas and a huge part of the life of our Savior Jesus Christ.
But that’s not the only adoption story at Christmas. Paul tells us of another adoption in our reading today, Galatians 4. He says, “God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
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