In today's episode we invite special guest, William Varner, from The Master's University, to talk about the Christmas story and why Matthew and Luke have some differences in how they relate the Christmas story. We discuss the genealogies, the Magi, the Shepherds, and the enigmatic star. Dr. Varner helps us understand why the Gospel writers include these details, and more!

Link to Varner's Article on Discourse analysis of Matthew 1-2: https://tyndalebulletin.org/article/29237-a-discourse-analysis-of-matthew-s-nativity-narrative.pdf

Varner's Book _Anticipating the Advent_: https://www.amazon.com/Anticipating-Advent-Looking-Messiah-Places-ebook/dp/B08LQY7WJM/

Handbook for Praying Scripture: https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Praying-Scripture-Featuring-Standard/dp/1636642616/

Land of the Bible Free Videos: https://thinkbiblically.org/series/nazareth/

The Bible Sojourner discussion of whether Rahab was the mother of Boaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PFF4vqA-SU (Ep 132 on the podcast)

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction

04:40 - Why are there differences in the Christmas narrative in the Gospels?

07:37 - Why are the genealogies different in Matthew and Luke?

09:40 - Are there gaps in the genealogies?

13:16 - Understanding the significane of 14 in Matthew's genealogy

14:46 - Are Matthew and Luke tracing the same genealogy?

16:50 - How does the OT expectation feed into Matthew's genealogy?

20:04 - Why Does Matthew discuss the Magi?

25:18 - Varner's view on the star in Matthew

29:25 - Was there a nasty inn keeper?

35:04 - Why does Luke talk about the shepherds visiting Jesus?

37:35 - Wisdom on thinking about the Christmas season

39:21 - Land of the Bible Free Videos

41:12 - Conclusion